Hands off Iraqi Oil Day of Action - Cardiff Protest
Adam Johannes | 17.02.2008 15:58
(OR meet 1.30 pm, Nye Bevan Statue, Queen Street to walk there!)
Day of Action - Saturday 23 February
Called by Hands off Iraqi Oil
Supported by Stop the War Coaliton
www.HandsOffIraqiOil.org
Assemble 2 pm at Total Garage on Cathedral Road, Cardiff
(or meet 1.30 Nye Bevan Statue, Queen Street to walk there!)
STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE
For the Iraqi people, the ongoing war and occupation have led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, relentless insecurity and crippling poverty. But for foreign oil companies, the desperate situation in Iraq is an opportunity to make massive profits at the expense of the Iraqi people.
WHY NOW?
In February 2007 the Iraqi cabinet approved an oil law which, if passed into law, would allow the likes of Shell, BP, Total and Exxon to take over control of most of Iraq's oil reserves, depriving ordinary Iraqis of scores of billions of dollars. Shell and BP, with the help of the UK Government have been actively pushing for this law and these contracts since 2003.
One year on, despite five US administration- and IMF- imposed deadlines, the law is still being contested at every level of Iraqi society. However, a 18th February deadline for international oil companies to register to compete for tenders to help develop Iraq's oil represents a first official foot in the door.
We need to keep the pressure up here in the UK and support the Iraqi people in their ongoing fight.
IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO STOP THEM
The Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions is at the forefront of grassroots campaigning against the privatisation of Iraq’s oil industry and has threatened strike action should the law go ahead. Oil experts, lawyers, academics, trade unionists, and students are rejecting the occupation-imposed oil law and the economic occupation it serves.
Who should decide the future of Iraq’s economy and resources? The people of Iraq, or oil companies like Shell, ESSO, Total and BP?
HASSAN JUMA'A, LEADER OF THE IRAQI FEDERATION OF OIL UNIONS WILL BE VISITING CARDIFF AND WILL BE THE HEADLINE SPEAKER AT THE CARDIFF WORLD AGAINST WAR CONFERENCE:
MONDAY 3RD MARCH at 7.30 PM, LAW BUILDING, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY, PARK PLACE ALONGSIDE SPEAKERS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT
Adam Johannes
e-mail:
cardiff_troopsout@hotmail.com