21 March 2003
Iraq's Oil Wells Set Ablaze by Iraqi Troops
(U.S.-led coalition moves to protect Iraqi resources from sabotage) (540) By Scott Miller Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- Seven Iraqi oil wells have been set on fire by Iraqi troops, Britain's defense chief told reporters Friday, according to Reuters. Following earlier reports that as many as 30 oil wells had been set on fire by Iraqi troops, Britain's Chief of Defense Staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce indicated March 21 that the number of oil wells ablaze was lower. Nonetheless, U.S. and British troops are moving quickly to extinguish the oil fires and to secure strategic oil fields to prevent their destruction by Iraqi troops. Prior to the current military campaign, the U.S. Defense Department said it had reliable reports that Saddam Hussein's regime possessed the "capability and intent" to damage or destroy Iraqi oil fields. In a March 6 press release, the Defense Department outlined its strategy to address this contingency. "U.S. plans are first to prevent the destruction of Iraq's oil fields and second, if unable to prevent the destruction, to control and mitigate the damage quickly," the release said. U.S. and British efforts to secure Iraq's oil fields are intended to prevent the type of eco-terrorism Saddam Hussein's regime carried out during the 1991 Gulf War. Iraq released over 5 million barrels of oil into the Arabian Gulf in 1991 and Iraqi troops set over 700 Kuwaiti oil wells on fire as they retreated, according to the U.S. Defense Department. The Defense Department estimates that Iraqi destruction of Kuwaiti oil wells during the Gulf War had an impact 20 times larger than that caused by the oil spill from tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaskan waters in 1989. The Defense Department estimates that should Saddam Hussein's regime similarly attempt to destroy Iraq's oil fields, "the actions have the potential to double the disastrous effects experienced in Kuwait in 1991." Adlai Amor of the World Resources Institute, an environmental research and policy organization in Washington, concurs. As Amor explained to the Voice of America, "Iraq has 2,000-plus oil wells. And so the potential is much greater." The Defense Department estimates that the potential oil income to the Iraqi people is $20 billion to $30 billion a year and that these resources will play an important role in shaping the nation's economic outlook. In light of the past eco-terrorism of the Iraqi regime and the importance of oil resources in assuring a viable economic future for Iraq, on March 20 U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld cautioned Iraqi troops not to sabotage oil wells. "Do not follow orders to destroy your country's oil, which is the Iraqi people's. They will need it to rebuild their country when that (Saddam Hussein's) regime is gone," he said. Rumsfeld added, "following such orders would be to commit crimes against the Iraqi people. ... Those who follow orders to commit such crimes will be found and they will be punished." The oil well fires in Iraq have produced smoke plumes large enough to be visible to orbiting satellites operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The satellite imagery can be viewed at: http://www.osei.noaa.gov/OSEIiod.html (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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