Bush never had any intentions of leaving Iraq

Liberating Iraq the Bush Way - Barrel by Barrel

Let me tell you a story about the Secretary of Defense you didn't read in the New York Times, related to me by General Jay Garner, the man our president placed in Baghdad as the US' first post-invasion viceroy. Garner arrived in Kuwait City in March 2003 working under the mistaken notion that when George Bush called for democracy in Iraq, the President meant the Iraqis could choose their own government. Misunderstanding the President's true mission, General Garner called for Iraqis to hold elections within 90 days and for the U.S. to quickly pull troops out of the cities to a desert base. "It's their country," the General told me of the Iraqis. "And," he added, most ominously, "their oil." Let's not forget: it's all about the oil.
Greg Palast: Friday Apr 14, 2006

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WEF

"Iraq's primary industry is oil, and the second largest is banking.
A nation with that much oil has a lot of money going through banks.
This too will be privatized - put into corporate, not Iraqi control."

So instead of being democratically run, Iraq will be run by
corporations. That sounds very much like the US.

"One of the most interesting things is that the World Economic Forum
(WEF) is guiding the transition, not the World Bank."

What's the difference between the World Bank and the World Economic Forum?

"The World Bank is evil enough - a real Darth Vader on the
international scene. But behind every figurehead, there's always a
group of truly evil guys."

That's the WEF?

"The World Economic Forum is a group of powerful international corporations.

"The World Bank is just a middleman. It's an official government
body - a tool of the corporations, but still officially impartial.
It's used to make these transactions less odious on the world stage.

"But the WEF is the corporations themselves. It's not a middleman.
It's the powerbrokers.

"Paul Bremer set up a special meeting of the WEF that took place in
Jordan from June 21 to 23 for the specific purpose of reorganizing
the Iraqi economy.

"By cutting out the middleman - the World Bank - they've made it
perfectly clear that their sole purpose in Iraq is plunder.

"In their own words, the WEF is 'A unique, member-based institution
comprised of the 1,000 foremost corporations worldwide.' WEF members
include British Petroleum, Boeing, Cisco Systems, Coca-Cola, IBM,
Merck, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, PepsiCo and Pfizer, to name a few.
And that's precisely who's running Iraq.



Unreported: The Zarqawi Invitation
by Greg Palast

They got him -- the big, bad, beheading berserker in Iraq. But, something's gone unreported in all the glee over getting Zarqawi … who invited him into Iraq in the first place?

If you prefer your fairy tales unsoiled by facts, read no further. If you want the uncomfortable truth, begin with this: A phone call to Baghdad to Saddam's Palace on the night of April 21, 2003. It was Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on a secure line from Washington to General Jay Garner.

The General had arrived in Baghdad just hours before to take charge of the newly occupied nation. The message from Rumsfeld was not a heartwarming welcome. Rummy told Garner, Don't unpack, Jack -- you're fired.