Get a clue.
Ho many times did we say, "It's the oil , stupid"? Plenty. It always was the oil, it is now, and it will be for quite some time to come.
So, remember that phony "war on France" - freedom fries and all that nonsense?" All the right wing talkers had you thinking you could never drink French wine again or go to Paris? Well, all that's over now.
The French and US oil companies have struck a deal regarding the Iraqi oil spoils and all will be forgotten. Watch for new commercials on US tv touting the wonders of France....
August 10, 2007
What this agreement suggests is that US oil interests are sharing the spoils of war with Europe's largest oil giant, the Franco-Belgian oil conglomerate Total. This rapprochement between Chevron and Total is consistent with the shift in French politics. President Nicolas Sarkozy is broadly representative of the interests of the Franco-Belgian conglomerate.
The current situation is in overt contrast to that prevailing prior to the invasion of Iraq, characterised by the conflict in the United Nations Security Council between the US and Britain on the one hand and France (backed by Germany) on the other. The building of a US-French consensus on Iraq (e.g. between Sarkozy and Bush) is largely the result of the willingness of US oil interests to share the spoils with their European counterparts in exchange for their political and military backing of Washington's foreign policy in the Middle East.
Ho many times did we say, "It's the oil , stupid"? Plenty. It always was the oil, it is now, and it will be for quite some time to come.
So, remember that phony "war on France" - freedom fries and all that nonsense?" All the right wing talkers had you thinking you could never drink French wine again or go to Paris? Well, all that's over now.
The French and US oil companies have struck a deal regarding the Iraqi oil spoils and all will be forgotten. Watch for new commercials on US tv touting the wonders of France....
August 10, 2007
What this agreement suggests is that US oil interests are sharing the spoils of war with Europe's largest oil giant, the Franco-Belgian oil conglomerate Total. This rapprochement between Chevron and Total is consistent with the shift in French politics. President Nicolas Sarkozy is broadly representative of the interests of the Franco-Belgian conglomerate.
The current situation is in overt contrast to that prevailing prior to the invasion of Iraq, characterised by the conflict in the United Nations Security Council between the US and Britain on the one hand and France (backed by Germany) on the other. The building of a US-French consensus on Iraq (e.g. between Sarkozy and Bush) is largely the result of the willingness of US oil interests to share the spoils with their European counterparts in exchange for their political and military backing of Washington's foreign policy in the Middle East.
