Iraqi workers resist Bush’s and Cheney’s plans to grab their oil

In this video from the USA, “Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary, Southern Oil Company Union – Basra, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions is asked what he thinks about the debate in the U.S. over whether the U.S. troops should leave Iraqi now, or on some timetable. He answers: “Troops out yesterday.””

By Simon Assaf:

Resisting the plans to control Iraq’s oil

Iraqi union leader Hassan Jumaa Awad recently visited Britain to raise awareness of the US’s attempts to grab hold of his country’s oil resources

The US wants to get it hands on Iraq’s oil wealth and is pressuring the Iraqi government to pass a law that will mortgage the country’s future, says Hassan Jumaa Awad, the leader of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions.

The union, which represents 26,000 oil workers in southern Iraq, recently staged a series of strikes in protest at the proposed oil law.

The US has made passing the law one of its “benchmarks” to judge the success of its “surge” strategy to regain control of the country.

Hassan Jumaa accuses the US of wanting to “fill its hands with Iraqi oil”. The proposed new law will hand over the oil industry to multinational companies and drain Iraq of its wealth.

Report of London meeting with Hassan Jumaa Awad: here. And here.