The (oil) Drums of War.

I keep telling people not to believe everything they read, especially in the mainstream press. Why? Well, mostly because I harbor a deep distrust in the motivation of the so-called Fourth Estate, but also because some of the stuff they print is, basically, unbelievable.

Case in point: I fired up my browser this morning to check out the news and the first story I came across is a Reuter's story with the headline "Iraq Intends to Damage Own Oil Fields in War - U.S." The story went on to explain that an "anonymous" Pentagon official has learned that if we go to war with Iraq, they will "cause damage or destruction" to their own oil fields.

More telling is the planned U.S. response to such a move. The source said U.S military planners "have crafted strategies that will allow us to secure and protect those fields as rapidly as possible in order to then preserve those prior to destruction, as opposed to having to go in and clean up after."

What about those alleged weapons of mass destruction? See, if I believed everything I have read so far about this potential war, I would believe that the reason we're sending troops to Iraq is to disarm Hussein and keep him from stockpiling nuclear and biological weapons. Now I read that we have "crafted strategies" to protect the oil fields from sabotage. Hard to believe, isn't it?

Or is it?

Is this war about Iraq's weapons or Iraq's oil? Or, and this is probably more germane to the entire situation, is Iraqi oil their primary weapon? Certainly to a nation addicted to (relatively) low gasoline prices, foreign oil has more of an impact to our day-to-day lives than the implied threat of nuclear weapons that may or may not exist.

And if I were a betting man, I would bet that if YOU grew up in a family that made it's fortune in the petroleum business, the idea that your sworn enemy would torch his own oil fields (to keep them out of your hands?) would probably incite you to action.

We'll soon see if this story can be believed.

More later…
Paul