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Fire, Explosions Hit Iraq-Turkey Pipeline
The main oil export pipeline linking Iraq (news - web sites) and Turkey, halted since the U.S.-led war on Baghdad, was hit by fire and explosions caused by a gas leak, U.S. authorities in Iraq said on Friday.
Turkey said investigations were under way to establish whether sabotage was to blame for the blast in the Iraqi section of the pipeline in northern Iraq late on Thursday.
The Turkish state-run news agency Anatolian said its correspondent in Iraq had reported another explosion on Friday afternoon around 30 miles from the previous blast. It gave no explanation for the latest explosion.
Odd that on my occassional strolls through the room where my dog, Apu, watches the cable news shows, I heard no mention of anything like this.
An Agence France Presse correspondent was on the scene:
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Sabotage Hits Iraq Pipeline as US Prepares to Resume Exports
"It's to stop the Americans taking the oil out to Turkey"
An Iraqi oil pipeline was burning after being sabotaged as the country's crude was set to return to the world market, and despite an offensive by US-led forces against opponents of their occupation regime.
Fires blazed on the major pipeline from Iraq's northern oilfields after what residents said were twin bomb attacks aimed at sabotaging exports through Turkey.
Of course, as patriots we should take anything the French have to say about Iraq with a soupcon of sel de mer, (yes, it's more expensive, but you can taste the difference) - still, they do a good roundup of how well our stay there isn't going.
Something I didn't know:
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Four European companies, a Turkish firm and the US company ChevronTexaco were awarded contracts to buy 9.5 million barrels of Iraqi oil, returning it to the international market after a three-month suspension, industry sources said.
If oil revenues are to be used to pay for the reconstruction of Iraq, does that include the cost of our occupation? Will those revenues go directly to the companies awarded the reconstruction contract? Has any of this been explained to Iraqis?
If it were the express purpose of the Bush administration to convince Iraqis that their most precious resource is being hijacked by a foreign occupier, could they be doing a better job? I think not.