ISIS seizes key Iraq refinery
 

Meanwhile, experts are revising down their forecasts for Iraqi oil production , amid fears the upsurge in violence will snuff out a revival of the country’s war-battered oil industry.

Baiji is one of the most important economic assets in the region and would be a key prize for Isis as it consolidates control of the territory seized in its lightning-fast campaign of the past two weeks.

With the fifth-largest proven oil reserves in the world, Iraq is a linchpin of global oil supplies. Its oil production hit 3.2m b/d last year, more than double the level it stood at during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

But there are grave concerns that the chaos in the country’s north could disrupt the country’s oil industry and potentially endanger Iraq’s 2.5m b/d of oil exports.


http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/41a98...#axzz34zTsqh1R

Maintaining stability in the Middle East is a key strategic issue not only for the US but for the rest of the world. If this continues, we'll certainly find out what "its all about the oil" really means.

What exactly are you advocating for?

JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING (The Borowitz Report)—Former Vice-President Dick Cheney broke his silence about the crisis in Iraq on Tuesday, telling reporters, “My thoughts and prayers are with the Iraqi oil wells.”

Speaking from his Wyoming ranch, Cheney said that he had planned to remain quiet about the current state of affairs in Iraq, but “thinking about those oil wells has kept me up at night.”

“If Dick Cheney won’t speak for the Iraqi oil wells, who will?” he said.

Cheney indicated that, as of now, there was no fighting near Iraq’s oil wells, but warned, “If the violence spreads, those wells could be in jeopardy. And it’s up to the international community to insure that that worst-case scenario doesn’t happen.”

The former Vice-President said that he expected to “catch hell” for inserting himself into the debate about Iraq, but was resolute in his decision to do so. “If I prevent one drop of precious oil from being spilled, it will have been worth it,” he said.

Well, for starters, we've wasted years failing to create and pursue a coherent national energy policy, and left ourselves in the position of having a significant strategic interest in the outcome of events in the Middle East.

Who's fooling themselves? Like the world will allow them to control any oil production!

This is going to get messy quickly.

Agree the USA needs to look elsewhere for our energy needs.


Barney

Captain Obvious to the rescue.;)

Guess we should have listened to what Carter had to say years ago.



Tonight I want to have an unpleasant talk with you about a problem unprecedented in our history. With the exception of preventing war, this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes. The energy crisis has not yet overwhelmed us, but it will if we do not act quickly.
It is a problem we will not solve in the next few years, and it is likely to get progressively worse through the rest of this century.
We must not be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and grandchildren.
We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. By acting now, we can control our future instead of letting the future control us.


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexpe...carter-energy/

Did this come from The Onion? Unbelievable but highly plausible and a candid admission of the real reason for Operation Iraqi Freedom under Cheney watch.

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If it wasn't for oil Iraq would be just another self-immolating tinder box nobody cares about.

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This whole bloated frothing from the right about the situation in Iraq is getting to be the largest steaming pile of horseshit since the Benghazi steaming pile of horseshit.

They complain about comments suggesting that this country might entertain a cooperative effort with the Iranians to deal with the Iraqis. Perhaps we should remind ourselves of how well we did when we entertained a cooperative effort with the Iraqis to deal with the Iranians:
http://cdn.historycommons.org/images...1722-11628.jpg

And then I hear how the whole situation is Obama's fault. Included in all the right wing bleating that his efforts are virtually nil because the factions in Iraq have been in the habit of performing ethnic/religious cleansing on each other for hundreds of years. No shit! Really???

Because, I wasn't here back in 2003, but I seem to remember the discussions where I was located then. Most of the reasonable ones were suggesting to George Bush that Iraq had been a hotbed of ethinc and religious murder and mayhem for over 15 centuries and that, in fact at some point in the future we would need to withdraw our troops...which would be shortly followed by civil war and the next episode of Iraqi muslim interdenominational murder and mayhem. But was George listening? No. Cheney? No. Hussein's buddy Rumsfeld listening? Absolutely no.

So I ask Lindsey Graham and any other Republican ignoramus in the Congress or on this forum...just how fucking long do you want young Americans put in harms way in Iraq? Ten more years...twenty? The rest of this century? Eh? The only thing that will save Iraq from itself is the next incarnation of Saddam Hussein.

South Korea
Japan
South Vietnam
Germany then West Germany