Iraq giving oil contracts to Iranian firms
Overall, the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq turned out to be a net-plus for Iran. Not only did the Iranian government benefit from the new Shiite power vacuum in Iraqi politics, but Iranian firms will be making millions off the Iraqi oil industry.
Word surfaced early this morning from an Iraqi Oil Ministry :
"Today, the Iranian firms have been invited tobid in building refineries which the ministry has already announced itwas planning to build," Asim Jihad told Reuters.
More than anything, this was a move by Iran to flex its geopolitical muscle. Iraqi Shiite leaders probably had a hand in this because, as a from the Dubai-based said, these Iranian firms are not equipped to build top-notch refineries:
"It doesn't make sense," he said. "First of all Iran doesn't have theknow-how and the technology. Secondly, they are suffering from theirown problems. They are short of supplies themselves and are looking atrationing oil products."
So in summary, we have the Iraqi government -- a government we helped install -- awarding Iranian companies with oil contracts. So much for invading Iraq to send a message to Iran!
This comes on the heels of a GAO report that finds between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels of Iraqi oil each day are lost due to illegal .
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