“WE WENT TO WAR FOR THE OIL COMPANIES” Kucinich Tells Congress
Demands Bush Administration and Oil Company Execs be Held Accountable
Washington, DC (June 26, 2008)-- US Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, in a speech to the House of Representatives today, tied the secret meetings of the Cheney Energy Task Force to the recent award of non-competitive oil contracts in Iraq and said that both the Bush Administration and the oil company executives who participated in those meetings in 2001 should be held criminally liable for an illegal war and extortion of Iraq’s oil.
“In March of 2001, when the Bush Administration began to have secret meetings with oil company executives from Exxon, Shell and BP, spreading maps of Iraq oil fields before them, the price of oil was $23.96 per barrel. Then there were 63 companies in 30 countries, other than the US, competing for oil contracts with Iraq.
“Today the price of oil is $135.59 per barrel, the US Army is occupying Iraq and the first Iraq oil contracts will go, without competitive bidding to, surprise, (among a very few others) Exxon, Shell and BP.
“Iraq has between 200 – 300 billion barrels of oil with a market value in the tens of trillions of dollars. And our government is trying to force Iraq not only to privatize its oil, but to accept a long-term US military presence to guard the oil and protect the profits of the oil companies while Americans pay between $4 and $5 a gallon for gas, while our troops continue dying.
“We attacked a nation that did not attack us. Over 4000 of our troops are dead. Over 1,000,000 innocent Iraqis have perished. The war will cost US taxpayers between $2 - $3 trillion dollars. Our nation’s soul is stained because we went to war for the oil companies and their profits. There must be accountability not only with this Administration for its secret meetings and its open illegal warfare but also for the oil company executives who were willing participants in a criminal enterprise of illegal war, the deaths of our soldiers and innocent Iraqis and the extortion of the national resources of Iraq.
“We have found the weapon of mass destruction in Iraq. It is oil. As long as the oil companies control our government Americans will continue to pay and pay, with our lives, our fortunes our sacred honor,” he concluded.
###
- Login or register to post comments
- Email this page
- Printer-friendly version
- Spotlight this page



The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison
Nonviolent Struggle: 50 Crucial Points
George W. Bush, War Criminal?: The Bush Administration's Liability for 269 War Crimes
Nonviolence: Twenty-Five Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea
A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict
Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential
A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush
The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld
The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder
Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law
United States v. George W. Bush et al.
The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism
Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush
The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens
The Case for Impeachment
Impeach the President: The Case Against Bush and Cheney
George W. Bush versus the U.S. Constitution: The Downing Street Memos and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Cover-ups in the Iraq War and Illegal Domestic Spying
Verdict and Findings of Fact
Impeach Bush: A Funny Li'l Graphical Novel About the Worstest Pres'dent in the History of Forevar
Pretensions to Empire: Notes on the Criminal Folly of the Bush Administration
The Twilight of Democracy: The Bush Plan for America













www.VelvetRevolution.us
HE IS THE MAN!
“We have found the weapon of mass destruction in Iraq. It is oil."
I am proud I supported his re election campaign in congress.
Go DENNIS!
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE TALL TO BE THE GREATEST!
Dennis Kucinich X 537
There is only one untainted, uncompromised, champion of the US Constitution and the People's Liberty it was intended to protect, and that's Dennis Kucinich.
Getting our country back will require us to elect 536 more people just like him, that's 434 more Representatives plus 100 more Senators plus 2 in the White House... Dennis Kucinich is today's Gold Standard for Public Service.
ixoxi
Guess what Alan Greenspan wrote in his book....
“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil".
Alan visited the Whitehouse more than any chairman of the Federal Reserve, sometimes on a weekly basis - I wonder where he picked up that astute observation?
Worthy of the Respect of our Founding Fathers
Dennis Kucinich has more integrity than the rest of the Senate and House combined. Along with a very few others (Dodd, Leahy, Waters, Lee, Wexler) of our elected officials he can be referred to as a true American Patriot and worthy of the respect of our Founding Fathers. Thank you Dennis Kucinich.
You forgot Paul
Even if you don't agree with Paul's minimal government approach, he stands tall with Kucinich, Wexler, Feingold etc.
