Yesterday Rick Noriega, U.S. Senatorial candidate from Texas, issued a call for the Iraqi government to pay the costs of our military support of their government out of the $80 billion oil profits they generate each year. As a combat veteran of the Asian conflict, Rick has long demonstrated an in depth knowledge of the region, and our involvement.
I have included Rick's message below. If you are ready to replace John Cornyn and his 97% support of GW, I also invite you to join North Texans for Rick Noriega, and help us elect this exciting young man, who will be the first Hispanic U.S. Senator ever elected by Texas.
Dear Jim,
While Iraq is racking up budget surpluses from the skyrocketing cost of oil, the American people are continuing to pay for reconstruction efforts as well as unprecedented prices for gas and food.
This is outrageous!
Call on the Iraqi government to pay their own way and spend their resources to rebuild Iraq. Click here to sign our petition now!
It's outrageous. A new GAO report indicated that soaring oil revenues from Iraq have left the country with a nearly $80 billion budget surplus. While Iraq is racking up budget surpluses from the skyrocketing cost of oil, the American people are continuing to pay for reconstruction efforts as well as unprecedented prices for gas and food.
When the war began, we were promised that Iraqi oil revenue would pay for most of the reconstruction costs of the country. Five years later, the American people are still footing the bill.
This is what you get when your representatives in Washington vote against any kind of oversight or accountability.
It is outrageous that U.S. taxpayers are still paying the bills while Iraqi government coffers swell because of $4 per gallon gas. And even worse, a huge amount of Iraqi surplus money is sitting in a bank in New York collecting interest. It's about $10 billion dollars, and is expected to grow even more.
But here's the kick in the gut: The deposit of Iraqi money at the Federal Reserve Bank is so large that U.S. taxpayers have paid $435.6 million in interest since last year!
This report should make every Texan angry. Our men and women have done their jobs, and they are fighting every day to help the Iraqis stand up and take responsibility for their own country. I am outraged that after all the lives that have been lost and the billions that we've spent that we're still paying the bills. This is a disgrace.
The truth is that some of these problems could have been avoided if Washington had demanded real accountability over Iraq.
But John Cornyn and the Bush administration have consistently opposed efforts to provide real oversight over Iraqi operations. While Texans pay record prices for gas and the war drags on, John Cornyn has repeatedly voted against any kind of oversight of Iraqi reconstruction efforts and consistently voted against efforts to create a congressional commission to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Rick Noriega
Contribute to Rick's Campaign to kick John Cornyn out of the Senate!
We invade a country, destroy its infrastructure and then we turn around and ask them to pay for it?
That is the height of arrogance.
The ones who should pay for this are the US no bid contractors and all the shareholders who profited off the murder of over a million people.
There is a major difference...
Under Saddam, the oil revenues were being hoarded in his personal bank accounts.
Now, the money, is the government's itself.
The government has to be told that they have to stand on their own two feet. They need to be responsible for their own protection, and pay their own bills.
Keep in mind that before Saddam's reign was ended, the government wasn't the one who is getting the money from oil, now they are. Now they have the money to pay their own bills, and now they should.
*WE* (The Democratic Party) didn't destroy it's infrastructure, BUSH and his allies did, by deciding that no matter what the truth was, he wantted to finish what his father couldn't...
The probable outcome is a plutocracy shammed with democratic processes--a Hamiltonian model of governance that is favorable to the west. The legitimacy for strong central government will be to control the war lords struggle to ascend to power. Power will be shared among elites at the expense of The People, just like it has been for The American People. "The People" (us and them) have a common interest, a stake, to demand democracy in Iraq. It is not unreasonable to share the cost of achieving that.
Have a guess who controls the money on deposit here in the United States and interest is being paid on? You are kidding yourself if you think that the average Iraqi is going to benefit from the increased oil revenues and worse...you are a blissful fool if you think the american people will.
I'll just post a couple of links. Check them out at your leisure and connect the dots. These guys are very, very good.
They don't want you to look very hard and you'll need to read between the lines.
Link
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news /releases/2007/05/20070521-2.h tml
Sorry, link didn't take on first try. Make sure you read to the bottom and note the date.
Link
Guess who paid for a secure pipeline through Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) to Turkey? Guess who is guarding it? Guess who is dying for it??
Bottom Line? Until the Iraqi Government signs off on a Oil Revenue Sharing Plan that benefits American based oil companies..the money in the bank stays in our control, our men and women will continue to die, we will continue to fund the occupation and reconstruction costs.
If you are one of the sheeple that are pointing the finger at the Iraqi Government, you need to stick it in one ear and see if it comes out the other side.
YOur dollars and your blood are being spent to protect corporate interests in Iraq and the people controlling it and spending it, don't give a rat's ass, how you feel or how much pain it cause you.