Neo-cons lose to Big Oil

It is being reported that secret documents have been obtained by Harper's, relating to plans for Iraq's oil soon after Bush's inauguration. It shows two conflicting plans, setting off a hidden policy war between neo-conservatives at the Pentagon, on one side, versus a combination of "Big Oil" executives and US State Department "pragmatists". It provides a rare insight into the influence of oil companies in every stage of the invasion of Iraq.

The major policy disagreement was over ownership of the oil. The plan from the US State Department was drafted with the help of American oil industry consultants. The oil-industry favored plan called for the sell-off of all of Iraq's oil fields. In contrast, the plan crafted by neo-conservatives, under the guidance of Amy Jaffe of the James Baker Institute in Texas, favoured privitisation. Apparently the neo-cons were intent on using Iraq's oil to destroy the Opec cartel through massive increases in production above Opec quotas.

Needless to say, Big Oil won. Philip Carroll, the former CEO of Shell Oil USA, is quoted as saying:

Many neo-conservatives are people who have certain ideological beliefs about markets, about democracy, about this that and the other. International oil companies without exception are very pragmatic commercial organizations. They don't have a theology

The documents are here.