I’ve been engaged recently in a dispiriting debate with some friends about whether the war in Iraq had something to do with oil fields. It’s generally gone like this:

Me: Hey, here’s some new evidence on the web.

Them: The matter’s resolved, you lunatic. Stop buying into conspiracy theories.

The summary of my argument is that there’s a multibillion dollar honeypot in Iraq, the administration is run by former oilmen, and hey, maybe that has something to do with all this? Doesn’t strike me as farfetched, or evidence that I think the world’s being run by the extraterrestrial branch of the Trilateral Commission.

Anyway, news today that so far the reconstruction contracts are so tilted towards Halliburton that even insiders like Bechtel are complaining. Bechtel isn’t even bothering bidding.

Which is funny, because you’d think they’d be interested in getting a piece of the blanket immunity for anything they do related to Iraqi oil that GWB signed back in May.