 |
|
Add to My Group
|
July 16, 2007 at 16:59:54
by Kathlyn Stone Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
|
 
|
The draft hydrocarbon law being pushed by the Bush Administration is uniting citizens and disparate groups within Iraq against the U.S. government. Protests within Iraq are escalating as the Iraqi Parliament is pressured to pass the law which would turn over 70-80% of oil revenues to foreign companies. The Parliament is also wrangling over whether the oil law will be implemented under regional or national management. The Iraq Freedom Congress and the Anti-Oil Law Frontier staged a mass demonstration in Baghdad on July 7. Subhi Al-Badri, head of the Frontier, predicted an intensifying revolt against the law as pressure mounts for its passage. He said the majority of Iraqis "reject the oil law and it is in fact the law of slavery and servitude." This report from today's protests in three cities is from US Labor Against the War and Oil Change International: Basra, Iraq -- Today hundreds of Iraqis, led by the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), took to the streets of Basra to demand that the Iraqi Parliament reject the proposed Oil Law.[1] Simultaneous demonstrations took place in Amara and Nassiryya. Local governate officials made statements in support of the demonstration and, along with the governor of Basra, have committed to sending letters to the Minister of Oil supporting the Union's demands.
www.handsoffiraqioil.org
Hassan Juma'a Awad al Assadi, President of the IFOU, charges that the proposed Oil Law surrenders Iraq's economic sovereignty to multinational oil companies: "'We will lose control over Iraqi oil. Therefore, the social progress in Iraq will be curtailed substantially, because the oil companies want huge profits; they are not concerned about the environment, wages, or living conditions...." The IFOU calls for immediate and complete withdrawal of all foreign forces from Iraq. The union represents 26,000 members in 10 state oil and gas companies across four governorates in the south of Iraq.
The Union was moved to public protest after initiating a strike on June 4, 2007, over a range of workplace issues and in opposition to the proposed Oil Law. IFOU leaders have said their members are prepared to strike again in defense of their nationalized oil industry. Iraq's oil has been in the public sector since the 1970s.
The call to demonstrate was also sparked by increased pressure by the Bush administration on the Iraqi Parliament to pass the Oil Law, which would open two thirds of Iraq's oil to foreign control through contracts that could last as long as 30 years. Adoption of the law is one of the benchmarks imposed on Iraq by the U.S. as a condition of continued reconstruction aid and support for the Maliki government.
Unions, other organizations and individuals around the world are calling on their elected representatives to demand that the U.S. government stop pressuring the Iraqis to pass the Oil Law. In the U.S., the labor and antiwar movements are calling on members of Congress who say they're against the war to drop the Oil Law benchmark and cease all U.S. pressure on the Iraqis to transform their oil industry for the benefit of multinational oil corporations. The activists will also focus on the International Oil Companies who have helped draft that Oil Law, have applied their own pressure on the Iraqis to pass the law, and seek to now profit from the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
For further information, go to: www.priceofoil.org or www.uslaboragainstwar.org.
[1] Demands from the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions to Parliament include to: (1) reject the proposed oil law; (2) expel the current Oil Minister; (3) abolish the recently announced hike in oil and gas prices in Iraq; and (4) pass a law to establish labor rights and legalize trade unions.
Contact: For information on the Iraq Oil Law: Antonia Juhasz, Oil Change International (415) 846-5447. For information on the Oil Workers Union and Protest in Basra: Denice Lombard, U.S. Labor Against the War (202) 320-5588.
www.fleshandstone.net
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
 Contact Author |
Contact Editor |
 View Authors' Articles |
|
|
|
|
| 10 comments |
|
Operation Iraqi Liberation - OIL
Our govs would have retained some integrity had they kept the initial name of this illegal war. These demonstrations make it patently obvious now that multinational oil companies have been drooling for those oil fields (the 2nd largest oil reserve in the world, reportedly). Maybe some group, somewhere on the planet, can finally stop Big Oil.... btw, I love the graphic. by Rady Ananda (182 articles, 374 quicklinks, 49 diaries, 1718 comments [201 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Monday, Jul 16, 2007 at 7:18:32 PM  (0+)
|
|
Reply: The UK has half a dozen, maybe more groups
fighting the oil companies' global takeover. One group or even one country can't do it alone. We need much more international cooperation so it was good to see USLAW and Oil Change teaming up on this announcement. And UFP&J helped get the word out, too. I like the graphic, too! Nice and clean. Check this one out. by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jul 16, 2007 at 8:20:09 PM (0+)
|
|
The American People Don't Know This.
