Time to Divide the Spoils

In this article titled U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan
we find that...

The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa. The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem.

The Prime Minister's Office, which views the pipeline to Haifa as a "bonus" the U.S. could give to Israel in return for its unequivocal support for the American-led campaign in Iraq, had asked the Americans for the official telegram.

A bonus! Wow, what a concept! Nearly 1,000,000 dead and they get a bonus.

They're not talking about a couple of wells here...

The new pipeline would take oil from the Kirkuk area, where some 40 percent of Iraqi oil is produced, and transport it via Mosul, and then across Jordan to Israel.

This new pipeline will carry nearly 28 times the oil as the old abandoned one, assuming the same fluid velocity.

The National Infrastructure Ministry has recently conducted research indicating that construction of a 42-inch diameter pipeline between Kirkuk and Haifa would cost about $400,000 per kilometer. The old Mosul-Haifa pipeline was only 8 inches in diameter.

Even Jordan can get a cut in the deal - This from National Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzky...

the plan depends on Jordan's consent and that Jordan would receive a transit fee for allowing the oil to piped through its territory. The minister noted, however, that "due to pan-Arab concerns, it will be hard for the Jordanians to agree to the flow of Iraqi oil via Jordan and Israel."

And to top it all off it is being used to leverage Turkey to do our biding...

in response to rumors about the possible Kirkuk-Mosul-Haifa pipeline, Turkey has warned Israel that it would regard this development as a serious blow to Turkish-Israeli relations.

Sources in Jerusalem suggest that the American hints about the alternative pipeline are part of an attempt to apply pressure on Turkey.

As an indication of Bush's success we find that, prior to the war, Iraq was allowed limited production to serve the needs of the people. Today, with the capacity to produce 2.5 million barrels per day, the flow is only a fraction of the 1.5 allowed under the Saddam regime.

Oil exports were halted after the Gulf War in 1991 and then were allowed again on a limited basis (1.5 million barrels per day) to finance the import of food and medicines. Iraq is currently exporting several hundred thousand barrels of oil per day.

Haven't Haliburton, Exxon, BP and Shell had enough bonuses already?

Who says it is about Democracy? It is and always was about one thing - Who gets the oil!