Bush gives legal immunity to Oil Corporations operating in Iraq
T | 05.08.2003 13:19 | Globalisation
Some short extracts from an article on a pro-war, pro-military site:
"Most did not know that during the initial assault on Baghdad, soldiers set up forward bases named Camp Shell and Camp Exxon."
"Most did not know that during the initial assault on Baghdad, soldiers set up forward bases named Camp Shell and Camp Exxon."
"In the creation of the Development Fund for Iraq, it was argued that this was to alleviate the poverty in Iraq and was sold as Humanitarian Assistance yet "one finds the fingerprints of the global economic structural adjustment that has attracted so much protest in recent years. World Bank and IMF programs, backed by the rules of the World Trade Organization, have imposed dramatic financial restructuring upon much of the world. Developing countries have amassed huge debts in exchange for selling out their natural resources to powerful Northern corporations." (Ibid.)"
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"In other words, the U.S. government is happy to provide credit to any U.S. business wishing to do business in Iraq – especially because the money comes from Iraq. OPIC guarantees the investments with U.S. taxpayers dollars. For the Bush/Cheney oil administration and their allies in the oil industry, this was not enough. Hours after the UN endorsed U.S. control of the Development Fund for Iraq, Bush signed an executive order 13303 (see text below) that we were told was simply implementing Resolution 1483, but in reality, went much further towards attracting investment and minimizing risk for U.S. corporations in Iraq.
Executive Order 13303 states categorically that "any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void," with respect to the Development Fund for Iraq and "all Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein."
If ExxonMobil ChevronTexaco remove Iraqi oil, they will be immune from legal proceedings in the U.S.. Anything goes wrong where U.S. corporate oil operations are in play and they will be immune to any legal judgment. An oil tanker accident; an explosion at an oil refinery; pipelines destroyed, etc., "the President, with a stroke of the pen, signed away the rights of Saddam’s victims, creditors and of the next true Iraqi government to be compensated through legal action. Bush’s order unilaterally declares Iraqi oil to be the unassailable province of U.S. corporations. (Ibid.)"
>>The entire article can be found here
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Special%20Reports.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=14&rnd=832.3712775359911
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"In other words, the U.S. government is happy to provide credit to any U.S. business wishing to do business in Iraq – especially because the money comes from Iraq. OPIC guarantees the investments with U.S. taxpayers dollars. For the Bush/Cheney oil administration and their allies in the oil industry, this was not enough. Hours after the UN endorsed U.S. control of the Development Fund for Iraq, Bush signed an executive order 13303 (see text below) that we were told was simply implementing Resolution 1483, but in reality, went much further towards attracting investment and minimizing risk for U.S. corporations in Iraq.
Executive Order 13303 states categorically that "any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void," with respect to the Development Fund for Iraq and "all Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein."
If ExxonMobil ChevronTexaco remove Iraqi oil, they will be immune from legal proceedings in the U.S.. Anything goes wrong where U.S. corporate oil operations are in play and they will be immune to any legal judgment. An oil tanker accident; an explosion at an oil refinery; pipelines destroyed, etc., "the President, with a stroke of the pen, signed away the rights of Saddam’s victims, creditors and of the next true Iraqi government to be compensated through legal action. Bush’s order unilaterally declares Iraqi oil to be the unassailable province of U.S. corporations. (Ibid.)"
>>The entire article can be found here
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Special%20Reports.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=14&rnd=832.3712775359911
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