Lets overlay a map of US bases in Iraq on a map of Iraqi oil fields

[FogerRox]

Just for the heck of it, OK ?

Anyway these folks have a map of the Iraq oil fields

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/security/esar/esar_bigpic.htm

Over here these folks have a map of the so called permanent US bases in Iraq, scroll to bottom of page.

http://www.fcnl.org/iraq/

So here are the US bases



Here are the oil fields in Iraq:



This is where the Kurds seem to hang out



And I piddled around with the transparency level to come up with this:



Looks like the largest field in Iraq, Kirkuk, is being pumped out thru Turkey, whist being guarded by our kids. Nah it couldnt be. Makes sense though, if Iran is a problem, and the Persian Gulf gets shut, because of some sort of little political situation, then with an intact pipeline thru Turkey, we can suck that field in Kirkuk dry, as well as the field next to Bagdad.



Kurdish controlled area in Northern Iraq.




Props to these folks for the germ of an idea

Quixote1818
A HERETIC I AM

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x548191

[eleny]

1. Good work!

K&R

[Nitrogenica]

2. You nailed it.

There it is ppls. That's what Bush refuses to let go of.

Impeach the son of a b.

[ms liberty]

3. Very instructive! K&R n/t

[FogerRox]

6. My Mommy always said a picture is worth 350 words

[Jackpine Radical]

4. Brilliant.

K&R

[FogerRox]

22. Thanks for the props, back at you.

[Duer 157099]

5. Huh. Never would have predicted *that* n/t

[FogerRox]

7. You know I soooo bought into the bring democracy to the Iraqis bit

I am just stunned, I tell you, stunned.

.


.

[Wilms]

8. Somethings never change.

[Straight Shooter]

9. Same thing with the pipeline in Afghanistan, isn't it?

Close proximity to American control.

These people are transparent as glass.

[Disturbed]

11. It was obvious from the start.

The only Iraqi Ministry that was fully protected was the Ministry of Oil.

[Aviation Pro]

10. The newest Military Occupation Specialty (MOS)....

...for the Army, Oil Guard (01L Career Field).

[FogerRox]

12. (01L Career Field). LOL, good one

[Hole in the Void]

13. Not to draw too fine a point but...

...there are a lot of empty oil fields in the overlay and the pump stations appear all but abandoned. The one correlation that is certain is a US presence in population centers.

Besides the current strategy of Gen Patreaus is to suffuse US troops throughout the "enemy's" operating area ala the English conquest of Wales; decentralizing troops into small contingents and getting them out of concentrated FOB's.

[FogerRox]

15. Sorry to spoil the fun

One base in the south of Iraq, how about Basra, thats a population center.

Empty oil fields, WHERE ? Iraq is like #4 in the world at proven reserves. Saudi Arabia & Iran are near peak or at peak, Iraq has never been exploited/pumped as hard & fast as those 2. In fact Iraq is possibly 20 years pre peak. Thats what makes Iraq the best oil prize of any country on the planet. SOme of those fields have never been tapped for Jeese whillakers sake, what are ypu talking about, empty.... no way.

The pipeline into Saudi Arabia is closed, the pipeline thru Turkey doesnt seem to be. WHile Shia fight Sunni, the north in the land of the Kurds is a different tune.

[Hole in the Void]

55. Bases hardly mean anything.

Let's look at pragmatic facts. Assuming the objective is to secure the oil fields you have control the facilities. The maps posted cleary show numerous pumping stations etc with a red X anywhere near them. If your job was to secure the assets you could try:

A: secure the assets forsaking all else - PROS: would be you only have to confront such enemies as pose an immediate threat. Not cordon and sweep. The anti-US forces operating in Iraq could never muster the military push to dislodge US troops. CONS: the intent becomes fairly transparent fairly quickly.

B: deal with the anti-US forces where you find them: the population centers - PROS: your intent can be anything you like so long as you hand out candy. Its a desert so the enemy has nowhere to hide and your very presence aggravates him into revealing himself. Get him fast enough and you don't have to guard oil fields. CONS: You have to get him fast enough. Population pacification ala Putin is not feasible so you have to chew on it until somebody poops out...and historically Americans poop out almost as fast as the Euros; usually 3 years, 7 tops.

