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Relentless Sabotage Undercuts U.S. War Conquests, Theft of Iraqi Oil A Special Report for Dubai IMF Independent Media Site  A week before the IMF began their proceedings in Dubai, Peter Robertson, vice chairman of Chevron-Texaco, was here to gloat about his corporation's war conquests in Iraq at the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference. With military occupation leadership such as former Chevron director Condoleeza Rice, Mr Robertson has every reason in the world to be, in his words, "hopeful" about Iraq. Only the most naive still reject the obvious -- that plundering Iraq for its 115 billion barrels of oil reserves is a main motivation for the grisly war launched by former oil barons in the current White House administration. But a growing resistance throughout Iraq -- threatening to become a popular war against the US and UK -- is sabotaging the occupying army's ability to steal Iraqi oil.
In the north, Iraqi oil is pumped out through the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline, which stretches 600 miles into Turkey, a key US ally in the region. In 1990, this pipeline was closed by UN Security Council Resolution 661, as part of the "sanctions regime." Six years later, in response to the devastating poverty that sanctions inflicted on the people of Iraq, the UN Sanctions Committee authorized a 60% re-activation of the pipeline. In 1999, the UN Security Council allowed Kirkuk-Yumurtalik to resume full capacity operation with Resolution 1284, although some profits from the pipeline were siphoned away from Iraq (30% went to the UN for "war indemnities," for instance). In addition, the pipeline's capacity was limited on the Iraq end because of other sanction restrictions (Iraq could not upgrade pipeline stations because they could not import such simple technology as Pentium 2 computers). The heavily-documented plight of Iraqi people under sanctions was not the only factor for the gradual return of oil pumping through Kirkuk-Yumurtalik. Turkey lost an estimated $35-40 billion throughout the 1990s, creating a diplomatic problem for the United States, especially with the US's air patrols of northern Iraq originating at a US air force base in Incirlik, Turkey. Sabotage of the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline began in the 90s as part of the communist Kurdistan Workers Party's (PKK) fight for liberation from Turkey. In July 1996, the PKK set fire to the pipeline outside Silopi, Iraq. And in December 1997, the pipeline was again attacked in Mardin, Turkey. These attacks on the pipeline were part of an overall strategy of oil industry sabotage waged by the PKK, including ambushes of Turkish Petroleum offices and pipeline stations. On September 2, the PKK declared a four-year cease fire to be void, so anti-US sabotage of the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline may be bolstered by guerrillas fighting for Kurdish independence. On March 23, 2003, the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline was closed in anticipation of a US-led war in Iraq. It has remained mostly closed since then, even though the US's military occupation forces have tried to get it back up and running since George Bush declared the war to be "over," and Iraqi oil profits would be put into a fund controlled by the US and UK. As early as June 13, the French newspaper Agence France Presse reported on sabotage of oil facilities throughout northern Iraq, when a pipeline from the Iraqi city of Doura to Baghdad was set ablaze. As repair from two explosions on the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik were nearing completion, the pipeline's satellite control mechanism was attacked and looted, disabling automatic operation of the pipeline. Adel Qazas, general director of the Northern Iraqi Oil Company, was quoted at the time saying that "we can operate the pipeline manually, but very crudely and very slowly." Coalition forces planned to have Kirkuk-Yumurtalik operational first by mid-July, then by mid-August. Two weeks before, on August 1, a large fire was started at a pipeline near the Baji refinery hub. On August 13, oil pumping was officially resumed with immediate plans to start shipping it out to Turkey. The pipeline was up only two days before saboteurs shut it down with two spectacular fires. As coalition helicopters swarmed the area trying to put out the raging oil fire, crude oil prices took a sharp turn upwards. On the New York mercantile exchange, September crude shot up 31 cents to $31.36/barrel, giving OPEC a sustained price at the upper end of their target range. In response, coalition forces announced the training of 6,500 pipeline guards to join the 5,000 soldiers already guarding the oil. But there would be no oil flowing to guard. On September 2, the pipeline was again firebombed. A week later, US army engineers estimated that the current repairs would take at least five more weeks. As repairs go on, September 19 brought yet another oil facility sabotage in northern Iraq with a fire started at the Baji refinery. Coalition forces have depended on immediate profits from Iraq's oil to help fund the occupation and "reconstruction." But coalition forces did not count on a long resistance that is leaving US soldiers dead and Iraqi oil in the ground. As George Bush goes back to the people of the United States to demand more money for his war, the need to generate oil revenue in Iraq grows more urgent for the Coalition Provisional Authority. But guerrillas in the region -- Iraqi, Kurd, and from all over -- are experienced in shutting down the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline and only a massive increase in pipeline security, militarization and financial expenditure can secure the billions of dollars that Chevron-Texaco, Turkish Petroleum, and their friends in the White House desire. |
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