Iraqi oil gangs syphon off billions

[Fridays Child]

A new class of grand mafiosi sucking billions of pounds out of Iraq's vital oil sector is crippling efforts to rebuild the nation, according to an official report published in Baghdad.

The findings of the Oil Ministry's independent inspector-general painted a sordid picture of massive abuses pervading every corner of the industry, from the well-head to the petrol pump. It said that since Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003, the spread of smuggling had turned Iraq from a major exporter of petrol products into an importer.


Smuggling and other rackets cost Iraq more than £10bn a year


"These problems have led to the loss of billions of dollars, both in direct actual losses and in lost opportunities," the report concludes.

"This is robbing Iraq of historic opportunities for revival and reconstruction and of basic necessities for a ruined nation and heavily-burdened people." It calls for "radical and urgent action" to stop the abuses and punish those involved, including new legislation and penalties to make oil smuggling a crime of "grand economic sabotage".

More at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/28/wirq28.xml

[ClintonTyree]

1. How could this happen under the watchful eye of the Bush......

administration? :shrug: According to Rummy there are plenty of troops to get the job done, they should be able to break up the Iraqi mafiosi, right?

The Bush administration has screwed Iraq up so badly it may never recover. The "Decider" has a lot to be proud of! :sarcasm: Honestly, how does that piece of crap sleep at night? :grr:

[TomClash]

2. Do you think there's a relationship with Bush's Oil Gang?

Uh, yeah, that might be possible. :sarcasm:

[Fridays Child]

3. Where there is corruption, where there is graft...

...there is the Family Bush.

[ixion]

4. ah yes... that's a picture of the gang

creepy lookin' bunch of thugs. :grr:

[TomClash]

5. Right answer!

:)

[leftofthedial]

6. right according to the PNAC plan

I wonder if these mafiosi are in necon/Saudi employ, or will we have to spend trillions to subdue them when time comes to put Iraq's oil back online?

[Jim Warren]

8. "when time comes to put Iraq's oil back online? " LOL

Shirley, you jest.

[leftofthedial]

9. nope

as Saudi supplies and other current OPEC supplies dwindle, oil profits of today will look miniscule by comparison. Iraq will them mysteriously start to stabilize and their oil will begin to flow again without interference by "insurgents." This will allow the Saudis and neocon oil corporations to protract maximum profits out of dwindling supply before alternative technologies make petroleum obsolete.

If we all live long enough.

And stop calling me Shirley.

[Jim Warren]

10. OK, talkin' long term neo-con blues

It took me a spell to realize that while much of this "war" was indeed about oil; it pointedly was about removing that oil from the current market.

[leftofthedial]

11. removing it AND taking control of it

requires chaos

they aren't as incompetent as some would have us believe. "Incompetence" is their cover for their real scheme. Meanwhile Americans die and the country bankrupts itself.

The invasion of Iraq wasn't a war; it was a business plan.

[Cocoa]

7. Iraq's oil minister will clean this situation up

Ahmad Chalabi doesn't stand for corruption. :sarcasm: