In a pure coincidence, Gaddafi impeded U.S. oil interests before the war

[TomClash]

When the war in Libya began, the U.S. government convinced a large number of war supporters that we were there to achieve the very limited goal of creating a no-fly zone in Benghazi to protect civilians from air attacks, while President Obama specifically vowed that "broadening our military mission to include regime change would be a mistake." This no-fly zone was created in the first week, yet now, almost three months later, the war drags on without any end in sight, and NATO is no longer even hiding what has long been obvious: that its real goal is exactly the one Obama vowed would not be pursued -- regime change through the use of military force. We're in Libya to forcibly remove Gaddafi from power and replace him with a regime that we like better, i.e., one that is more accommodating to the interests of the West. That's not even a debatable proposition at this point.

What I suppose is debatable, in the most generous sense of that term, is our motive in doing this. Why -- at a time when American political leaders feel compelled to advocate politically radioactive budget cuts to reduce the deficit and when polls show Americans solidly and increasingly opposed to the war -- would the U.S. Government continue to spend huge sums of money to fight this war? Why is President Obama willing to endure self-evidently valid accusations -- even from his own Party -- that he's fighting an illegal war by brazenly flouting the requirements for Congressional approval? Why would Defense Secretary Gates risk fissures by so angrily and publicly chiding NATO allies for failing to build more Freedom Bombs to devote to the war? And why would we, to use the President's phrase, "stand idly by" while numerous other regimes -- including our close allies in Bahrain and Yemen and the one in Syria -- engage in attacks on their own people at least as heinous as those threatened by Gaddafi, yet be so devoted to targeting the Libyan leader?

<snip>

By the time Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited in 2008, U.S. joint ventures accounted for 510,000 of Libya's 1.7 million barrels a day of production, a State Department cable said. . . .

But all was not well. By November 2007, a State Department cable noted "growing evidence of Libyan resource nationalism." It noted that in his 2006 speech marking the founding of his regime, Gaddafi said: "Oil companies are controlled by foreigners who have made millions from them. Now, Libyans must take their place to profit from this money." His son made similar remarks in 2007.

<snip>

Yet when representatives of the rebel coalition in Benghazi spoke to the U.S.-Libya Business Council in Washington four weeks ago, representatives from ConocoPhillips and other oil firms attended, according to Richard Mintz, a public relations expert at the Harbour Group, which represents the Benghazi coalition. In another meeting in Washington, Ali Tarhouni, the lead economic policymaker in Benghazi, said oil contracts would be honored, Mintz said.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/06/11/libya/index.html

What a surprise - blood for oil. Where are Big Oil's paid trolls now?

[Octafish]

1. Oil? Who knew? We were such good friends, it never came up.

And to think I was wondering why there wasn't time for an election before we started bombing.

[n2doc]

2. Bingo! n/t

[bvar22]

3. You know,

...if these WARS were to secure energy FOR the American People, I could understand them...
not Support them, but understand them.

The American People pay the Price for the OIL in Blood, Treasure, and Blowback,
but do NOT actually get ANY of the Oil.
The Oil is given to the MultiNational Oil Corporations who then
SELL it on the World Market for the BEST possible profit.
If YOU want some of the OIL that your son DIED for,
YOU have to BUY it from the Global Oil Corporations.

The American Taxpayers PAY for The OIL/GAS FOUR Times:
1)Blood & Taxpayer Money to directly prosecute The WARS,

2)Homeland Security to handle the Blowback,

3)Profit for the Oil Corporations at The Pump,
and,
4)Billions in "subsidies" for the Oil Corporations

THATS quite a racket.

"And everyone has a share!" shouted Milo
as the American planes began dropping bombs on their own base.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=607284&mesg_id=607300


Anyone who STILL believes that the USA is in 5 WARS (that we KNOW about) in the Middle East
to spread Freedom & Democracy is a Damned Fool.

[Kaleko]

15. Tell it.

Great post.

[slipslidingaway]

4. knr nt

[slipslidingaway]

5. Conflict in Libya: U.S. oil companies sit on sidelines as Gaddafi maintains hold

Direct link to the Washington Post article quoted by Greenwald.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/conflict-in-libya-us-oil-companies-sit-on-sidelines-as-gaddafi-maintains-hold/2011/06/03/AGJq2QPH_story.html

"It struck some visitors to the Houston office of ConocoPhillips chief executive Jim Mulva as peculiar that he displayed a photograph of himself and Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.

...In late February 2008, Mulva was “summoned to Sirte for a half-hour ‘browbeating’ ” from Gaddafi, according to a U.S. State Department cable made available by WikiLeaks. Gaddafi “threatened to dramatically reduce Libya’s oil production and/or expel . . . U.S. oil and gas companies,” the cable said.

Now, this troubled marriage and the promise of billions of barrels of oil have been dashed by the fighting and Gaddafi’s refusal to relinquish power. Much is at stake; oil industry executives say companies such as ConocoPhillips and Marathon have each invested about $700 million over the past six years. But the U.S. oil companies have been pushed to the sidelines, waiting for the conflict to end..."

[TomClash]

6. Good catch

I couldn't find it easily. :thumbsup:

[slipslidingaway]

7. And Greenwald makes an important point, so much has been revelaed by WikiLeaks ...

"...(1) The reason -- the only reason -- we know about any of this is because WikiLeaks (and, allegedly, Bradley Manning) disclosed to the world the diplomatic cables which detail these conflicts. Virtually the entirety of the Post article -- like most significant revelations over the last 12 months, especially in the Middle East and North Africa -- are based exclusively on WikiLeaks disclosures. That's why we know about Gaddafi's increasingly strident demands for the "Libyanization" of his country's resource exploitation. That's how we know about most of the things we've learned about the world's most powerful political and corporate factions over the last 12 months. Is there anything easier to understand than why U.S. Government officials are so eager to punish WikiLeaks and deter future transparency projects of this sort?"

[Distant Observer]

11. In the end the Oil companies, not the West, will be the only ones to benefit. Hatred of the West

and greater suspicion regarding Western intentions in Libya and throughout Africa will be the fruit of this civil war which has spiraled into a destructiveness few imagined at the start.

[Fumesucker]

8. “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.”

-Auric Goldfinger

[Distant Observer]

9. What I find amazing is absolute arogance of the humanitarian boosters,, even as they are being USED

to pursue the unspoken agendas behind all the Western-backed killing.

[hulka38]

10. General Khalifa Hifter who leads the Libyan rebels

is the CIAs man in Libya. He spent much of the last 20 years in a suburb five minutes away from Langley.

More here: David Bromwich
Chris Adams-McClatchy

[TomClash]

12. Yes

When many DU members were lusting for the Libyan War I posted the McClatchy article about him.

Oil.

[Distant Observer]

13. The opportunistic nature of the Libya Action is obvious: Combo, of jihadist groups, Western intel,

and humanitarians serving as "useful idiots" to the PNAC crowd.

[hulka38]

14. Right. The thought became, we can use this Arab Spring

to finally root out an oiligarch we never really had control over and claim it's humanitarian and democratic. Meanwhile, over in the Arabian Peninsula, we're trying to quash the non-CIA sponsored Arab Spring because those oiligarchs are our guys.

[EFerrari]

16. It's not even "just" oil.

The Post-Gaddafi Boom: In Libya, Foreign Bankers See a Coming Bonanza


http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2076467,00.html