Iraq's oil theft in full steam (now that Uday's gone)

[Barrett808]

Hamdan, Iraq - Four months after the fall of Saddam Hussein, oil smugglers are operating under the noses of British forces and Iraqi police on the Shatt al-Arab, the main waterway out of southern Iraq.

Each day, dozens of trucks and fuel tankers wind the road along the waterway from the port of Basra, delivering their contraband to boats which sneak away into the Gulf waters with valuable cargo.

The smugglers communicate stealthily by portable satellite phones, and avoid anyone who might question them and untangle their secret networks.

Hands blackened by oil, a former engineer in Saddam's once burgeoning weapons industry, is now a smuggler. He waits in the harbor of Hamdan village for a 36 ton delivery of oil for his rickety old boat.

After he dodges military patrols, he'll receive US$500 for his labour.

...

Saddam's son Uday, killed along with his brother Qusay last week by the Americans, was said to have been a key player in the illegal oil trade.

With Uday gone, smugglers look to cash in on the illegal revenue that was formerly dominated by Saddam's son, the civic leader said.

(more)

http://www.news24.com/News24/Finance/Economy/0,,2-8-25_1394391,00.html

[paper chase guy]

1. now THAT'S interesting...

that's something I never would have expected to happen.

[oneighty]

2. Shades of

ROAD WARRIOR.

Fuel fights!

180

[tomp]

3. sorry, i don't believe that any significant amount of oil ...

was being balck-marketed under anyone's nose. oil is the #1 priority of the invasion. the invading forces take it VERY seriously.

[Maple]

4. Well so far

they haven't managed to ship any oil at all.

Pipelines keep blowing up.

The only oil they could sell was what was in storage at the port.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

5. They expect us to believe the US isn't involved in this smuggling?

Come on! Nothing can move in that region without US/UK warships knowing about it.

The question is, what if those barrels don't contain oil? What if they contain Sarin, or Anthrax, or VX?

Now can you see that this smuggling is obviously happening under US/UK protection? There is no way in hell that a hole this big would be left in the fence unless Bush and Blair WANTED that hole to be there.

Just two kilometres away, Iraqi police man checkpoints but let fuel tankers go through, without checking if the cargo is legal.

Asked why they let the tankers go unimpeded, a young officer says: "The British have told us to let them pass."

Says it all really...

So the question is, who is buying the smuggled oil? I see no mention of this in the article. I wonder why?