Israel, Gaza, and the Struggle for Oil - CounterPunch.org

Israel, Gaza, and the Struggle for Oil - CounterPunch.org: In 1927 oil exploration yielded a major strike near Kirkuk, Iraq; the long-planned pipeline was completed in 1934 and oil flowed through it to the West until 1948, when it was closed by the Iraqis during the First Arab–Israeli War. Some five decades later, reopening it became a rallying cry of then-Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the US invasion of Iraq. Netanyahu envisioned Saddam Hussein being overthrown and replaced by a pro-Israel Iraqi dissident named Ahmad Chalabi. “Soon the oil will be flowing to Haifa!” Netanyahu proclaimed. “It’s not a pipe dream.”