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In the late 1990s when now Vice President Dick Cheney lead a policy group that designed an invasion of Iraq, he was well aware that there were no alternative energy technologies that could be deployed on a nation-wide scale that had industry level capability and that could also benefit international oil companies. As the leading economic business and industrial nation in the world, the United States needs to immediately lock down large and reliable oil reserves. Failure to do so would put American economic and military domination of the planet in free fall, catalyzed by a catastrophic drought in energy supplies and severe economic depression that would quickly spread world-wide. This of course, is an option that cannot be considered. Thus is defined a situation of enormous priority and highest national security importance to the United States.

In the neo-conservative viewpoint, international, collaborative diplomacy as an approach to forging alliances with oil supplier countries whose governments and politics do not follow neo-conservative economic and so-called 'democratic' principles was, and remains, of no interest. A foreign/energy policy based in an honest, understanding of mutual interdependency and mutually beneficial economic and business interests (as opposed to unilateral military intervention and resource control by seizure and occupation) had, and apparently still does have, little credibility and was never seriously considered. This issue will be further explored in the second article of this series that deals with Iran where several nations have forged peaceful and powerful relationships with that country's energy industry.

The third module of this bibliography focuses upon money. The cost of the gratuitous invasion of Iraq is staggering, its effect upon the US economy is devastating yet barely considered in the American press. Political and business corruption, lost and stolen funds and oil of huge proportions, and dictatorial business practices designed to only benefit the oil industry's largest corporations reads like a small scale pirate's tale that was blown up to the size of a globe spanning, science fiction epic. The United States in Iraq is not Pirates of the Caribbean but the Pirates of Mesopotamia. The wide spread death, cruelty and suffering engendered makes this a horrifying tale that calls forth anger, sadness and despair. Johnny Depp would never take the starring role in this film, I cannot imagine who would. Draconian approaches by the IMF and American interests are designed emasculate the Iraqi oil industry and economy, thereby to create a business and financial structure wherein there is maximum level of control and profit flowing to the United States and several major international oil corporations. The Iraqi people in these scenarios become little more than collateral and unavoidable damage to be immobilized and set aside as quickly as possible. Witness the battle going on this spring in Iraq about a new oil industry law that is designed to first and foremost serve the interests of the United States and several international oil companies via insidious CPAs.

The troop surge in Baghdad is underway and failing. United States involvement in Iraq is hopelessly polluted by greed, blind imperial ambition and a maniacal policy to control Middle East oil resources by force. The Bush administration with extreme hubris has begun to clone the insidious process by which false intelligence is once again created, thereby to possibly justify an attack on Iran. This President, and his inner circle of 21st century imperialists lead by Vice President Cheney are on the public record as having no interest in what last November's elections implied for Iraq policy; nor what several three and four star generals and former employees of the CIA have stated about our destructive adventures in Iraq, nor the verdict of the United Nations and world opinion. Bush, Cheny and their team have endangered American national security, first and foremost by alienating a majority of those countries that control the world's oil and gas resources; set loose the 'dogs of war', and fueled the violent, global jihad of radical Islam and endangered national security, first and foremost by alienating those countries that control the world's oil and gas resources.

Core Bibliography
Background and Foreground
1. Rolling Back the 20th Century by William Greider;
2. A Journalist Writing Bloody Murder…And No One Notices by Tom Engelhardt;
3a,b. Is the Administration’s new policy benefiting our enemies in the war on terrorism? by Seymour Hersh;
.... Iraq as a Cauldron of State Terrorism by Michael Schwartz;
4a,b,c. They've helped ruin the country. Meet Dick Cheney and his staff by Robert Dreyfuss; .... Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduces three articles of impeachment against Vice President Cheney by Kaveh L Afrasiabi .... Kucinich's Impeachment Train by Dave Lindorff;
5. Will Iraq Become the Democrat's War? by David Swanson;

The Iraq War, the Baghdad Surge
6. Behind the Surge: A Democratic Sell-out on Bush's Mercenaries by Jeremy Scahill;
7. Tick... Tick... in Washington and Baghdad by Tom Engelhardt;
8. Data Sheet of US-UK Military Fatalities by Paul de Rooij;
9. A Surge in Iraqi Civilian Deaths by Tom Clifford;
10a,b. Baghdad up close and personal by Pepe Escobar .... How the Surge is Failing by Patrick Coburn;
11. Iraq Dismantled by Patrick Coburn;

