http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2002/11/28/fWhatsUp136.raw.html
At issue for both Saddam and the western countries ranged against him is who will control Mideast oil and what role Iraq will play in the region, he says.
“Iraq seeks to claim a leadership role,” says Reilly. “The invasion of Kuwait was one attempt on the part of Iraq under Saddam to consolidate oil resources to allow Iraq to emerge as the major Arab power broker in the eastern Arab world.”
The United States is also focused on oil – but not, as has been crudely suggested, because it wants Iraq’s output, he says. “The reason the Americans are so preoccupied with Iraq is becauseÉ the consolidation of control over (Mideast) oil resources in the hands of one regional power – a power that is potentially hostile to the United States – is a matter of concern.
“It’s a vital region for the world economy and the great powers. If Iraq mainly exported alfalfa, who would care?”
Reilly says that up until the late 1980s, Iraq was fairly prosperous, with a large, educated middle class. But much of that has been destroyed as a result of Saddam’s policies and the UN sanctions that followed the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Today, those who once lived comfortably are destitute, and the rich are those with close ties to the regime and active in the black market and smuggling, he says.
It is a sad commentary on the birthplace of civilization.
“Iraq is potentially one of the wealthiest societies in the Arab Middle East in terms of human and material resources,” says Reilly. “And if it is seen mainly as an oilfield and as a stomping ground for great powers to demonstrate their world profile, then it is a special tragedy.
“It is going to further set back the attempts by people in the Arab world to join the modern world and take part in the modern world in a fair and equitable way.”