Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 *  http://www.accuracy.org *  ipa@accuracy.org
___________________________________________________

PM Monday, April 28, 2003

Interviews Available:
Will the Oil of Iraq Belong to the Iraqi People?

On Friday (April 25) the Wall Street Journal reported on U.S. government
plans to restructure Iraq's oil industry. These plans, which would replace
the oil ministry with a U.S. corporate model, are expected to be announced
this week. The Journal reports that the Iraqi oil industry will be overseen
by an "advisory board." The board is slated to be headed by Philip Carroll,
an American who is a former chief executive of Shell Oil, the U.S. arm of
Royal Dutch/Shell Group.

JAMES PAUL, (212) 557-3161, 724-1572,  james.paul@globalpolicy.org,
 http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/irqindx.htm
Executive director of the Global Policy Forum, which monitors policy-making
at the United Nations, Paul is author of the report "Oil in Iraq: The Heart
of the Crisis."

MICHAEL RENNER, (631) 369-6896,  mrenner@i-2000.com,
 http://www.fpif.org/papers/oil.html
Author of the report "Post-Saddam Iraq: Linchpin of a New Oil Order,"
Renner said today: "There's no shortage of Iraqis who know how to run the
oil industry, so why exactly do you need someone like Carroll? Competing
factions within the administration are jockeying to determine the specifics
of the industry's future. But it's likely that Iraqi oil is headed toward
de facto privatization -- a scheme that puts real control in the hands of
the oil multinationals."

DOUG HENWOOD, (212) 219-0010, (917) 865-2813,  dhenwood@panix.com,
 http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com
Editor of the Left Business Observer, Henwood said today: "This may not
have been a war about oil in the narrowest, most literal sense -- its
context is one of broad imperial ambition. But oil would still rank high on
any list of reasons. It's been widely noted that the U.S. military guarded
the oil ministry while the rest of Baghdad sank into chaos. Is that a taste
of what the administration has in mind for the whole country? Heavily
guarded oilfields run by Americans while the rest of Iraq can go to hell?"

FRANCIS BOYLE, (217) 333-7954,  fboyle@law.uiuc.edu
Professor of law at the University of Illinois and author of "Foundations
of World Order," Boyle said today: "The United Nations Security Council
must continue to control Iraq's oil and convert the proceeds into a trust
fund that it will administer for the benefit of the Iraqi people in
accordance with the international laws of belligerent occupation.
Otherwise, the Bush administration and its private sector cronies will loot
Iraq's oil fields, exploit the Iraqi people, and mortgage their future by
setting up a puppet government..."

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167


To join the IPA list, send any message to:
 mediagen-subscribe@lists.accuracy.org