Fred Kagan tells me that we're not getting any oil for blood and that it's all the fault of a few Democrats. Indeed, the first major foreign contract the Iraqis signed was with the big, bad Chinese. Can you imagine if we had liberated France during World War Two only to see the French give all the reconstruction projects to Joe Stalin? Just Imagine!!

Forget every other reason you've heard for why we invaded Iraq, the desire to control their oil fields and to have a few airfields trumps all other considerations. And from that standpoint, we're approaching EPIC FAIL proportions. It's so bad, in fact, that Fred Kagan is openly lamenting the fact that we're not getting our oil in return for our blood. And he's blaming John Kerry, Chuck Schumer, and Claire McCaskill for this.

Democratic senators intervened in Iraqi domestic politics earlier this year to prevent Iraq from signing short-term agreements with Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, Chevron, and BP.

The Iraqi government was poised to sign no-bid contracts with those firms this summer to help make immediate and needed improvements in Iraq's oil infrastructure...

...Instead, Senators Chuck Schumer, John Kerry, and Claire McCaskill wrote a letter to Secretary of State Rice asking her "to persuade the GOI [Government of Iraq] to refrain from signing contracts with multinational oil companies until a hydrocarbon law is in effect in Iraq." The Bush administration wisely refused to do so, but the resulting media hooraw in Iraq led to the cancellation of the contracts, and helps to explain why Iraq is doing oil deals instead with China.

Can you see me sitting here, crying in my Wheaties? Why, lord, oh why, are Exxon and BP getting screwed like this? The humanity!!

I'd like to point out one more time for the record, that the Iraqis are not grateful for what coalition troops did to their country and that they want us to get the hell out of their country. This should not be such a difficult concept, but a huge percentage of Americans continue to labor under the delusion that the Iraqis are enjoying their 'liberation' and can't wait to reward the West with lucrative contracts to develop their mineral resources. The truth is, they'd rather bring China in because their presence is a pretty good guarantor that Iraq's sovereignty will not be so cavalierly violated again in the near future (see Sudan for more).

Western companies will not be completely shut-out. Just last week Royal Dutch Shell signed a $4 billion deal to develop natural gas fields near Basra. But Dutch Shell isn't American and it isn't British, is it? We're sitting there with 140,000 troops to enforce Dick Cheney's will and Dutch and Chinese firms are scooping up the spoils. Can we suck any harder?

I don't know what happened to Dick Cheney's excellent adventure. Dick has done well with the no-bid contracts, sure, but that stuff doesn't last like a 30-year lease, you know what I mean? And even when Maliki throws us a bone, he throws it in the UK's direction. Where.is.the.love?

All of this disrespect is what led Fred Kagan (panties all in a bunch) to break out his laptop and type nasties about Sens. Kerry, Schumer, and McCaskill. Why does Kagan give one rat's ass who gets the contracts in Iraq? You tell me. To blame it on the Democrats, per chance? Or maybe as a direct quid pro quo from his paymasters?

Wasn't this fucking war Fred Kagan's idea in the first place? Does he have a guilty conscience that only a fat Exon/Mobil contract can assuage?

Who knows with these oligarchs. A wise country would rise up against them and render them harmless.