03-16-2008, 11:55 AM
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 | Administrator | | Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Republic of Texas
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| Iraq’s Insurgency Runs on Stolen Oil Profits
Quote:
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
Published: March 16, 2008
BAIJI, Iraq — The Baiji refinery, with its distillation towers rising against the Hamrin Mountains, may be the most important industrial site in the Sunni Arab-dominated regions of Iraq. On a good day, 500 tanker trucks will leave the refinery filled with fuel with a street value of $10 million.
The sea of oil under Iraq is supposed to rebuild the nation, then make it prosper. But at least one-third, and possibly much more, of the fuel from Iraq’s largest refinery here is diverted to the black market, according to American military officials. Tankers are hijacked, drivers are bribed, papers are forged and meters are manipulated — and some of the earnings go to insurgents who are still killing more than 100 Iraqis a week.
“It’s the money pit of the insurgency,” said Capt. Joe Da Silva, who commands several platoons stationed at the refinery.
more ... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/wo...rssnyt&emc=rss | And here all along I thought *we* were stealing it ... or s we keep being told.
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