Why? Because the MSM don;t tell the American people. The Iraqi People have never seen a profit from their oil since they popped the first well. The MSM is culpable and should be taken to task for not disclosing exactly what it contains. Most Americans believe that it is there so that the Iraqi people can "share" the oil between the three factions equally. They have no oidea that we are stealing their oil. If I were Michael Bloomberg and ghad the media resources that he has, I would scream it from the bloody rooftops! If he were really a statesman, that's exactly what he would do. by Timothy V. Gatto (348 articles, 177 quicklinks, 38 diaries, 574 comments) on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007 at 4:42:22 AM (0+)
|
|
Oil Law
It has long been my opinion that the reason Bush won't stop the surge is because of the oil companies wanting to steal the oil rights of Iraq. If we were to leave and let the Iraqis have their oil, put the Iraqis back to work, the insurgency would die down. Those people are not stupid. They can see the handwriting on the wall if the oil companies take control of 70% of their oil by Ron McCallie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 74 comments) on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007 at 8:29:18 AM (0+)
|
|
Reply: Agree. If you read Ben Lando, an energy reporter w/UPI
who is on the ground, interviewing all stakeholders, and has done a fantastic job covering this issue, you'll see that opposition to the oil law is uniting Iraqis like nothing else has. It's as if the reason for the invasion and opposition has chrystalized in Iraq, if not in the U.S. The pretense that the US is in Iraq to bring freedom, democracy - even security - is dead and buried. by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007 at 8:45:13 AM (0+)
|
|
The Kurdistan Regional Government Supports the Oil Law
Please do not presume that any Iraqi union represents the Kurdish nation. They have a government, the Kurdistan Regional Government, that unlike the US government, speaks for the people. All too often American writers lump any Kurdish governmental policy as if it were just another sectarian point of view. You might do well to ask why Kirkuk was targeted for the latest mass murder. The Baathists and the Turkish militarists remain adamant against accepting any popular vote that would incorporate Kirkuk into the Kurdish Autonomous Region. The Kirkuk Referendum is scheduled for November. You are right to presume that oil is an important source of national revenue. The Kurdish nation feels so as well. by Martin Zehr (38 articles, 2 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 77 comments) on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007 at 8:49:38 AM (0+)
|
|
The GOP knows it- and they're okay with it.
The GOP has to be the stupidest, most self- destructive political party that has ever existed, and if we let them continue, they will kill the rest of us as well as the planet. The central point of "An Inconvenient Truth" was that using oil to the exclusion of all other alternative forms of energy is the sole cause of global warming. This is why ExxonMobil is spending billions of dollars trying to suppress this fact, and why the Oiligarchy is destroying us in it's brainless drive to keep the petro dollars flowing in. So now it's become, literally, a fight to the death. None of us can sit this one out. If we allow the GOP to continue running things, we will all die. by Chuck Garner (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 118 comments) on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007 at 8:54:39 AM (0+)
|
|
Kathlyn Stone
Great Story Kathlyn Stone. by Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo (144 articles, 1 quicklinks, 95 diaries, 1317 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007 at 10:06:11 AM (0+)
|
|
Leeches on our trade
Iraqi's have oil, but can't use it all. Midwesterner's have corn and wheat, but can't eat it all. We'd like to trade to the benefit of both parties. But the Merchants of Grain, and the Merchants of Oil want their lion's share for producing absolutely nothing. The mob lives! The old men want their trophy wives, and their sons want their Ferraris. There's gonna be a fight somewhere down the road, sometime soon. They're ready for us with all their privately owned prisons, but even those aren't enough to hold millions of Americans. by Edward Ulysses Cate (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 232 comments [9 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007 at 1:58:55 PM (0+)
|
|
Kurds
The Kurds want independence and oppose the changes because it would reduce that. This seems to have to do with autonomy than the economics of the oil companies grabbing most of the profits. But then, if the Kurds could sign their own contracts, then it would be harder for the corporations to grab Kurdish oil through a central government deal. by Blue Pilgrim (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 997 comments) on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007 at 2:01:22 PM (0+)
|
Want to post your own comment on this Article? 
|
||||
|
||||||||||||||
Must Read (0) 
Well Said (0) 
News (0) 
Touching (0) 
Funny (0) 
Supported (0) 
Interesting (0) 
Inspiring (0) 
Valuable (0)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tell a Friend:
|
Copyright © 2002-2009, OpEdNews |
