It Was about Oil!

So it was no surprise to me, after finishing an article from the New York Times today, regarding 4 major oil companies ready to lay down some bargaining deals to Iraq's Oil Ministry (Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back, New York Times). Did we not see this coming? In my view it sort of puts this whole Middle East debacle into the frame that it has been about oil all along, and our U.S. military has made way for big oil. Our addiction to oil and money, has made us blind to the truth and subservient to big oil.
For years the Bush administration has been telling us that the war in Iraq was not for oil, but to combat terrorism. I feel that if it wasn't about oil, then why was this even a matter. Did the U.S. government know that there is more oil to be had in Iraq all along? And if so, why wasn't the American taxpayer informed of this, the true investor of not just the war, but big oil's speculating? Instead we find out about oil companies nearing contract agreements, just over 200 days before Bush leaves office, during a presidential election, and during a fuel crisis in our country. There are two concerns that should be brought here, is that why were the people of the U.S. lied to, and does this administration think it would be smart to place 4 major U.S. oil companies in a area of the world lacking any form of stable security? The article quotes Leila Benali, an authority on Middle East oil, having said, "Any Western oil official who comes to Iraq would require heavy security...". Should this take place simply for the benefit of big business, and for political gain?
It seems to most people, that this may be the U.S. government's move towards globalization, yet it has chosen to ignore oil rich countries such as Venezuela, due to political differences. So the global efforts can be tossed out the window. Even Iran! We fail to effectively negotiate with that country, yet they reside over one of the world's largest oil supplies. It is evident that if the U.S. can't have it for its own, then they don't want it all, and will lie to it's own nation and the world in order to have energy on its own terms. Because of all other options available around the globe, it is obvious that the Bush administration has supplied an avenue for oil to gain with minimum loss at the cost of the American taxpayer, and driven by money, via private military contractors, in order to continue forward with only U.S. interests, and not those of the world.
So, most would look at this and say, so what! Well consider the point that the Bush administration has pushed Iraq to accept an international Hydrocarbon Law, that would facilitate Production Sharing Agreements for oil companies (Today's Must Read, TPM Muckraker). Mr. Bush, you have woven a tangled web against yourself, on this point, because if this war wasn't about oil, why were you pushing a law that would give oil companies an advantage in bidding on oil contracts in Iraq? Just as a note, for the sake of strengthening the point here, these agreements are meant to take control away from the government that hosts the oil resources, and in fact countries like Russia and Venezuela are reluctant to use them, in order to have more control over their own energy resources.
This is a very bad move by big oil, and once news spreads throughout Iraq, would it not have a counter-effect to what we've been trying to stabilize in Iraq? Followers of Moqtada al-Sadr outright do not support any of these production-sharing agreements, because they are very unclear to their people, have no grounding in Iraqi governance, and they fear would undermine Iraq's sovereignty (Followers of al-Sadr join opposition on draft Iraq oil law, Forbes). This move to seek contracts at this point could have the potential to frustrate a lot of Iraqis, and may set our security efforts a few steps back in the area, at a time when we are making progress.