BBC NEWS: US planned Iraq invasion before 9/11
The Bush administration made plans for war and for Iraq's oil before the 9/11 attacks, sparking a policy battle between neo-cons and Big Oil, BBC's Newsnight has revealed.
Two years ago today - when President George Bush announced US, British and Allied forces would begin to bomb Baghdad - protesters claimed the US had a secret plan for Iraq's oil once Saddam had been conquered.
In fact there were two conflicting plans, setting off a hidden policy war between neo-conservatives at the Pentagon, on one side, versus a combination of "Big Oil" executives and US State Department "pragmatists".
"Big Oil" appears to have won. The latest plan, obtained by Newsnight from the US State Department was, we learned, drafted with the help of American oil industry consultants.
Insiders told Newsnight that planning began "within weeks" of Bush's first taking office in 2001, long before the September 11th attack on the US.
This is big -- bigger even than steroids in baseball. Yet my Google News search reveals that exactly zero mainstream American news sites are picking it up. Zilch.
I guess the "accountability moment" has passed on this issue.
Two years ago today - when President George Bush announced US, British and Allied forces would begin to bomb Baghdad - protesters claimed the US had a secret plan for Iraq's oil once Saddam had been conquered.
In fact there were two conflicting plans, setting off a hidden policy war between neo-conservatives at the Pentagon, on one side, versus a combination of "Big Oil" executives and US State Department "pragmatists".
"Big Oil" appears to have won. The latest plan, obtained by Newsnight from the US State Department was, we learned, drafted with the help of American oil industry consultants.
Insiders told Newsnight that planning began "within weeks" of Bush's first taking office in 2001, long before the September 11th attack on the US.
This is big -- bigger even than steroids in baseball. Yet my Google News search reveals that exactly zero mainstream American news sites are picking it up. Zilch.
I guess the "accountability moment" has passed on this issue.
posted by bluememe at 3/17/2005
8 Comments:
I'm not surprised that the mainstream U.S. press isn't carrying this. They've been curbing their coverage of the Bush administration for years now. Some journalists at mainstream pubs were even fired for writing articles too critical of the admin. So, I guess it falls to the independent press to get the ball rolling. The American people need the proof of what many of us "knee jerk liberals" have been saying all along...Bush came into office wanting to attack Iraq. All of the "justifications" for the war were just a coverup for that fact.
I'm not surprised that the mainstream U.S. press isn't carrying this. They've been curbing their coverage of the Bush administration for years now. Some journalists at mainstream pubs were even fired for writing articles too critical of the admin. So, I guess it falls to the independent press to get the ball rolling. The American people need the proof of what many of us "knee jerk liberals" have been saying all along...Bush came into office wanting to attack Iraq. All of the "justifications" for the war were just a coverup for that fact.
I'm not surprised that the mainstream U.S. press isn't carrying this. They've been curbing their coverage of the Bush administration for years now. Some journalists at mainstream pubs were even fired for writing articles too critical of the admin. So, I guess it falls to the independent press to get the ball rolling. The American people need the proof of what many of us "knee jerk liberals" have been saying all along...Bush came into office wanting to attack Iraq. All of the "justifications" for the war were just a coverup for that fact.
I'm not surprised that the mainstream U.S. press isn't carrying this. They've been curbing their coverage of the Bush administration for years now. Some journalists at mainstream pubs were even fired for writing articles too critical of the admin. So, I guess it falls to the independent press to get the ball rolling. The American people need the proof of what many of us "knee jerk liberals" have been saying all along...Bush came into office wanting to attack Iraq. All of the "justifications" for the war were just a coverup for that fact.
I'm not surprised that the mainstream U.S. press isn't carrying this. They've been curbing their coverage of the Bush administration for years now. Some journalists at mainstream pubs were even fired for writing articles too critical of the admin. So, I guess it falls to the independent press to get the ball rolling. The American people need the proof of what many of us "knee jerk liberals" have been saying all along...Bush came into office wanting to attack Iraq. All of the "justifications" for the war were just a coverup for that fact.
I'm not surprised that the mainstream U.S. press isn't carrying this. They've been curbing their coverage of the Bush administration for years now. Some journalists at mainstream pubs were even fired for writing articles too critical of the admin. So, I guess it falls to the independent press to get the ball rolling. The American people need the proof of what many of us "knee jerk liberals" have been saying all along...Bush came into office wanting to attack Iraq. All of the "justifications" for the war were just a coverup for that fact.
Sorry, didn't mean to post that 6 times. I.E. is on the fritz.
Sorry, didn't mean to post that 6 times. I.E. is on the fritz.
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