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contracts freely with the new puppet monarchy of King Faisal, whom the British had installed on the throne in Iraq. The solution to the victorious allies' conflict over Iraq was found in dividing up Iraq's oil. The British kept Mosul as part of their new Iraq colony. contracts freely with the new puppet monarchy of King Faisal, of the war, 1939-42, it was a question whether Britain would sur- whom the British had installed on the throne in Iraq. vive. It was never fully to recover its former dominance. The solution to the victorious allies' conflict over Iraq was The US, on the other hand, grew increasingly powerful found in dividing up Iraq's oil. The British kept Mosul as part of throughout the war—which the Washington rulers had once again their new Iraq colony. bided their time before entering. In the latter stages of World War II, the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, dominated by big NOT ONE DROP FOR IRAQ banking, oil and other corporate interests, were determined to Iraq's oil was split five ways: 23.75 per cent each to Britain, restructure the postwar world to ensure the dominant position of France, Holland and the United States. The remaining five per the United States. The key elements in their strategy were: cent went to an oil baron named Caloste Gulbenkian, known as (1) US military superiority in nuclear and conventional "Mr Five-Percenter", who helped weaponry; negotiate the agreement. Exactly zero (2) US-dominated corporate globali- per cent of Iraq's oil belonged to Iraq. sation, using the International That's how it was to stay until the rev- . . . Monetary Fund and World Bank, creat- nin 1927, major oil exploration got Saudi Arabia came into gellar tsthe world cureneyy and me underway. Huge deposits were being in the 1930s (3) control of global resources, discovered in Mosul province. Two articularly oil. years later, the Iraqi Petroleum asa neocolony of p While the fighting was still raging on Company—composed of Anglo- the United States. the battlefields, a behind-the-scenes Iranian (today British Petroleum), struggle for global economic control Shell, Mobil and Standard Oil of New was unfolding between the United Jersey (Exxon)—was set up. Within a States and Britain. So intense was this few years it had totally monopolised battle that on March 4, 1944—three Iraqi oil production. months before the D-Day invasion at During the same period the al-Saud family, with Washington's Normandy—British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent a backing, conquered much of the neighbouring Arabian peninsula. message to US President Franklin Roosevelt that was unusual in Saudi Arabia came into being in the 1930s as a neocolony of the its imperialist content and hostile tone: United States. The US embassy in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, was "Thank you very much for your assurances about no sheep's located in the Aramco (Arab American Oil Company) building. eyes [looking enviously—RB] on our oilfields in Iran and Iraq. But the US oil companies and their government in Washington Let me reciprocate by giving you the fullest assurance that we weren't satisfied. They wanted complete control of the Middle have no thought of trying to horn in upon your interests or East's oil, just as they had a near-monopoly of the Western hemi- property in Saudi Arabia. My position in this, as in all matters, is sphere's petroleum reserves. This meant displacing the British, that Great Britain seeks no advantage, territorial or otherwise, as a who were still top dog in the region. result of this war. On the other hand, she will not be deprived of anything which rightly belongs to her after having given her best UNITED STATES EYES BRITISH INTERESTS services to the good cause, at least not so long as your humble The US opportunity came as a result of World War II. While servant is entrusted with the conduct of her affairs." (Quoted in the United States and Britain are generally depicted as the closest Gabriel Kolko, The Politics of War, New York, 1968.) of wartime allies, the fact is that they were at the same time fierce What this note clearly shows is that the US leaders were so opponents. intent on taking over Iran and Iraq, both important neocolonies of The war greatly weakened the British Empire both at home and Britain, that they had set off alarm bells in British ruling circles. abroad, with the loss of key colonies in Asia. In the early stages Despite Churchill's bluster, there was nothing the British could do to restrain rising US power. A a, Within a few years, the British ruling IR class would adapt to the new reality | — Tr €@aN) and accept the role of Washington's ~ = junior partner. Kore | Aa junior p as a neocolony of the United States. UNITED STATES EYES BRITISH INTERESTS The US opportunity came as a result of World War II. While the United States and Britain are generally depicted as the closest of wartime allies, the fact is that they were at the same time fierce opponents. The war greatly weakened the British Empire both at home and abroad, with the loss of key colonies in Asia. In the early stages US ROLE EXPANDS AFTER WORLD WAR II In 1953, after the CIA coup that put the Shah in power, the United States took control of Iran. By the mid- 1950s, Iraq was jointly controlled by the United States and Britain. Washington set up the Baghdad Pact, which included its client regimes in Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Iraq, along with Britain, in 1955. The Baghdad Pact, or CENTO—Central Treaty Organization—had two purposes. 22 = NEXUS Saudi Arabia came into being in the 1930s www.nexusmagazine.com DECEMBER 2002 — JANUARY 2003