C: An amalgam of A and B - PROS: The pros of A and B CONS: you split your attention and are less effective, exascerbating the cons of B.

You may say they are nefarious, but you cannot say they would not act in their own best interest. If you were them which method would you adopt? Method B makes the most sense.

[The Doctor.]

57. So you are claiming that

The administration and the logisticians are so incompetent they can't even protect the oil assets?

Actually, with the scope and range of those bases, I highly doubt there's much unsurveilled pipeline or facilities at all. What do you think the response time for those bases is?

[FogerRox]

59. Now stick peak oil into that pipe and smoke it.

ANd include that the level of violence over the last 3 years is the fault of the Bush cabal's policy in Iraq. Include the intial need for 600k combat 600k support, just to win the peace.

Then figure $150/$200 BBL for oil in the coming years, hell THIS YEAR if we attack Iran. Then the Pipeline thru Turkey becomes a goldmine.

[librechik]

17. 80% of Iraq's oil fields are undeveloped, never have been

From Bush's POV, we have to stay there, no matter what it seems like right now. WE can develop the oil later. (he's dellusional,) Petraeus is just trying to kill time, as it were.

2009--what does Bush think will happen then? How about Hillary?

[The Doctor.]

40. Question...

"In Afghanistan, are the military bases lining the path of the planned pipline to the Caspian sea also near populations centers?"

Aslo....

"Why would the US NOT want military presence proximal to the fields and pipelines?"

[FogerRox]

50. Great point, but we are talking about the Cheny Bush oil man thinking

which precludes much thought about solar, wind, fusion. And all that other pratical stuff.

[The Doctor.]

56. Right, but the post I was responding to

can't seem to grasp that 'It may simply be practical'.

Instead, he's skips right over other possible venues of contention and goes straight to denial. It's telling.

[FogerRox]

58. Yes I see that, you are right.

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. Thanks for the acknowledgment!

Nice work.

BTW, regarding Afghanistan....
My father was CIA.
One of the first posts he was assigned to in the early 50's was the Pakistan/Afghan border.
We've been in that area for decades.

[FogerRox]

16. Its only fair... you 2 posted the maps, I stole them... LOL

Best way to move/borrow money, cheaper than a bank......

Launder thru drugs.

I'm thinking Poppies. Perhaps 500+ billion world wide/annum.

[jbnow]

60. Here is another map

that includes pipelines and proposed pipelines along with bases.

I wonder where the new bases are being built along with that world's largest embassy or whjatever that is.
Maybe they are for the oil company workers in the long run. Why not have us pay for it?
Pretty soon that oil bill should be signed. Can't imagine how they would get them to do it, giving the bulk of the profits to US oil for at least the next 30 years. But we'll hear how it's progress because now Itaq will share profits equally. They just won't mention how few of the profits will be theirs.

[WiseButAngrySara]

18. Oh my. Why am I not surprised. The only thing we got out of

Cheney's Energy Task Force was a map of Iraq's oil fields, right? And this was before 9/11. These lying B*tards.

[Imagevision]

19. um...do ya'll think if Iraq had the largest peanut farms in the world Bush would have attacked them?

[CrazyOrangeCat]

20. This is brilliant . . . bookmarked.

[FogerRox]

23. Thanks.

[autorank]

21. Nailed it buddy. Damn, even I understand this. K&R

And I love maps, always have. This is a top post just for that.

How pathetic when you stand back and consider this is all about not inconveniencing people with
gas guzzlers. What folly!

Thanks FogerRox. Send this to your guy in Congress. Tell him this is what crappy voting machines and
election laws get us.

[sanskritwarrior]

24. Hate to burst your bubble

but our bases are all former Iraqi Army bases......