Black Gold in Iraq

... Reserves
12. Dept of Energy Fact Sheet on Iraq published in 2003 - important data on oil reserves and a realistic discussion of the security problem for Iraq's oil fields;
13a,b IHS Launches First Detailed Report on Iraq's Oil Reserves and Production Potential Since Start of Iraq Conflict ... Business Wire India; .....IHS: Iraq's Oil Production Capacity Could Double in Near Term ... IHS Inc;
14a,b,c. Iraq's oil production falls short of goals by Peter Grier; .... How Much Iraqi Crude Oil is Being Stolen? Mystery of the Missing Meters by Pratap Chatterjee;.... Billions in Oil Missing in Iraq, U.S. Study Says by James Glanz;

... US Takeover of Iraqi Oil
15a,b. Oil in Iraq: the heart of the Crisis by James A. Paul .... written in 2002; this article is remains important as it interweaves a corporate history of major oil companies in Iraq with the motivations behind the Bush/Cheney Iraq War. .... When it comes to oil, the U.S. administration is bypassing democracy in Iraq by Erik Leaver;.
16a,b,c. Bush's Petro-Cartel Almost Has Iraq's Oil by Joshua Holland .... Surging toward the holy oil grail by Pepe Escobar; .... US's Iraq oil grab is a done deal by Pepe Escobar;
17a,b. The Prize of Iraqi Oil by Michael Schwartz; .... Iraqi Port Weathers Danish Storm by Lotte Folke Kaarsholm, Charlotte Aagaard and Osama Al-Habahbeh;
18. What Muqtada wants by Pepe Escobar; .... Scores of fuel tankers set on fire ... Azzaman;

... The new Iraq Oil Law
19a,b,c. Cabinet Readies Iraqi Oil for Privatisation .... Platform; ... Ewa Jasiewicz reports from Basra on recent solidarity visit with the General Union of Oil Employees by Ewa Jasiewicz; .... Oil workers in Basra are ready to fight privatisation by Greg Muttitt;
20. Iraqi Oil Workers to Strike Over Privatisation Law by CarbonWeb;
21a,b,c,d. Iraq's parliament to discuss draft law .... Reuters; ... Iraqi Blocs Opposed to Draft Oil Bill by Edward Wong and Sheryl Gay Stolberg; .... Iraqi Oil Ministry Warns Companies Against Deals Bypassing Central Govt by Hassan Hafidh; .... Iraqi Oil Wealth Stays Locked Up by Chip Cummins and Hassan Hafidh;

... Kurdistan Black Gold
22a,b. Statement From Minister Of Natural Resources Kurdistan Regional Government - Iraq .... oilvoice.com; ... The temperature rises in Kirkuk by Jason Motlagh;
23a,b. Calibre Energy enters Iraq Kurdistan through arrangement with Hawler Energy by OilOnline; .... Calibre Waiting on Equipment for Northern Iraq Well Test by Calibre Energy, Inc;
24a.b.Dana Gas Signs Agreements with Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq by OilOnline; .... Dana, Kurdistan Strike Deal to Fast-track Gas Development by Dana Gas;
25a,b. Iraq Legal Hurdles Delay Norwegian DNO's Oil Project by Spencer Swartz; .... DNO ASA - update on activities in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq. by DNO ASA;
26a. Addax, Genel Enerji to Spend $120M on Iraq Oilfield Plans by Oliver Klaus; ....

... Oil Companies in central and southern Iraq
27a,b. Oil-rich Basra Splits Between Warring Shias by Ali al-Fadhily; .... Iraq: INPEX Corp joins Ivanhoe Energy in major heavy oil field opportunity by OilOnline; ....
28a,b,c. Lukoil: Plans to Begin Developing Iraqi Field Soon ... Greenwire; .... Iraq: INPEX Corp joins Ivanhoe Energy in major heavy oil field opportunity by OilOnline; .... Inpex, Ivanhoe Pursue Heavy Oil Opportunity in Iraq by Ivanhoe Energy Inc; ....
29.. Shell Eyes Developing Iraqi Gas Fields - Iraqi Officiaby Hassan Hafidh;

