There is a cartoon on the home page of this website. It depicts two army enlistees with four greedy looking oil fat cat types riding on their backs. I objected to using this cartoon as I thought it was demeaning to soldiers and not a good way to engage a dialogue.
A discussion about my objection ensued with a friend. Here is the gist of the exchange:
Friend: The cartoon is intended to demean only the oil industry which uses enlistees as cannon fodder while they get free labor and extremely lucrative no bid oil contracts.
Me: That’s undeniable, it’s all already happened, but do you think the enlistees in the cartoon are meant to be chumps?
Friend: No, not at all, I think it is a succinct way of saying that soldiers are seeing the light about the way they have sacrificed for the oil companies who have never had their interests or even the interests of our country anywhere on their agenda.
Me: Hmmmm.
I went to google and found a youtube video. Thanks youtube. This one is entitled “Danzinger Cartoons” Jeff Danzinger talks for 4:19 minutes about his intent in his cartoons! So right there he said ” I depict ordinary soldiers making observations about the army, not about politics, but about the army.”
I’m glad to have an opportunity to blog about that conversation and Danzinger’s intent. I applaud encouraging soldiers to continue to make observations of their own from inside themselves about what happens around them.
Basic training pushes for a soldier not to think for themselves but only to follow orders.
International law and Nuremberg states clearly that soldiers must question the morality of what he or she actually does.
Danizer shoots bullets. Ouch!
But no US Oil Coproration even bid on the Iraqi oil leases.
Guess it makes a better narrative and political cartoon if it ignores facts and reality.
I’m sorry, I missed what basic training you had that taught you not to think for yourself? You must be referring to the public school system. Guess what, officers and nco’s die in battles. When that happens do you honesty believe that the lower enlisted then stop fighting and just go home. Just what I would expect from a silly site like this. You all know about as much about the military as a pig knows about Sunday.
Nick Mottern for FreeWestPoint.com provides the following in response to
ruralcounsel, quoting SmallCapInvestor.com :
“On March 4 (2010) Exxon, Shell and BP PLC finalized contracts with the
Iraqi government to start bringing oil to market from Iraq’s massive Rumaila
oil fields – the world’s third largest. The deal is worth a total of nearly
$5 billion per year for these three companies alone.”
My recollection was outdated, but the theme holds. The majority of benefits went to non US companies.
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Oil-Companies-Making-Moves-In-Iraq–XOM-BP-RDS-E-OXY0118.aspx
Who Benefits?
Yet the results of bids for licenses to explore and develop Iraqi oil fields shows very little benefit for U.S.-based integrated oil companies. The Iraqi Oil Ministry has awarded licenses to a broad range of international companies, many of which are based in nations that opposed the war and refused to participate. Only two U.S.-based oil companies have been awarded contracts to develop Iraqi oil fields.