I'm not sure if anyone picked-up on Bush's mention of Iraq's oil at his press conference this morning.
Maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there, but I will let you decide for yourself:
From Bush's Press Conference:
To revitalize the Iraqi economy, the Prime Minister is working to increase oil and electricity production. We spent a lot of time talking about energy in Iraq. I reminded the government that that oil belongs to the Iraqi people, and the government has the responsibility to be good stewards of that valuable asset and valuable resource.
We have -- we're working with the Iraqi government on measures to protect key infrastructure from insurgent attacks. There's rapid repair teams that are being established that will quickly restore oil and electricity production if and when attacks do occur.
I've directed the Secretary of Energy to travel to Iraq to meet with his counterpart and identify ways we can provide additional support. It's up to the Iraqis to pass a hydrocarbon law, which they're now debating. It's up -- for the Iraqi government to decide what to do with the people's asset. Our advice is to be careful, and to develop it with the people's interest in mind.
This seems to me to be the start of the Big Oil/Cheney Plan for Iraq's Oil assets. I wonder to which 'people' Bush is referring. And did the Iraqi's really need to be reminded that it is their oil?
Recall from Greg Palast in March 2005:
The industry-favoured plan was pushed aside by a secret plan, drafted just before the invasion in 2003, which called for the sell-off of all of Iraq's oil fields. The new plan was crafted by neo-conservatives intent on using Iraq's oil to destroy the Opec cartel through massive increases in production above Opec quotas....
New plans, obtained from the State Department by Newsnight and Harper's Magazine under the US Freedom of Information Act, called for creation of a state-owned oil company favoured by the US oil industry. It was completed in January 2004 under the guidance of Amy Jaffe of the James Baker Institute in Texas.
Formerly US Secretary of State, Baker is now an attorney representing Exxon-Mobil and the Saudi Arabian government.
Watch for any reports of Baker heading to Iraq.