Dodd a Patriot? Hahahaha
So that's why he proposed a ridiculous bank bailout bill that is nearly identical to an internal Bank of America document from two months prior? (Bank of America, the same bank that contributed something like $70,000 to him). Oh yeah, Dodd, the same guy that got favorable loan terms and claimed he was basically too ignorant to realize it, but sophisticated enough to propose a banking bill, somehow, after asking a bunch of irrelevant and frankly dumb questions in the weeks leading up to the bill?
They are limiting banks losses to 10% decrease in home value (even though in CA, where the biggest problem is, is -30%), oh plus of course that tiny clause about the government buying back foreclosures, and rumors of Ginny guaranteeing the repackaged loans..... absolutely disgraceful and CERTAINLY NOT PATRIOTIC behavior from Senator Dodd, whom I once respected but no longer.
Not to take away from Mr. Kucinich's well put rebuke of Cheney and the "big oil administration." Five years later, as it's revealed that it "Really Was All About The Oil," it's refreshing to hear a politician willing to say it. If only he wasn't so easily painted by his adversaries as some crazy guy -- we don't get this level of straight talk from other politicians.
Dennis tells the truth
This is what we want from a Representative - not weasel mouthed nuance but the straight truth.
yes it was a about oil
thank god we have access to this oil
I suggested we impeach those lying SOBs
My Congresscritter was shocked -- shocked at the suggestion that starting an illegal, immoral, horrific war using what will later be learned to have been weapons of mass destruction could be suggested to be impeachable.
Let me set the record straight. Impeaching GW Bush and Dick Cheney has absolutely nothing to do with getting even for the impeachment of that sleazy piece of pond scum Bill Clinton. It has to do with accountability for all the death and destruction caused by these evil doers.
It is evil to poison a nation and your own troops with Depleted Uranium (look it up). They call that supporting the troops. I don't think sending soldier to kill and die for oil is acceptable. Let's find out if the American people agree. Let's have a real investigation of all the article of impeachment presented or maybe just a few.
Dennis Kucinich is an American hero.
4Peace
nation needs to know
This has got to get out to all of the news outlets.Unreal!!!!!!!!!!
Kucinich: A hero in Cleveland & Congress
He stood his ground as Cleveland's mayor, and though inevitably proved right for not allowing the privatization of the city owned power company, he lost his re-election campaign; as he knew he would - for doing the right thing.
Now, in Congress, he's continues to fight for us. Standing his ground as he proclaims for all to hear, the truth.
God bless Iraqi oil!
The price of oil has more to do with China and India than it has to do with past violence in Iraq. Owing to China and India's development, current supply and demand is very, very close which means that any little shock has volatile consequences. With China signing exclusive options for oil with the likes of Hugo Chavez and outmaneuvering us in the search for oil 90 miles off the Florida coast, we NEED to lock up our own supplies -- enter Iraqi oil and the advance teams of Exxon, Shell, and BP.
The overthrow of Iraq was largely for oil, duh. We have fought wars for more dubious reasons.
BTW, it must really chap your hide that Iraq is righting itself and peace is breaking out huh?
Percentages.
What I am confused about is that there is still 20-30% of the 'polled' US citizens that still think that we should be in this war; that is (if counting only adults) between 34-51 million adults citizens (using census data from 2006, www.census.gov) that think this war is not only justifiable but indeed non-criminal. What of this significant population? How do we (the majority) get to them? That minority has a loud voice and likes to try and win arguments with a 'he who talks louder wins' method which encourages most of the majority (the remaining 70-80% that think this war is unjustified and criminal) to just write them off (cliché). We cannot write them off...they are up in arms about 12 million undocumented immigrants but 'we' are not up in arms about them? They are a hazard! They (also) represent American values and culture worldwide. We, as a nation, need to stop putting up with the 'crazy uncle' syndrome of just pretending they live in a silent world where they harm no one with their words; this minorities words are very impacting and dangerous...and now they are in control of the helm of our great nation. We must hold this minority accountable for their actions; we must let it be very clear that we are a nation of integrity where when the spirit of the law is not implicate, that spirit exists; we should grasp on to the spirit of American values and cherish them more deeply than any other gift given to us as American citizens.
We have won the lottery here; we must be humble with our winnings.