"It's not about oil"! (Note From a World Watcher).

• Author: Ayres, Ed

The U.S. government has a smoothly-scripted response to the notion that its plan to. assault Iraq was motivated by a desire to seize control of Middle Eastern oil. That notion, says the script, is foolish and petulant--not to be taken seriously. Iraq poses a grave threat to the world. The idea that America cannot contain its addiction to oil is--ha, ha--such a ridiculous idea.

This laughing-off is based on the broad idea that war is about grave matters of freedom, democracy, and security, not about any wish to dominate the energy industry or the world. Never mind all those foolish rumors about the "Project for a New American Century" being planned by Bush advisors Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and others. The U.S. leaders are not to be confused with Attila the Hun or Genghis Khan or other warlords of the distant past, who conquered the world for sport and loot.

But any survey of human conflict over the past half-century or so will reveal that oil, in fact, has been at the root of war again and again. Rarely is oil the only factor (nor is it the only factor in Iraq), but it is often a central element--and is often the thing that, literally, fuels the war both physically and financially. A few major examples:

* The Angolan Civil War: Angola has been at war for most of the past three decades, with oil and diamond revenues driving the conflict since the late 1980s. Oil accounts for about 90 percent of the Angolan government's expenditures, which in recent years included three times as much for war as for social programs. Perpetuation of the war has enriched a corrupt ruling elite. The government charged Chevron, TotalFinaElf, BP, and Exxon Mobil $900 million just for licenses to operate here, and borrowed against future oil revenues to finance arms purchases.

* The Indonesian Suppression of Aceh: Suharto's regime expropriated oil and other resources from the people of Aceh, allowing ExxonMobil and Pertamina to operate a giant liquid natural gas plant. The seizing of assets--and displacement of local populations--triggered a freedom movement that was put down by the Indonesian military, with more than 5,000 civilians killed. Exxon-Mobil paid for the military to guard its oil operations. The International Labor Rights Fund sued the company for complicity in the murder, torture, kidnapping, and sexual abuse of Aceh's people by Indonesian soldiers.

* The Sudanese Civil War: After oil was discovered in Sudan in 1980, the government reneged on a...