British lawmaker: Iraq war was for oil
by Adam Porter in Lisbon
MEACHER BELIEVED THE IRAQ WAR WAS FOUGHT TO CONTROL SUPPLIES
Labour politician and former UK environment minister Michael Meacher has slammed Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush for starting a war, he says, to secure oil interests.
Speaking on Friday on the sidelines of the fourth International Workshop on Oil and Gas Depletion in Lisbon, Portugal, Meacher, a member of the British parliament, said: "The reason they attacked Iraq is nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction, it was nothing to do with democracy in Iraq, it was nothing to do with the human rights abuses of Saddam Hussein."
When asked by Aljazeera.net whether the war in Iraq was about oil he said: "The connection is 100%. It is absolutely overwhelming."
Meacher connected the wars in Iraq with a desire by US and UK interests to dominate oil supplies in times of increasing market volatility. He also thought the war was designed to pressure Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil supplier.
Middle East control?
"It was principally, totally and comprehensively to do with oil," Meacher continued. "This was about assuming control over the Middle East and over Iraq, the second largest producer and also over Saudi Arabia next door.
MEACHER CRITICISED BUSH AND BLAIR FOR GOING TO WAR FOR OIL INTERESTS
"It was about securing as much as possible of the remaining supplies of oil and also over the Caspian basin, which of course is Afghanistan."
MEACHER ALSO SAID THE US HAD POOR ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS.
"American power plants waste more energy than is needed to run the whole Japanese economy," he said. "They have set their face against the Kyoto protocol."
He then went on to talk of "apocalyptic" energy problems facing the world, including the possibilities of serious shortages in the world oil supply due to ongoing field depletion.
Meacher painted a picture of spiralling oil costs as high as '$100 or $150 a barrel' creating massive social dislocation.
These difficulties could cause "war, revolutions and migration on a scale we have never before seen", he said.
Aljazeera - By Adam Porter in Lisbon
You can find this article at: TinyUrl - http://tinyurl.com/9cnfd - Or Url.: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AC9B68BD-9853-494D-AB7D-A5EF74C46694.htm
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*The Dutch author this far has worked abroad 4 decades for international media as a fully independent foreign correspondent, of which 10 years - also during Gulf War I - in the Arab World and the Middle East. Seeing worldwide that every bullet and every bomb breeds more terrorism !
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MEACHER BELIEVED THE IRAQ WAR WAS FOUGHT TO CONTROL SUPPLIES
Labour politician and former UK environment minister Michael Meacher has slammed Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush for starting a war, he says, to secure oil interests.
Speaking on Friday on the sidelines of the fourth International Workshop on Oil and Gas Depletion in Lisbon, Portugal, Meacher, a member of the British parliament, said: "The reason they attacked Iraq is nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction, it was nothing to do with democracy in Iraq, it was nothing to do with the human rights abuses of Saddam Hussein."
When asked by Aljazeera.net whether the war in Iraq was about oil he said: "The connection is 100%. It is absolutely overwhelming."
Meacher connected the wars in Iraq with a desire by US and UK interests to dominate oil supplies in times of increasing market volatility. He also thought the war was designed to pressure Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil supplier.
Middle East control?
"It was principally, totally and comprehensively to do with oil," Meacher continued. "This was about assuming control over the Middle East and over Iraq, the second largest producer and also over Saudi Arabia next door.
MEACHER CRITICISED BUSH AND BLAIR FOR GOING TO WAR FOR OIL INTERESTS
"It was about securing as much as possible of the remaining supplies of oil and also over the Caspian basin, which of course is Afghanistan."
MEACHER ALSO SAID THE US HAD POOR ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS.
"American power plants waste more energy than is needed to run the whole Japanese economy," he said. "They have set their face against the Kyoto protocol."
He then went on to talk of "apocalyptic" energy problems facing the world, including the possibilities of serious shortages in the world oil supply due to ongoing field depletion.
Meacher painted a picture of spiralling oil costs as high as '$100 or $150 a barrel' creating massive social dislocation.
These difficulties could cause "war, revolutions and migration on a scale we have never before seen", he said.
Aljazeera - By Adam Porter in Lisbon
You can find this article at: TinyUrl - http://tinyurl.com/9cnfd - Or Url.: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AC9B68BD-9853-494D-AB7D-A5EF74C46694.htm
Fwd. by:
FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
http://tinyurl.com/4bm9d
Editor : Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/66dmo
The Netherlands
FPF@Chello.nl
*The Dutch author this far has worked abroad 4 decades for international media as a fully independent foreign correspondent, of which 10 years - also during Gulf War I - in the Arab World and the Middle East. Seeing worldwide that every bullet and every bomb breeds more terrorism !
FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. - Url.: http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html
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