Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) mission accomplished.

"The good Lord didn't see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratically elected regimes friendly to the United States. Occasionally we have to operate in places where, all things considered, one would not normally choose to go. But, we go where the business is." -- Dick Cheney

"All Iraqi military and civilian personnel should listen carefully to this warning. In any conflict, your fate will depend on your action. Do not destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people." - - - George W. Bush.

June 18 2008:

NYT:

"Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power. . . .Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat. . .

In an interview with Newsweek last fall, the former chief executive of Exxon, Lee Raymond, praised Iraq’s potential as an oil-producing country and added that Exxon was in a position to know. 'There is an enormous amount of oil in Iraq,' Mr. Raymond said. 'We were part of the consortium, the four companies that were there when Saddam Hussein threw us out, and we basically had the whole country.'"


Total US deaths in Iraq to date: 4,101/ Wounded 29,798

Icasualties.org