Dennis Kucinich: “President Bush has cited oil as a reason for our continued presence in Iraq. The Iraq Study Group is recommending that…”

“President Bush has cited oil as a reason for our continued presence in Iraq. The Iraq Study Group is recommending that Iraq oil law be changed to facilitate privatization of Iraq's oil resources. The Iraq report says as much as 500,000 barrels per day, that is $1.3 billion per year in Iraqi oil wealth, is now being stolen, which is interesting since the oil ministry is the first place our troops were sent after the invasion. And we have 140,000 troops in Iraq. How can we expect the end of the Iraq war and national reconciliation in Iraq while we advocate that Iraq's oil wealth be handled by private oil companies? And it is ironic that this report comes at the exact time that our Interior Department's Inspector General says that oil companies are cheating us, the U.S. people, out of billions of dollars and the administration is looking the other way. Is it possible that Secretary Baker has a conflict of interest, which should have precluded him from co-chairing a study group which promotes privatization of Iraq oil assets, given his ties to the oil industry? Is it possible that our troops are dying for the profits of oil?”