[antiwar-van] UK signals push to secure Iraqi oilfields

[Carole Karkhairan]

Thanks to Cathy Woods for forwarding this - www.creativeresistance.ca.

UK signals push to secure Iraqi oilfields
By Ewen MacAskill in London
January 8 2003
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/07/1041566411879.html

Excerpt:  

As United States and British forces accelerate their build-up for war 
against Saddam Hussein, control of Iraq's huge oil reserves after any 
conflict has emerged explicitly as an issue in the campaign. In 
London, the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, told a meeting of 
150 British ambassadors that security of energy sources was a key 
priority of current British foreign policy.  While he made no mention 
of Iraq, it is the first time a British minister has pinpointed 
energy security in this way. While the US and Britain deny oil is a 
factor in the looming war, some British ministers and officials say 
privately that oil is more important in the calculation than weapons 
of mass destruction. They have pointed to the instability of current 
oil sources and the need for secure alternatives. Iraq has the second 
biggest known oil reserves in the

Mr Straw told the ambassadors that the Foreign Office had drawn up a 
list of seven medium- to long-term strategic priorities, including 
"to bolster the security of British and global energy supplies". A 
Foreign Office source said: "I can't say that energy is irrelevant 
[to the conflict] but the issue is one we would have to deal with 
even if Saddam was a cuddly individual."
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