Let's break em down.......
Two bases left in Mosul

FOB Marez----Iraqi air force base

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/mosul-airbase.htm

Post Freedom----Saddam Hussein's former palace, former HQ for 1st SRG Brigade (Special republican guard Brigade)

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/mosul-cc.htm


Next is the base in Kirkuk, I've lived here for a year FOB Warrior, a huge Airbase used by Iraq's Air force extensively in the Iran-Iraq war.......They are calling it Camp Renegade, but it is FOB Warrior

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/kirkuk-airbase.htm

Next is Tikrit, FOB Speicher, lived here during OIF 1, this the air force academy for the former Iraqi air force........

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/al-sahra.htm

Next is Balad Air Base......balad is neat because this is where Iraq's only bombers flew out of. It is also the main air hub as well as the main medevac point in Iraq........ The base is huge.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/balad-ab.htm

Next we have Camp Taji just north of Iraq.......This base was the main repair site for Iraq's Scuds, as well as a Tank Factory, and also the Quartermaster Corps supply point for the Saddam Era Iraqi Army. All the Iraqi gear I got, I took from Camp Taji, there were warehouses full of Iraqi TA-50 and it was open season on souvenir hunters......Oh yeah this was also an air base for the Iraqi Air force.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/al-taji.htm

Next is Camp Victory, co-located with Baghdad International Airport as well as the barracks for several Republican Guard brigades from Saddam's time. Camp Victory is a huge facility, it could hold all of our forces by itself if it was built right.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/abu_ghurayb-cc.htm

Next we have Camp Falcon, which is an Iraqi air Force base as well as a base for Saddam's Special Republican Guard......

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/rasheed.htm

Next we have Tallil Air Base

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/tallil.htm

Now we have the three bases not previously named.

One up north between Kirkuk and Irbil.........

I have no idea what the article references, I was just there early last year, doing LOGPAC's between Mosul and Kirkuk and there aint no base out there........I don't know

Next is Fallujah trainstation.........Yeah this base is stupid. FOB blue diamond in Ramadi is much better.

And the Green zone.........enough said.

the only reason I wrote this out is that the OP has a conspiratorial air to their post as if we are constructing these bases solely for the oil. I hate to break it to the OP but we are occupying the largest bases in Iraq with the best infrastructure. If you want to get mad, get mad at the billions wasted on contractors or the money that is missing.......Trying to say we are occupying the best bases in Iraq because of oil while denying that these bases are in fact the best protected, serviced, and operational bases is slightly dishonest.......

[FogerRox]

28. Been to Global security, done that.

Next is Tikrit, FOB Speicher, lived here during OIF 1, this the air force academy for the former Iraqi air force........

Named after Scott Speicher, F/A-18 pilot shot down 1st Gulf War, 1991.

Camp Renegade, Kirkuk, next to the Refinery. You will find it listed here:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/kirkuk-airbase.htm

West of Baba Gurgur there are some interesting spots, at least on google Earth. More importantly these 11 bases were specifically budgeted as Permanent. IIRC in the FY 2004 they were listed as as Embassies.


http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=52317&d=3&m=10&y=2004&pix=opinion.jpg&category=Opinion

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/04/18/Opinion/Attacks_on_Rumsfeld_b.shtml

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00245.htm

AS far as the rest, Cheney and the Energy task Force were the Conspirators, not me, you got that backwards. Iraq is the single crown jewel of untapped oil reserves in the world.

Of nearly 200 bases in Iraq
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/iraq.htm
the 11 permanent bases, seem to

1)Favor the Kurds, where the largest Iraqi reserves are.
2) shy from the south, which contains the most depleted reserves, and are a susceptable to Shia/SUnni fighting, this might be where Iran would pick to come acros the border, far less likely Iran would cross in the north... Kurds... No ?

[sanskritwarrior]

30. Actually the bases favor the way saddam built his bases

His best bases were for his best troops. His best troops prior to 2003 garrisoned Baghdad and The north where his cronies were. He spent money to keep the Sunni arabs on his side. Mosul is a majority Sunni arab city near the Green Line with Kurdistan. Speicher is in Tikrit his hometown and was in fact the Iraqi Air force Academy. Warrior, or Renegade whatever you want to call it this week is in Kirkuk, that base was there to keep Kirkuk for the arabs as a lot of saddam's arabization took place in Kirkuk. I agree that most of the bases are near oil, but we aren't building bases, we are taking over existing bases that already had walls around them, already had guardposts around them, already have basic infrastructure like water, sewage, electricity around them..........You are like everyone else, you are missing the point. Billions have been allocated to build permanent bases.......Permanent bases already exist, they are already built, supplied, and defended.......Where is the money going, that is the story, not this red herring about bases next to oil.......

