Iraqi pipeline sabotage.. (We aren't hearing much about these)

[SoCalDem]

A fire at the oil pipeline in Tikrit, 180 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, Iraq continues to burn on Saturday March 13, 2004 after being sabotaged by insurgents Friday evening. Insurgents have been attacking oil pipelines around the country. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
AP - Mar 13 9:07 AM

[Jacobin]

1. There was a post on LBN the other day saying that

there were so many attacks on the pipelines that they had decided to move all the oil by TRUCK.

Lots of interesting responses to the post wondering how many tens of thousands of tanker trucks it would take per day to get to their 2 Million barrel a day target.

The people running our country are completely and utterly insane.

[bemildred]

2. Oil by truck.

Yep, that's all you need to know about the pipelines.
FWIW, many posters here, including yours truly, predicted
before the war started that they would never be able to protect
those pipes. So much for "Focus Groups".

[nodictators]

6. Wasn't that also the reason Unocal pulled out of Afghanistan?

Seems they found they couldn't expect protect their proposed pipeline across Afghanistan.

[bemildred]

7. Yeah, things are not well in Colombia for that reason, too.

Pumping oil in guerilla war zones is not very profitable.

[madrchsod]

3. plenty of jobs

for truck drivers over there- just saw the list in the local unemployment office.

[kalian]

4. No, we don't hear much about this anymore...but....

its interesting how the pipelines headed towards Turkey are the ones
that are being sabatoged. The one headed for Israel is doing mighty
fine thank you very much....

[bemildred]

5. Are you implying that there is oil going through the Mosul pipe? nt

[kalian]

8. Not yet....

but its in the works. Can't have competition you know...

On edit:
Here's an interesting website
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/wot/iraq/mosulhaifapipeline.html

On second edit:
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=9937

Looks like the Turks aren't veryt happy, no? So, who would benefit
from sabatoging the pipelines heading into Turkey?
I can't really accuse the Kurds since they're fighting for land in
northern Iraq and would reap huge bennies from "rights of passage"
charges going through their turf.

[bemildred]

9. The Mosul pipe has been in the plan from the beginning.

It is not up because they cannot secure it. It has a much
longer run across the middle of god-awful nowhere. They
tried the Turkey pipes because they were delusional about
the security issues, they have a near infinite faith in the
efficacy of military force to solve problems. The only place
they have things running is in the South, where they are working
in various ways to expand capacity. In the N. they appear to
be SOL, hence the trucks so that they can pretend the issue is
being dealt with.

[bemildred]

10. Oil is very critical.

Modern war machines don't run without lots of petroleum.
Both Israel and Turkey are selling fuel TO Iraq, one of
the richest oil countries in the World.

[cliss]

11. I haven't heard much about that, SCD

I've written in several posts that this is a "great" target for the resistance fighters in Iraq. They know how much we need the oil. After all, that's why we marched in.

I believe there are 900 miles of pipeline in Iraq, and most of it is above ground, making it a very promising target (lots of smoke) and lots of tears shed by Helliburton.

Plus, it's relatively easy to do. An Iraqi could take a car, drive out to the pipeline late in the evening, and set up a timed detonation device which would blow up at a later time. The Iraqi sets the timer, drives home & eats dinner. Next morning: voila.

It's less risky for the Iraqi also, because when they overtly take aim at American soldiers (or even their own people), they often get found and executed on the spot.

So it's much easier to target the pipelines, which very probably are more damaging to the occupation than shooting american troops. It's doubtful that the military cares more for its own soldiers than the precious "black gold".