May 22, 2003: Bush Grants Legal Immunity to Iraqi Oil Industry

Bush signs Executive Order 13303, which declares: “Unless licensed or otherwise authorized pursuant to this order, any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void, with respect to the following: the Development Fund for Iraq, and all Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein, and proceeds, obligations, or any financial instruments of any nature whatsoever arising from or related to the sale or marketing thereof, and interests therein, in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons.” Watchdog groups interpret this as a way of granting a sweeping legal immunity from lawsuits and criminal charges to US oil firms that do business with Iraqi oil. [US President, 5/26/2003 ; Los Angeles Times, 8/7/2003]