..Bush Executive Order on Iraq Oil Must Be Investigated

[Nambe]

Khilafah (radical ME rag)

President Bush has issued an Executive Order, so far completely unreported, that purports to grant broad legal immunity to oil companies operating in Iraq. The Order is, on its face, outrageous, and should be investigated.

Executive Order 13303, issued on May 22, 2003, claims to be essential to Iraqi reconstruction efforts. A cursory reading of the Order indicates that its real purpose is to protect oil companies by giving virtual impunity for any activities undertaken relating to Iraqi oil.

This Order, with broad language that seems to sweep aside federal statutes, including the Alien Tort Claims Act, has received no public attention. It has been brought to light by a researcher with the Sustainable Energy and Environment Network (SEEN).

Under this Order, an oil company complicit in human rights violations, or one that causes environmental damage, would be immune from lawsuits. The language of the Executive Order is so broad that it might as well have been written by lawyers for Halliburton, ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco. ---

[kainah]

1. I got something about this earlier this week

It came to me through a Quaker peace group. I agree, it DEFINITELY needs to be investigated!!

[realFedUp]

2. I'd say this went under the radar screen today...

Watch out for what they push through tomorrow.

[Gloria]

3. A caller to Randi Rhodes got her started on this today.....

I think she's going to explode with frustration about the whole Saudi link, and the Carlyle/Bush long time business interests with them, etc etc.

[TennesseeWalker]

4. I think this is pretty expected.

I suggest that DU'ers with interest in Geopolitics and Energy Resources read Richard Heinberg's "The Party's Over: Oil, War and the End of the Industrial Era". Hearing about this Executive Order makes me think that the conclusions of petroleum geologists that Peak Oil is approaching very soon. I just finished reading that book, and it's eerily timely and very current.

Heck, everybody should read that book. We need to change our ways, and fast.