103rd in continuing blog series on the administration push to war. Following the usual round of commemorative appearances on the second anniversary of 9/11, the administration moves by all means possible to secure and to control Iraqi oil resources.
September 12-23, 2003:

 

Sept. 12, 2003 – Bush gives a speech at Fort Stewart, Georgia:

“Two-and-a-half years ago -- or two years ago, this nation came under enemy attack. Two years ago yesterday we were attacked. On a single morning, we suffered the highest casualties on our own soil since the Civil War. America saw the face of a new adversary -- an enemy that plots in secret, an enemy that rejects the rules of war, an enemy that rejoices in the murder of the innocent. We made a pledge that day, and we have kept it: We are bringing the guilty to justice; we are taking the fight to the enemy. (Applause.)”

 The slip of the tongue with which the president begins—“two and a half years ago—or two years ago”—signals something deeper than his usual alexia. There is little deep interest in the events of 9/11. The same uninterest is signaled by continuing White House and OVP reluctance to support an independent commission to investigate 9/11.

 

Sept. 14, 2003 – Vice President Cheney appears on NBC’s Meet the Press with Tim Russert:

“MR. RUSSERT: Two years ago, September 11, 2001, you went to New York City, just the other day, attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Has this nation recovered from September 11, 2001?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Well, I think in many respects, recovered, yes. On the other hand, there are some things that'll never be the same. I look back on that, and I think about what we've been engaged in since. And in a sense, sort of the theme that comes through repeatedly for me is that 9/11 changed everything. It changed the way we think about threats to the United States. It changed about our recognition of our vulnerabilities. It changed in terms of the kind of national security strategy we need to pursue, in terms of guaranteeing the safety and security of the American people.

 

And I'm not sure everybody has made that transition yet. I think there are a number of people out there who hope we can go back to pre-9/11 days and that somehow 9/11 was an aberration. It happened one time; it'll never happen again. But the president and I don't have that luxury. You know, we begin every day reading the intelligence reports from the CIA and the FBI on the nature of the threat that's out there, on the plotting by al-Qaeda members and related groups to launch attacks against the United States and contemplating the possibility of an attack against the U.S. with far deadlier weapons than anything we've seen to date. So on the one hand, I'm sure everybody wants to get back to normal, and we have in many respects. But on the other hand, we all have to recognize as a nation that 9/11 changed a great deal in our lives.”

 
As ever, Cheney emphasizes 9/11 and terrorism but does not mention the common-sense measures not taken–elimination of land mines and cluster bombs, steps to improve border and port security, securing U.S. chemical and nuclear sectors, etc.

 

Sept 15, 2003 – Email correspondence from the Office of the Vice President from this day are missing.

 

September 17, 2003 – The Government Accountability Office (GAO) publishes an early study on FY2003 obligations for military operations:

 “While funds obligated by DOD for GWOT [the Global War on Terror], including the war with Iraq, in fiscal year 2003 are substantial—about $39 billion through June 2003—the funds appropriated by Congress appear to be sufficient for fiscal year 2003, and some of the services may not obligate all of the funds they were appropriated for fiscal year 2003.”


Presumably this GAO study and forecast are guided by administration statements, which do not explicitly project a massive U.S. presence in Iraq for years.

 
September 2003 – The White House requests, as part of its $87 billion war-spending request to Congress, $2.1 billion for rehabilitating Iraq’s oil industry.

 
Sept. 22, 2003 – The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq names former ConocoPhillips executive Robert McKee as senior oil advisor. McKee is chairman of Eventure Global Technology, an oilfield joint venture based in Houston and owned by Shell and Halliburton.

 
Sept. 23, 2003 – Bush gives a speech at the United Nations:

“The regime of Saddam Hussein cultivated ties to terror while it built weapons of mass destruction. It used those weapons in acts of mass murder, and refused to account for them when confronted by the world. The Security Council was right to be alarmed. The Security Council was right to demand that Iraq destroy its illegal weapons and prove that it had done so. The Security Council was right to vow serious consequences if Iraq refused to comply. And because there were consequences, because a coalition of nations acted to defend the peace, and the credibility of the United Nations, Iraq is free, and today we are joined by representatives of a liberated country.”

As always—see the similar remarks by Cheney, above—public statements by top administration figures focus exclusively on ‘terror’, ‘Saddam’, and ‘weapons’. There is virtually no public mention of Iraqi oil.

 

Sept. 23, 2003 – Bush names Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad as Ambassador to Afghanistan. Khalilzad is the PNAC signatory and former UNOCAL consultant—UNOCAL tried to negotiate a pipeline deal through Afghanistan—closely in league with GOP administrations from the 1980s.
 

Same day – The Houston Chronicle quotes Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on the appointment of McKee as oil advisor to the CPA: “The administration continues to create the impression that the fox is in charge of the hen house. Given Mr. McKee’s close relationship with Halliburton, he is an odd choice to hold them accountable for the billions of dollars they are charging American taxpayers.”

 
Also, former BP executive Terry Adams becomes advisor on oil matters. Adams was formerly president of the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, which operated several oil fields.

 

Such appointments by the administration are not only the fox guarding the henhouse. To switch metaphors, they are also throwing gasoline on the flames. The continuing profiteering, on top of continuing promotion of the war boosters, serves as provocation to help fuel anti-U.S. sentiment around the world. Continuing guerrilla strikes then are used to justify the war effort.