Exxon, oil giants prepared to sign no-bid oil deals in Iraq.

ThinkProgress.org: Four Western oil companies — Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, and BP — are in the final stages of “talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields.” The New York Times writes:

The no-bid contracts are unusual for the industry, and the offers prevailed over others by more than 40 companies, including companies in Russia, China and India […]

There was suspicion among many in the Arab world and among parts of the American public that the United States had gone to war in Iraq precisely to secure the oil wealth these contracts seek to extract. The Bush administration has said that the war was necessary to combat terrorism. It is not clear what role the United States played in awarding the contracts; there are still American advisers to Iraq’s Oil Ministry.

These current contracts are reportedly a “foothold” in Iraq for companies striving for more lucrative, longer-term deals.

LSB: This, dear readers, is why we went to Iraq and why our young men and women will be there for years to come - to protect the oil company interests. If the oil companies want to do business there, let them hire Blackwater or some other mercenary group and let out soldiers come home - or pay them and give them the benefits that the mercenaries are getting.