Blood, oil, and sand: the hidden history of America's war on Iraq.

• Author: Pearson, Cliff

In the 1920s, American and European oil companies discovered and exploited the first oil fields in the Middle East. But World War IL changed everything. Despite being victors, both France and England began to lose control of their former colonies. The Middle Eastern nations recognized their potential to become economic world players through their oil. Many of them--much to the chagrin of London, Paris, and Washington--attempted to nationalize their oil reserves, only to have the West retaliate.

In 1953, Iran's President Mossdegh nationalized its oil reserves and kicked the British out of the country. The United States responded by having the CIA assist in a coup that reestablished the Shah of Iran as ruler. General Abdel Karim Qassem, the ruler of Iraq, also attempted to nationalize. United States CIA Director Allen Dulles immediately and publicly declared General Qassem's actions to be "Communist," but also added that he didn't think the situation "was hopeless." Almost immediately afterward General Qassem was assassinated in a coup led by Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party.

"This coup came as a result of an oil deal between Iraq and a French company, IRAB," says Ahmed Al Bayati, London Representative of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution In Iraq. "This contract upset the West and the Americans in particular. So they encouraged a coup in Iraq at that. time." In 1972, according to former Iraqi Oil Minister Fadel Chalabi, a former Ba'ath Party member named Al Saadi spoke openly of having been trained for their successful coup by the CIA.

Also in 1972, OPEC, the international cartel of oil-producing nations, raised the price of crude oil from $3 per barrel to $22 per barrel in an effort to profiteer from the West's dependence on their product.

President Saddam Hussein reacted to this price-gouging opportunity by immediately nationalizing Iraq's oil fields. The United States reacted by branding Saddam Hussein "unreliable," a "terrorist leader," and throwing its primary Middle Eastern support to Iran, led by the pro-Western Shah.

"For 25 years, from 1953, the Shah of Iran was the US surrogate in the Persian Gulf and in the Middle East region," says former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark. "The hope of control by the West of the Middle East faded in 1979 when the Shah was overthrown by anti-Western, fundamentalist leader Ayatollah Khomeini. By then, Saddam Hussein became again a viable card in Washington's hand. He became the actual president of Iraq after 11 years of being its acting vice president, and then perpetrated a sweeping purge of his opponents and attacked Iran--without provocation or apparent reason." The Stockholm Peace Research Institute shows that, during the Iran-Iraq War, nations lined up to sell arms to both sides in the conflict. According to their online database, 52 nations sold to either Iran or Iraq and 29...