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CNN: The elephant in the room between Trump and oil execs: Iraq
The Trump administration plans to rely on private military contractors to secure Venezuelan oil assets, avoiding troop deployment and learning from Iraq's prolonged reconstruction challenges.
- Soon after its invasion, the United States placed government departments including the oil ministry under temporary US control and disbanded Iraqi armed forces, creating a security vacuum that led to years of attacks and sabotage.
- Iraq's oil industry had been nationalized since the 1970s, and after the 2003 invasion and capture of Saddam Hussein, Paul Wolfowitz, then-Deputy Defense Secretary, said oil revenues could fund reconstruction.
- Analysts note that officials only began offering contracts around 2009, treating foreign oil companies as contractors rather than owners, and only recently has Iraq offered more attractive terms, Raad Alkadiri said.
- Analysts say large investments will take many years given volatile security risks, as the Trump administration prepares to use private military contractors to protect Venezuelan oil assets.
- The broader lesson from Iraq is that ground conditions matter more than reserves, as rebuilding energy sectors takes years and Venezuela’s four main armed groups could create chaotic security challenges despite no active war or US troops.
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The elephant in the room between Trump and oil execs: Iraq
President Donald Trump painted a simplistic picture for the US operation in Venezuela: go in, get the oil and start exporting. But Big Oil’s experience in post-invasion Iraq proved that the reality will be far more complicated.
·Atlanta, United States
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President Donald Trump painted a simple framework for the U.S. operation in Venezuela: entering, catching oil and starting to export. But the experience of the large oilfields in Iraq after invasion proved that the reality would be much more complex. In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq and captured its leader, Saddam Hussein. More than two decades later, the US special forces captured Venezuelan former president Nicolas Maduro in Caracas — a…
·Brazil
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Total News Sources3
Leaning Left1Leaning Right0Center0Last UpdatedBias Distribution100% Left
Bias Distribution
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