NO OIL FOR YOU!

EU Commissioner Says U.S. Out to Seize Iraq's Oil (Reuters, 5/09/03)

A European Union commissioner said on Friday he believed the United States aimed to take control of Iraq)'s oil and was 'on its way to becoming a member of OPEC.'

Poul Nielson, EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, was speaking after the United States and Britain introduced a U.N. draft resolution that would phase out an existing oil-for-food humanitarian program for Iraq.

'They (the United States) will appropriate the oil,' he told Danish public service DR radio news on return from a three-day trip to Iraq. 'It is very difficult to see how this would make sense in any other way.'

'I think that the United States is on its way to becoming a member of OPEC,' he added, referring to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Okay, let's grant Mr. Nielson his argument for the moment. Given how dependent the EU is on imported oil does it make sense for him to rile OPEC's new leader? Posted by Orrin Judd at May 9, 2003 7:52 PM