Iraq's oil was nationalised in 1972 when Shell and a few others were kicked out.
Then came decades of war and sanctions (during one of which Saddam was left in power by the USA).
Russia and France then agreed contracts with Iraq to exploit the oil because the USA had economic embargoes on Iraq and officially could not negotiate with Iraq (although some contracts were agreed).
But then came 9/11 (on a day when Dick Cheney was in charge of the USAF response).
Saddam Hussein was partially blamed for 9/11. Photos of Saddam sat in the cockpit of one of the alleged hijacked planes on 9/11 were published in the media.
Then came allegations Saddam had WMD and was able to strike at your backyard BBQ in leafy Somerset in 45 minutes.
Bliar told the Commons that Saddam could stay in power if only he gave up the WMD.
And now after nearly four years of war in Iraq Saddam is alleged to have been hanged and has now been turned into a martyr.
With Saddam gone Iraq's oil wealth, as prophecised by a large minority, is not to be placed into a trust fund and used for the benefit of the Iraqi people.
From http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132569.ece
Future of Iraq: The spoils of war
How the West will make a killing on Iraqi oil riches
By Danny Fortson, Andrew Murray-Watson and Tim Webb
Published: 07 January 2007
Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days.
The US government has been involved in drawing up the law, a draft of which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday. It would give big oil companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalised in 1972.
The Independent on Sunday has also published some of those quotes we heard before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
From http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132574.ece
WHAT THEY SAID
"Oil revenues, which people falsely claim that we want to seize, should be put in a trust fund for the Iraqi people"
Tony Blair; Moving motion for war with Iraq, 18 March 2003
"Oil belongs to the Iraqi people; the government has... to be good stewards of that valuable asset "
George Bush; Press conference, 14 June 2006
"The oil of the Iraqi people... is their wealth. We did not [invade Iraq] for oil "
Colin Powell; Press briefing, 10 July 2003
"Oil revenues of Iraq could bring between $50bn and $100bn in two or three years... [Iraq] can finance its reconstruction"
Paul Wolfowitz; Deputy Defense Secretary, March 2003
"By 2010 we will need [a further] 50 million barrels a day. The Middle East, with two-thirds of the oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize lies"
Dick Cheney; US Vice-President, 1999
If you want to read the whole of the speech by Cheney from which the above quotation is sourced I direct you to
http://www.studien-von-zeitfragen.net/Zeitfragen/Cheney_on_Oil/cheney_on_oil.html
which provides the full speech that Dick Cheney gave to the Institute of Petroleum Autumn Lunch 1999.
I also recommend "A Century of War : Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order" by F William Engdahl.
I'll leave you with this question : where was Cheney during the attack on 9/11, when he was basically in charge of the USAF, and what was he doing?
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