Executive order 13303 could provide blanket immunity for wrongful acts committed during extraction of Iraqi oil. - 7.31.03
Meet E.O. 13303
What did the President know, and when did he know it? A thirty year old question, relevant again today, but this time in regards to how the US ended up occupying a more or less hostile Iraq. Well, here's something to chew on - the President may have suspected there were WMDs in Iraq. He knew then and he knows now that there's a whole lot of oil there.
I'm not certain of the significance, but Executive Order 13303 has gotten my attention lately. Handed down quietly on May 22, 2003, this order appears to grant blanket immunity from attachment under US laws for any oil extracted in Iraq. There might be some partly valid reasons for this; for example there's an argument in favor of making certain oil can flow from Iraqi oil field free of claims by 9-11 victims. But even that's a bit ironic given that Pres. Bush used allegations of a connection between the Baathist regime and al Qaeda as a reason to invade.
The blanket nature of the immunity is what makes this order really troublesome. It would appear that no act done in the furtherance of extracting Iraqi oil, regardless of how egregiously it violates property rights, human rights, US or international law, or trashes the environment would not be rendered immune.
Now there's a good reason why this column is called bigdumbHoosier. I don't claim to be an expert in this arena, but it really looks like Executive Order 13303 could be used to justify a blatantly illegal grab of Iraqi oil by corporate interests operating under protection of the US military. I hope that's not the case, but I'm starting to wonder. I'm also wondering why this issue isn't being discussed in the mainstream media - I was unable to find any mention of E.O. 13303 on major news sites, including the NYTimes and the Guardian.
Here are a few links for more about this subject, listed in reverse chronological order:
Executive Order: Delegation of Certain Congressional Reporting Functions - delegates reports about implementation of E.O. 13303 to the Dept. of the Treasury; issued July 31, 2003 [on official White House web site].
Outrageous Bush Executive Order on Iraq Oil Must Be Investigated - left leaning publication sees EO 13303 as basis for human rights violations, calls for congressional investigation. [7.28.2003 - Earthrights]
Operation Oil Immunity - public interest journal TomPaine.com raises questions about the long-term application of E.O. 13303 to Iraqi oil resources. [7.28.03 - Kretzman, Vallette - TomPaine]