As for the south, Saddam built very few top of the line bases in the south, also why would we build bases in areas we are not engaged in fighting in. 90% of all insurgent attacks take place in Sunni areas. Why build permanent bases in areas where there is no need to engage in pacification operations? Why ignore already built bases in pretty good shape and scrape out new bases out of the desert sand in areas where there is no need to garrison large numbers of American troops.

I'm not defending anyone, but from a military point of view the bases we are in right now are exactly what we want and need.

A. They are in the heart of areas in rebellion against us in Iraq
B. They are already setup to meet our standards for force protection in regards to walls, guard towers, etc.....
C. They require minimal upkeep to garrison US troops
D. Half of them are centrally located to allow us to respond anywhere in the country in a few days......

Just my .02 cents.....

[FogerRox]

31. I'm not missing the point

I probably got more shit on my laptop about the missing moneys, violations of the Foriegn Corrupt Practices Act, Money laundering etc, yeah, the money that has vanished over the last 4 years is easily on the order of dozens of billions.

Now if we go back a few more years, I can cite literally trillions that have,, opps, vanished.

On the other hand a lot of people got to see my pictures, and you know what... that is an important frame for some people. They have never seen a map of oil fields, they may have read things that suggested what I suggested in the OP. But now they can visualize it.

And thats a good thing.

Heres my blog on the 15 sailors in Iran, I have an angle that seems to have been ignored, let me know what you think...

http://rdanafox.blogspot.com/2007/03/hms-cornwall-never-contested-capturing.html

[snot]

25. I'd read we were building, was it 14 or 18 "enduring" bases? Are

these the same ones?

Of course, Saddam was smart enough to know he had to control the country's oil; so the fact that we're using bases that already existed doesn't negate the oil connection.

I guess it's a revelation only for those who still think we might for one second have considered letting the Iraqis control their own their oil.

[FogerRox]

29. Thats 11 out of the 14, on the map.

[EVDebs]

26. Nixon's plans to seize Saudi oil fields, just tweaked to read Iraq now

Document reveals Nixon plan to seize Arab oil fields
'70s embargo sparked 'last resort' measure, says British memo

Lizette Alvarez, New York Times

Friday, January 2, 2004

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/01/02/MNG8G427D61.DTL

Hey, didn't Rummy and Cheney work for Tricky Dick when this was going on ? And btw, if you rent the movie Three Days Of The Condor, you'll notice that the NYTimes DIDN'T print...as Cliff Robertson's CIA character predicted.

[leveymg]

36. This plan to seize "The Prize" is still in effect. It's the End Game of the Great Game

still being played out.

Only problem, we're way behind on points right now.

[EVDebs]

41. A real president showing leadership would have us on Plan B 2.0 right now

The book is online, below. Please read, at a minimum, 'Learning From China' in Ch 1. We've only got until 2031, max.

Table of Contents

Lester R. Brown

Plan B 2.0:
Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble

2006
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB2/Contents.htm

[FogerRox]

53. yes exactly, a real president would have...

[alfredo]

27. The smoking gun.

[tom_paine]

32. And with the "benchmark" of TURN YOUR OIL OVER TO US

it's a "legal" theft if/when Maliki reaches that "benchmark", which he WILL, even though none of the others will likely be reached.

:grr: :mad: :grr: :grr:

[texpatriot2004]

33. Looks like a match nm

[leveymg]

34. Couldn't have a "Hydrocarbon Law" without some way to enforce it.

My suggestion, make the four energy multinationals -- along with Halliburton and the rest of the contractors -- pay the full cost of the whole G-ddamn war. After all, they are the ultimate beneficiaries. If they balk, nationalize their assets.

