During the 2003 invasion of Iraq the Oil Ministry in Baghdad
was the only government building occupied by the U.S. forces. The others were
set afire and looted. Many interpreted this to mean that the Americans were
only interested in Iraq’s natural resources. In fact, the offices were taken
for military not political reasons.
In April 2003 elements of the 1st Marine Division
entered
the Iraqi capital from the east. One of their missions was to reach the Sports
Ministry, which used to be run by Uday Hussein to find incriminating evidence
against the regime. When they arrived, the building was on fire, and the heat
was so intense they couldn’t enter. That led the Marines to move onto their
next objective, which was the Oil Ministry. The ministry had a twelve foot high
wall, several guard towers, and the building itself was nine stories high, the
tallest structure around. The Baathists had planned to set the building on
fire, but the Americans arrived before they could do so. On January 23, the
Defense Ministry issued orders for all government buildings in Baghdad to be
looted and burned if the city were to fall. The Marines decided to stay at the
ministry since it was a virtual fort giving them protection for their forces as
well as a view over the surrounding area. They were later relieved by the 3rd
Infantry Division. That was the reason why the Oil Ministry was occupied during
the invasion and was not pillaged like other government offices in the city. It
was not due to an order from Washington, but rather a decision made at the
moment by the Marines on the ground.
SOURCES
Vogler Gary, Iraq and
the Politics of Oil, An Insider’s Perspective, Lawrence: University of
Kansas Press, 2017
1 comment:
Well of course. The "only interest was the resources" was the myth fabricated by US journalists in Baghdad fed to them by the their Baath sources and maintained by them until this day - abetted by the Democrats and the Left. It was an utter disgrace. The fuel for the insurgency which they deliberately threw about for years such was their hatred of Bush.
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