Oil and Water Do Not Mix" by Doug Wakefield and Ben Hill 03/24/2006

FSU Editorial:"'Oil and Water Do Not Mix" by Doug Wakefield and Ben Hill 03/24/2006: "“Russia’s Lukoil and two Russian government companies had a 23-year contract to develop Iraq’s West Qurna oilfield. China also was against the war. Its China National Petroleum Company held a potentially huge oil contract in western Iraq. France too held rights to exploit Iraq oil under the Saddam regime. All three powers knew that a unilateral U.S. war could end their Iraq dreams for good.” 9
Further evidence of Russia, China, France, and other countries’ desires to obtain Iraqi oil can be found by reviewing the Cheney Energy Task Force document titled “Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts.” 10 This document, available at judicialwatch.org, makes it apparent that U.S. knew about these projects when we invaded Iraq. It may also be worth noting that the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration comments that as of December 2005, Iraq is estimated to hold the third largest proven oil reserves in the world, at 115 billion barrels. However, estimates vary widely as much of the country has not been explored. 11
After Saddam was toppled, these contracts with Russian, Chinese, and French firms appear to have been nullified. 12 Needless to say, geopolitical tension with these three U.N. Security Council members has mounted.
This leads us to our point. Even though the oil itself is still priced in dollars, in 2003, Iran began demanding their oil payments in Euros instead of dollars. 13 Oil, reserve currency pressures, unsustainable U.S. military growth, and extreme Islam do not mix. With the demand for oil continuing to grow, Fed Chairman Bernanke stoking the printing presses, U.S. military costs mounting and extreme Islam raging, we must remain wa"