Exxon Mobil Gets Iraq Contract, Sam Says Americans Are Innocent

“I’m for anything it takes to keep innocent Americans safe,” said Sam, talking to me an hour ago.

“But most Americans are NOT innocent, Sam. Do you know how many truly innocent civilians have been killed in Iraq due to the American invasion and occupation? A million or more. For real.”

Sam was in the military himself, many years ago, so he doesn’t pay me any mind. He was also a guitarist in a heavy metal band, until he got shot in his left hand while arguing with a cocaine dealer.

Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell just inked an agreement with the Iraq oil ministry to develop one of the largest oil fields in Iraq. I mention this to Sam. His face goes blank.

“So the people who screamed at my ‘NO BLOOD FOR OIL’ signs were WRONG and my sign was RIGHT!!!! Follow the money, Sam. The whole POINT of that invasion was the oil. It was never about Saddam Hussein, other than the fact that he wasn’t willing to fork over his oil as quickly as Exxon and other World Corporate Leaders wanted.”

I don’t really know why I am talking to Sam about this. He’s a great mandolin player. Amazing, since the middle two knuckles of his left hand are held together by a metal pin. But, like so many Americans I’ve met, even most of the “liberals” seem to have been horribly brainwashed.

I told Sam I thought Osama Bin Laden was “selected” to be the invisible bad guy because his name is easy to pronounce. Sam insisted Bin Laden IS a truly bad guy and said, “Well if they put it in the paper, there’s got to be some truth to it.” Whaaatttt????? I seem to recall something about proof of Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction being published in the NY Times a few years back.

But here’s the thing. How stupid can human beings be? WHEN are we the people going to get together and INSIST that we don’t WANT to burn oil or coal any more? When are we, en masse, going to voluntarily leave our cars at home, and use public transit, walk, ride bikes, in order to REALLY put less CO2 into the atmosphere? When are we going to insist on government representatives who truly understand that we are on a path of extinction, and that the whole model of GREED and unrestrained development must go the way of the Dodo?

The people in charge of the wholescale destruction of our planet, our home, our nest (and US), are criminals and should be charged and imprisoned as such. The rest of us have a huge mess to clean up. Fast.