Newly discovered FOIA documents from the State Department have caused BBC journalist Greg Palast to revisit an old but ever-relevant subject, the underpinnings of the US adventure in Iraq.
- Secret U.S. Plans For Iraq's Oil
By: Greg Palast Reporting for BBC Newsnight
Thur Mar 17, 2005 08:25 AM ET
MACON,GA.- The Bush administration made plans for war and for Iraq's oil before the 9/11 attacks sparking a policy battle between neo-cons and Big Oil, BBC's Newsnight has revealed.
Two years ago today - when President George Bush announced US, British and Allied forces would begin to bomb Baghdad - protestors claimed the US had a secret plan for Iraq's oil once Saddam had been conquered.
In fact there were two conflicting plans, setting off a hidden policy war between neo-conservatives at the Pentagon, on one side, versus a combination of "Big Oil" executives and US State Department "pragmatists."
"Big Oil" appears to have won. The latest plan, obtained by Newsnight from the US State Department was, we learned, drafted with the help of American oil industry consultants.
Insiders told Newsnight that planning began "within weeks" of Bush's first taking office in 2001, long before the September 11th attack on the US.
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