T. Boone Pickens- "We're entitled"

[James48843]

Since no one else is posting much about this- I thought I would bring it up.

T.Boone Pickens this week testified before Congress, saying "We're entitled to that oil".

It makes me want to throw up.

Here's a clip from the article at "Think Progress" this week:

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From:

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/22/pickens-us-iraq-oil/

T. Boone Pickens: (http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/22/pickens-us-iraq-oil/)
U.S. ‘entitled’ to Iraqi oil. (http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/22/pickens-us-iraq-oil/)
T. Boone Pickens told Congress on Wednesday that U.S. energy companies are “entitled” to some of Iraq’s crude because of the large number of American troops that lost their lives fighting in the country and the U.S. taxpayer money spent in Iraq.

Boone, speaking to the newly formed Congressional Natural Gas Caucus, complained that the Iraqi government has awarded contracts to foreign companies, particularly Chinese firms, to develop Iraq’s vast reserves while American companies have mostly been shut out.

“They’re opening them (oil fields) up to other companies all over the world … We’re entitled to it,” Pickens said of Iraq’s oil. “Heck, we even lost 5,000 of our people, 65,000 injured and a trillion, five hundred billion dollars.”
Unfortunately for Pickens and others who feel that the U.S. can freely exploit Iraq’s oil because we invaded it, the U.S. is a signatory to the Hague Conventions, which specifically bar (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/hague02.asp) the confiscation of private property by occupying powers. And while Pickens is right that the invasion cost us tremendously in both blood and treasure, it is Iraqis who have suffered the most. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were killed (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/10/11/iraq.deaths/) in the war, millions (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/un-warns-of-five-million-iraqi-refugees-452522.html) fled the country, and the nation’s infrastructure remains in tatters (http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/02/26/corruption-deprivation-and-faulty-infrastructure-plague-iraq/4209/).

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It's making headlines around the world now.

http://cn.reuters.com/article/editorsPicksNews/idCNTRE59K5Z620091021

[Show-me]

Confirms my opinion that Pickens is just another *******.

[CountryBoy]

No one is "entitled" to anything. Pickens has some good ideas and some bad ones, but I believe he thinks he is better than the average bear. Such a narcissistic flaw in the characrter of one with so much money and/or power is a dangerous combination. He's just white noise anymore.

[McDuck]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/08/think_progress_msnbc_manufactu.asp

[phil]

It sickens me too. To think that of all people, T. Boone Pickens would be entitled to the Iraqi oilfields is incredibly offensive.

They belong to Iraq and the Iraqis.

[alevin]

Well, that's about as disgusting as it gets, idn't it? to the victor belong the spoils-Rome 2010 AD.

[les2l8]

What do you think the Iraq war was about? Oil. That's the only reason why we are over there and there isn't anything wrong with American Oil Companies getting in the front of the line.

[grandma]

What do you think the Iraq war was about? Oil. That's the only reason why we are over there and there isn't anything wrong with American Oil Companies getting in the front of the line.for some reason I thought they Were the line !

[phil]

So, are you saying that all of these guys (Americans and Iraqis) died so a bunch of multibillionaires could buy bigger yachts?

Somehow, that just doesn't fit well.

[grandma]

So, are you saying that all of these guys (Americans and Iraqis) died so a bunch of multibillionaires could buy bigger yachts?
Somehow, that just doesn't fit well.

There is this:
7099

[phil]

I don't follow you, but I'll say that we probably need to get out of Iraq. The country has now been taken over by the different religious parties. In that sense, the great neocon experiment has failed.

It actually failed in 2004. The Pentagon's idea of just handing over the government to some Iraqis just didn't work, did it? As far as SH's victims, we didn't seem to mind it at all in the 80's when he was using poison gas on the Iranians.

Also, a clear majority of the Iraqis want us out.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/26/AR2006092601721.html

[James48843]

What do you think the Iraq war was about? Oil. That's the only reason why we are over there and there isn't anything wrong with American Oil Companies getting in the front of the line.

Yes, there is. Pillage violates Article 47 on the Geneva Convention (II) with Respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land. The Hague, 29 July 1899. Confiscation of private property violates Article 46.

http://www.icrc.org/IHL.NSF/FULL/150?OpenDocument

Taking the oil of Iraq would be considered pillage (violation of Article 47). Taking it away from another contracting company or state would be a private property confiscation, violating Article 47.

We don't do that.

We're America.

[burrocrat]

...Oil. That's the only reason why we are over there...

I think that is an oversimplification. There may be many reasons why we are over there. Like natural gas supply routes through afghanistan from former eastern bloc states so our friends don't freeze, or keeping an eye on an unstable state with nukes that might very well turn everything to glass, or profiting from ancient agricultural trade routes to fund clandestine activities, or even (gasp) funding a chance for millions to enjoy a chance at freedom because that would make for a better world. It could happen.

But i bet if we were all squatting in mud huts hoping for a bowl of rice every day, we may appreciate these efforts to protect supply lines a bit more, even if it is selfish. When folks are too busy personally surviving they have no time to innovate for the benefit of all, there's a bigger picture here.

Our international efforts have always be predicated on our collective belief that our way is better. That's why we as a nation continue to fund it isn't it? Cause we like our riding lawn mowers and suburbs and letting the faucet run while we shave and brush our teeth and cold beer, even if we argure about the brand. You are always free to stop contributing to the program.

I don't know the truth about all that. It's a complex set of circumstances.

But i do know this is true: respect our armed forces men and women, active and reserve, they wholeheartedly give more in the way of service and sacrifice than we can ever imagine.

I think you're approaching this issue from the wrong end. Don't shoot the messenger. If you want hope and change, take it off the top.

[phil]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...092601721.html

shows that a clear majority of the Iraqis want us out.

The idea that we are staying in Iraq because of oil is simply wrong. Then we come up with the even more bizarre saying that we should support our troops.

Yes, let's support our troops by having them come home. They're not wanted there, and every day more people are being killed on both sides for the economic benefit of a few people, according to what you're saying here.

The decision to go into Iraq was terribly flawed. They had no weapons of mass destruction. The idea that, now we're there, we're going to justify our actions because we want to seize their resources really shows how far we've sunk, I think.

[Show-me]

What occupied country would not what the occupiers out? Germany, Japan, Kuwait, France, etc. These countries all benefited from our rebuilding of infrastructure. Did they not?

[phil]

Rebuilding? I think the bigger problem in Iraq has been the destruction of the infrastructure. Also, the Iraqis didn't attack us.


What occupied country would not what the occupiers out? Germany, Japan, Kuwait, France, etc. These countries all benefited from our rebuilding of infrastructure. Did they not?

[Buster]

France and Kuwait among many other countries that we've helped rebuild...didn't attack us either....I believe it was Denmark, that is the ONLY country that has repaid their war debt to the US.

[Viva La Migra]

What occupied country would not what the occupiers out? Germany, Japan, Kuwait, France, etc. These countries all benefited from our rebuilding of infrastructure. Did they not?
I was in Kuwait City at the tail end of Desert Storm. They appreciated our presence back them. They may want us out now, I don't know, but we never "occupied" Kuwait. We helped them drive out Iraqi forces and stayed at their invitation.

[CountryBoy]

There is this:
7099


I got it grandma.

CB

[phil]

I don't think Iraq can be compared to WWII. After all, we invaded their country. They never declared war on us.

Also, we can see how grateful the Kuwaitis are. Some of their people are funding Al-Qaeda.