ok, think of it this way. the iraqis could be a boom market to all the oil companies who were meeting to divvy up the treature after the bombs destroy everything else. just so that there can be no backtracking on it, let this quote live in infamy. any bets that it'll come back to haunt them?

The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, told the Boston Globe yesterday: "If there is a conflict with Iraq, the leader ship of the coalition [will] take control of Iraq. The oil of Iraq belongs to the Iraqi people. Whatever form of custodianship there is ... it will be held for and used for the people of Iraq. It will not be exploited for the United States' own purpose."

Asked whether US companies would operate the oilfields, Mr Powell said: "I don't have an answer to that question. If we are the occupying power, it will be held for the benefit of the Iraqi people and it will be operated for the benefit of the Iraqi people."

GUARDIAN 1/23/03

this meeting took place back in december btw.

At the meeting, on the future of a post-Saddam Iraq - details of which have been disclosed to the Guardian - the state department stressed that protection of the oilfields was "issue number one".

issue number one huh. i could see it being number 2, or even 3. but number one??