Iraqi oil and the American consumer- are we better off?

Now that Greenspan has acknowledged that the invasion and occupation of Iraq is about securing Iraqi oil reserves, we can look a little more realistically at the whole situation. We always knew it, of course.

One reason, perhaps the main reason, that the American people have put up with the illegal military operation in Iraq is that we are dependent on automobiles, and the fear of running out of oil has been drummed into us.

Although it hasn't been stated, many Americans assume that if "we" control Iraqi oil, the price of gasoline will remain within reasonable limits. Of course, if the US military, who are paid with the tax dollars of We the People, can secure Iraqi oil, we the consumers get the benefits. RIGHT?

WRONG, for a couple of reasons:

1) the ongoing turmoil in Iraq has essentially removed 4 million barrels/day of oil from the world market- about 5%. Meanwhile, demand continues to increase. With supply shorter, the price goes up.

2) the main goal of the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq is to privatize Iraqi oil. This helps the buddies of Bush and Cheney in the multinational oil corporations. What is the effect on the American consumer?

By contrast, the private corporations- Exxon-Mobil, Shell and the others, have a stated goal of maximizing profits for stockholders. It is in their interest to raise the price of oil as much as possible, and gouge consumers. Privatizing Iraqi oil benefits the big international oil companies and HURTS consumers.

Let's look at some facts.

The price of gasoline has gone up 50% since March 2003, when the US illegally invaded Iraq. It averaged $2.00/gallon at that time, now it's over $3.00/ gallon.

Profits of the big oil conglomerates have gone way up. According to the London Times 7/27/2006 :