Mourning Good News

Iraq is now stable enough for western oil companies to resume production there:

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.

The deals, expected to be announced on June 30, will lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for their operations.

The news that Iraq has become stable enough for western oil companies to resume operations there should have been warmly greeted by the world. With oil prices skyrocketing, this could help bring some stability to the volatile market.

Since I've started watching some of the lefty blogs I've marveled at how differently they react to stories that should bring cheer. Here's how TalkLeft responded to the news about the oil companies.

The Bush administration is finally getting what it wanted from the invasion of Iraq...

But remember, it's not about oil. The war is about WMD ... no, it's about making Iraq stable ... no, it's about spreading democracy ... ummmm ...

Using their "logic", Bush wanted a war that would take over 5 years to quadruple the oil prices so he could finally reward his oil baron buddies with new production contracts. That seems like a pretty cagey operation for somebody they claim is not that smart.

But, let's let them have their premise that the war was all about oil. So what? What's wrong with guaranteeing the free flow of oil at market prices? Oil is what runs the world, like it or not, and without it our economy grinds to a halt. If you're going to go to war over something, protecting your economy from outside forces that could destroy it is not a bad reason.