Why the war in Iraq was fought for Big Oil [View all]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/19/opinion/iraq-war-oil-juhasz/



U.S. Marines in northern Kuwait gear up after receiving orders to cross the Iraqi border on March 20, 2003. It has been 10 years since the American-led invasion of Iraq that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein. Look back at moments from the war and the legacy it left behind.

Why the war in Iraq was fought for Big Oil
By Antonia Juhasz, Special to CNN
March 19, 2013 -- Updated 1507 GMT (2307 HKT)

(CNN) -- Yes, the Iraq War was a war for oil, and it was a war with winners: Big Oil.

It has been 10 years since Operation Iraqi Freedom's bombs first landed in Baghdad. And while most of the U.S.-led coalition forces have long since gone, Western oil companies are only getting started.

Before the 2003 invasion, Iraq's domestic oil industry was fully nationalized and closed to Western oil companies. A decade of war later, it is largely privatized and utterly dominated by foreign firms.

From ExxonMobil and Chevron to BP and Shell, the West's largest oil companies have set up shop in Iraq. So have a slew of American oil service companies, including Halliburton, the Texas-based firm Dick Cheney ran before becoming George W. Bush's running mate in 2000.



unhappycamper comment: In case you forgot, the original name given to the Iraq invasion and occupation was Operation Iraqi Liberation.