Back in 1972 iraq nationalized its oil industry
(remember communism was just a red herring - it was
economic nationalization that really scarred western
democracies-cum-capitalistocracies) but in the next
few days big western oil firms will be offered 30 year
contracts to extract iraqi crude at way above market
rates (something like 70% of profits until investment
is recouped).

news reports blather on about whether to send a few
more or a lot more folks to die and to kill. not
surprising of course but here's a little detailed
unpacking: weekly progress reports from the us state
department offer upbeat reports on, well, progress in
iraq. they are written by a consulting firm
BearingPoint.

who are these guys? "BearingPoint was the first of
the Big Five consulting firms to separate from its
audit and tax parent and become an independent,
publicly traded company. The crisis that engulfed the
accounting profession in the wake of the Enron/Arthur
Andersen scandal later that year (led to)
BearingPoint's dramatic expansion by acquiring most of
Arthur Andersen's worldwide consulting operations."

coincidentally, they have a $200 million contract to
"Create Iraq's budget, Write business law, Set up tax
collection, Lay out trade and customs rules, Privatize
state-owned enterprises, Reopen banks, Issue a new
currency and set exchange rates" - amongst other
things.

good independent source for information? sure, why
not! state dept bureacracy at its best.

nice! the folks overseeing enron write progress
reports on iraq's government and finances with a $200
million dollar, what?, conflict of interest perhaps.

but wait, there's more!

"The BearingPoint employees, who work out of offices
in the State Department, arrange the meetings, set the
agendas, take notes and provide summaries of the
discussions. They also maintain the Web site of the
U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. As any veteran of
bureaucratic wars surely knows, whoever arranges
meetings, sets agendas, and takes the official notes
determines the policy, regardless of who is nominally
in charge."

ah, consulting. such a simple, pretty little word.

so as the new york times (and other bastions of
journalistic jingoism and integrity) can't put
reporters on the way too dangerous streets of baghdad,
they pull from the state department "progress reports"
and the circle is closed. whew. nice and tidy.

lets hope they suceed in stabilizing the situation for
exxonmobil. (everyone needs a team to root for!)

(counterpunch helped write this article)