Money
30a.b,c. The Democrats' War Funding Debacle by John V. Walsh .... A Fair and Balanced Look at the Democrats and War Funding by Pham Binh; .... When Will the War Money Really Run Out? by Winslow T. Wheeler;
31a,b. Bush Family War Profiteering by Evelyn Pringle; ....Democratic Blood Money by Joshua Frank; ....
32a,b.. Playing Monopoly with Iraqi money by Loretta Napoleoni & Georgia Straight; ..... Playing US Politics with Iraqi Blood for Oil by Nicola Nassar;
33. Iraq and Afghanistan Supplemental Spending, 2008 by Jeff Leys;
34. US military imperialism exploits defenseless peoples abroad and the majority of US citizens and their resources at home, by Ismael Hossein-zadeh;
35. Fixing Iraq by Pratap Chatterjee;
36a,b,c. The IMF and the Future of Iraq by Zaid Al-Ali; .... Operation Corporate Freedom: The IMF and World Bank in Iraq by Basav Sen and Hope Chu; .... Bank and Fund in-roads into Iraq by Bretton Woods Project;
37. A Unified Security Budget for the United States, FY 2008, by Miriam Pemberton and Lawrence Korb .

"He who knows the enemy and himself will never in a hundred battles be at risk." Sun-Tzu.
May 12, 2007. © Blumenberg Associates LLC 2007.

Updated bibliography - June 27, 2007 (First reads should be *articles.)
Background and Foreground
38. Intel Agencies Warned of Post-War Risks by Jim Lobe.
39. How Rumsfield Was Suckered by the "Revolution in Military Affairs" by Andrew Cockburn.
40. So You Thought the Democrats Would End the War" by David Vest.
41a,b,c,d. Robert Gates, the new American Secretary of Defense occupies the most powerful Cabinet position in the United States government. He will have deep influence upon America's policy towards Iraq. After Rumsfield, a New Dawn ? by Mark Perry .... The Gates Inheritance by Roger Morris .... The World that Made Bob {Gates) by Roger Morris. ... . .*The CIA and the Gates Legacy by Roger Morris.
42. The second coming of Saladin by Pepe Escobar.

The Iraq War, the Baghdad Surge
43a,b. *Iraq by the Numbers: Surging Past the Gates of Hell by Tom Engelhardt. .... *Welcome to the Summer of Hate by Pepe Escobar.
44a,b,c. Attacks on US Troops Grow in Lethality and Complexity by Ann Scott Tyson and John Ward Anderson .... Madhi Army Makes Final Push to Control Southwest Baghdad by Leila Fadel, Sahar Issa and Mohammed al Dulaimy.... General Says Just 40 Percent of Baghdad Controlled by Kim Gamel.

Black Gold in Iraq
45a,b,c,d,e. Maps of important Iraqi oil fields
Kirkuk & Rumaylah Fields .... .... Kormale Dome (Kirkuk Complex) .... Khurmala-Hamrin-Subba-Luhais Fields .... Kormor Field .... Kirkuk Field
46a,b. Oil likely to top China-Iraq talks ... Iraq Development Program .... China eyes Iraq's oil ...inforwars.net.

... US Takeover of Iraqi Oil
47. US drilling activity slips lower...OGJ editors.

... The new Iraq Oil Law
48. Iraq's Draft Hydrocarbons Law Faces Growing Opposition by Hassan Hafidh.editors.

... Kurdistan Black Gold
49a,b. Iraqi Federal Govt, Kurds Agree on Sharing Oil Revenues ... Dow Jones Newswires. ..... Addax Reports Results of Ongoing Appraisal Drilling in Kurdistan ...Addax Petroleum Corp.
50. DNO ASA Provides Update on Tawke Field Development in the Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq...Oilvoice.
51a,b. The Hidden Hand of Iran in the Resurgence of Ansar Islam by Lydia Khalil ..... The Kurdistan Brigades: Al-Qaeda's Kurdish Henchmen by Lydia Khalil.
52. Selling Kirkuk for a mess of potage ...by Ali al-Fadhily.
53. * Turkish threat echoes across Iraq by Sami Moubayed.

... Oil Companies in central and southern Iraq
54. Lukoil Optimistic on New Iraqi West Qurna Deal by Spencer Swartz.

Money
55. *The Pentagon's Blank Check by Robert Dreyfuss.
56. Wolfowitz has final word on Iraq by Emad Mekay.

June 27, 2007. © Blumenberg Associates LLC 2007.