Read between the pipelines: gas-guzzling linked to Iraq occupation

Members of a Winnipeg church recently brought their faith to an Esso station on the city's busiest street. Their large banner, fashioned after the Esso logo, read "Condemned: Moral Repairs Needed."

"We declare Esso condemned because it is unsafe for the global community," explained Lisa Martens, who was in Baghdad during the bombing this time last year with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). The event coincided with the anniversary of the start of the bombing.

"Bush: Freeing the world one oil well at a time," read another of the signs used during the three day fast and rush-hour protest by the group from Hope Mennonite Church.

The event was inspired by a January CPT report on human rights abuses related to the detention of an estimated 15,000 Iraqis captured and held by the USA-led Coalition Provisional Authority that now rules Iraq. CPT has had staff in Iraq since October, 2002 in an attempt to monitor and reduce the violence.

The Winnipeg group chose the Esso location because of the almost incestuous links between oil interests and Bush's foreign policy. Esso's parent company ExxonMobil--the second biggest corporation on the globe--is a heavy financial backer of Bush, as well as several Washington think tanks that pushed for the Iraq war.

The pre-war words of the USA Under Secretary for Commerce Grant Aldonas leave little doubt about links between war and oil: "War would open up this spigot on Iraq's oil."

"We're asking Winnipegers to 'Read Between the Pipelines' and recognize the link between oil consumption and perpetual military campaigns to secure oil supply," said event co-organizer Aiden S. Enns. "You have a corporate Goliath, backed by the largest army in history--that's simply not good news for humanity," he said.

"The oil has been liberated, but thousands of Iraqis are detained," said Martens. Human rights violations noted in the CPT report include: detention without charge, denial of access to a lawyer, capture of detainees in house raids using excessive force against unarmed civilians, and physical mistreatment including torture. Many family members of detainees have no idea where their loved ones are, or even if they are alive.

"I guess it's a taste of Guantanamo Bay-style democracy for them," said Martens.

The church group believes it is essential that the faith community have something to say in response to the powerful politico-economic forces converging on Iraq.

Slick Business

"If we go to war, it's not about oil, but the day the war ends, it has everything to do with oil."

--Larry Goldstein, president of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation, New York (Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2003).

"Our way of life is dependent on 20 million barrels a day, and half of it has to be imported. We are like a patient on oil dialysis. It is a matter of life and death."

--Fadel Gheit, Former Mobil chemical engineer, now an investment specialist at a New York brokerage firm (The Guardian--January 23, 2003)

ExxonMobil profits in 2003: $21.5 billion USA --(Toronto Star, March 22, 2004)

"With its huge political weight, we believe that ExxonMobil is likely to have a major part to play in the shifting geopolitical landscape post September 11. In a post-regime Iraq, would ExxonMobil be chosen to raise the American corporate flag?"

--A Deutsche Bank report entitled "ExxonMobil: Decision Time" (September 17, 2002)

Will Braun's background is in advocacy and communications on Aboriginal and environmental issues, both with Mennonite Central Committee and the Pimicikamak Cree Nation. For the Christian Peacemaker Teams report on detainees see the website at www.cpt.org/iraq/iraq.php.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Briarpatch, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group