Oil and U.S. Invasion of Iraq

Two years before the Iraq invasion a group of oil excutives and policy advisers claimed the U.S. would remain a prisoner of its energy dilemma as long as Saddam HusseinSaddam Hussein was in power. James BakerJames Baker prepared a report in 2001 after consultations with the group that included Shell, British Petroleum and Chevron-Texaco representatives. Ken Lay from Enron also contributed to the report. Baker was a prominent oil industry lawyer and also served as secretary of state under the elder Bush.

Vice President CheneyVice President Cheney was leading a task force that was concerned with ensuring that U.S. energy needs were met and was designing foreign policy to meet that aim. This soon included invading Iraq and securing Iraqi oil fields.

"The New Yorker's Jane Mayer later made another discovery: a secret NSC document dated February 3, 2001 - only two weeks after Bush took office - instructing NSC officials to cooperate with Cheney's task force, which was "melding" two previously unrelated areas of policy: "the review of operational policies towards rogue states" and "actions regarding the capture of new and existing oil and gas fields." [The New Yorker, February 16, 2004]"

A long article detailing the role of oil in the Iraq invasion can be found in a recent article at truthout.

http://www.truthout.org/070309J?print