August 1, 2003: Former Chairman Iraq’s North Oil Company Says Iraqis Are Capable of Rebuilding Country

In an op-ed piece published by the Guardian of London, Ghazi Sabir-Ali, the former chairman and managing director of Iraq’s North Oil Company in Kirkuk, describes how Iraqis brought the country’s oil industry back to life within weeks of the First Gulf War ending. He compares this to the current situation where Iraq is “now importing petrol for the first time in 60 years.” He says the Iraqis who helped rebuild Iraq after the first Gulf War are “capable, as they were in 1991, of planning and executing the necessary repairs to our battered country, if they are given a free hand.” He notes also, “There is no need for foreign companies to take control. Iraqi oil revenue should go to Iraqis, who should then be left in peace to set their country to rights.” [Guardian, 8/1/2003]