*EPF503 01/24/2003
U.S. Plans to Secure Iraqi Oil, If Need Be, From Regime Sabotage
(Oil resources, infrastructure would be preserved for free Iraq) (800)

Washington -- A senior Defense Department official says military planners are conducting contingency planning on how to secure Iraqi oil fields from acts of sabotage by an unstable or vengeful Iraqi regime -- should conflict occur anytime in the future.

While President Bush has not yet made any decision to engage in combat operations, the official said reliable intelligence sources suggest that that Saddam Hussein could order the destruction of Iraqi oil wells just as he did when Iraqi forces destroyed Kuwaiti oil wells during the Persian Gulf conflict in 1991. During a January 24 background briefing at the Pentagon, the official warned that any action that the Iraqi regime might take against its own oil wells would be viewed as "an act of terror" and could spark "a real potential crisis."

Iraqi oil is a national asset that will be important to the future of the Iraqi people, he said, and U.S. officials want to discourage any Iraqis who might seek to destroy refineries or wells. The official said the U.S. could use the dropping of informational leaflets over Iraq -- or any other possible means -- "to discourage that kind of an action" in the northern or southern Iraqi oil regions. He said there are around 500 Iraqi oil wells in the north and some 1,000 in the south.

"We feel it's important to preserve those fields so that there is a potential for very rapid development of the economy in Iraq" in any post-conflict environment, the official said. This is not about the United States "trying to gain advantage by taking these oil fields," he emphasized, "or to preserve its own oil industry. It is solely, and most importantly, to preserve the capability of the Iraqi people to stand up very quickly after a Saddam [Hussein] regime [is gone] and become a functioning, capable member of the economic community."

The U.S. military is concerned because it believes, based on various intelligence reports, that the regime in Baghdad has both the capability and intent to damage or destroy its oil fields, said the official. While such destruction will not impede any military mission by coalition forces, he said it will penalize the Iraqi people and have a lasting, deleterious effect on the nation. He said he could not point to hard evidence that the Iraqi oil wells have been wired with explosives or oil fields mined because both are difficult to detect via satellite and other imagery; however, he suggested "in some cases" that process may have already started.

Through a variety of means, the official said, intelligence officers have "gathered enough information that tells us that the planning [for using oil as a weapon of terror] may be ongoing; that intent is there. And, certainly we know that Saddam has [land] mines and he has explosives and those kinds of things, and so ... then to tie that to his demonstrated intent to use terror as a weapon, at least, tells me that I need to be prepared for it as a planner."

The military is concerned that the Iraqi leader "will try to destroy everything," the official said, because Saddam Hussein has already used chemical weapons against his own population and sought to destroy the Kuwaiti oil infrastructure. He set 730 out of 1,000 Kuwaiti wells afire as his forces were forced to withdraw from Kuwait's territory by a united international coalition in 1991. He also caused environmental havoc, not just through the pollutants that were released by the oil fires, but also by the deliberate release of five million barrels of oil into the Persian Gulf, which took a toll on neighboring desalination plants as well as marine and wildlife. The briefer said "we need to be prepared to respond ... should he choose to do that again" because the financial costs associated with cleanup and the timeline for repairs would be double what was required for Kuwait.

The official -- who spoke on condition that he not be identified -- said the United States seeks to relay a message "to the people in Iraq who are responsible for the oil fields as an economic entity, who are responsible for the military in the conduct of potential combat operations" that the oil fields will be important to their future.

Although it would be a non-traditional task for the military to secure and protect oil fields, the official said it is prudent to plan for rapid preservation to head off destruction rather than "having to go in and clean up after" the fact. The job could be undertaken by special operations, conventional or highly mobile forces, he said.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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