[truth2power]

35. Thanks, Foger. I'm not exactly a "player" here, on this board..but

I've been saying over and over that AS SOON AS we have the control of the oil wrapped up, the PSAs signed, sealed and delivered, just watch..the Blivet will have a presser where he announces that Jeebus appeared to him while he was shaving and told him we should withdraw from Iraq. Tellin' ya!! :(

[DemReadingDU]

37. Great work, thanks!

Maps make it so much easier to visualize!

[FogerRox]

47. Yeah, I think a lot of us, knew this info in one sense, but..

... we can learn things visually too.

[IWantAChange]

38. From 'American Theocracy' by Kevin Phillips....

(page 76-77) "... This brings us to the next critical set of maps, the ones used in 2001 by VP Dick Cheney's National Energy Policy Development Group to mesh America's energy needs with a 21st Century national-security blueprint......

"What these maps left unsaid was how relatively untouched-or at least untapped-the Iraq fields were. But Cheney's team would presumably have studied the history of Iraq oil output. Since the turn of the twentieth century, later explained Leonardo Maugeri, senior VP at the Italian oil and gas company ENI, "only 2300 wells have been drilled in Iraq, compared with about 1 million in Texas. A large part of the country-the western desert area-is still mainly unexplored. Iraq has never implemented advanced technologies-like 3-D seismic exploration techniques or deep and horizontal drilling-to find or tap new wells. Of more than 80 oil fields discovered in Iraq, only 21 have been at least partially developed....t is realistic to assume that Iraq has far more oil reserves than documented so far-probably about 200 billion barrels more." (Leonardo Maugeri, "The Virgin Oil Fields of Iraq," NEWSWEEK, July,5,2004)

Small wonder that American bases form a shield from attack from the EAST - if Dick was drooling about the potential profits and resultant POWER from 100's of billions of barrels of oil at 2001 prices (say $19 a barrel) CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT LENGTHS THEY WILL GO TO OR HOW MANY US SOLDIERS THEY MIGHT BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE NOW THAT OIL IS $60+ PER BARREL?????????????????????

[EVDebs]

42. See post #26, Rummy and Cheney had this in the pipeline since '73 nt

[The Doctor.]

43. This tells us everything;

"Small wonder that American bases form a shield from attack from the EAST - if Dick was drooling about the potential profits and resultant POWER from 100's of billions of barrels of oil at 2001 prices (say $19 a barrel) CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT LENGTHS THEY WILL GO TO OR HOW MANY US SOLDIERS THEY MIGHT BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE NOW THAT OIL IS $60+ PER BARREL?????????????????????"

They will fight tooth and claw to keep this set up. They will expend all their resources, they will take desperate measures.

I do not put martial law past them.

[FogerRox]

52. Yes DR, Yes.

[FogerRox]

48. Kevin Phillips.... is a great author

[Roland99]

39. Just doesn't get any more obvious, eh? al-Qaaqa gets left unguarded in the meantime.

[EVDebs]

44. Ironic, since the Iraqi insurgency is 'fuelled' by the rumor of 'permanent US bases'...

Under 'Analysis and Polls'

"A September 2006 poll of both Sunnis and Shias found that 71% of Iraqis wanted the U.S. to leave within a year, with 65% favoring an immediate pullout and 77% voicing suspicion that the U.S. wanted to keep permanent bases in Iraq.<32> 61% approved of attacks on U.S. forces.<33>"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_insurgency

Suspicion, eh ? Next question, do our troops get the internet, and if so, will they read this DU posting re maps and draw their own conclusions too ?

[file83]

45. Nice make-shift GIS!!

Geographic Information Systems rule!

[FogerRox]

49. file83, I had recently DL'ed openoffice

These were the first things I did with it, transparency feature is nice.

[bobbie]

46. K&R!!!

Nice work FogerRox.

Boffo.

[FogerRox]

51. X-cross posted @D- KOS

Please, if you liked this gimme a cross post rec.. thanks.

Roger

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/4/1/3498/94663

[BrklynLiberal]

54. I'm shocked, I tell you!! Just shocked!!!