What the Iraq War Can Teach the Climate Movement – Gizmodo
A giant black cloud of burning oil rises behind a U.S. Army soldier in August 2003.Photo: Scott Nelson (Getty Images)
I was in middle school when the George W. Bush administration began stoking the flames of war with Iraq in 2003. I watched as TV newscasters and government officials shouted about the need to restore order in the country, alleging that the Iraqi government had weapons of mass destruction and claiming violent intervention was the only solution.
Around this time, my brother scrawled NO BLOOD FOR OIL on a white undershirt and staged a walkout at his high school. He spent weeks frantically informing everyone who would listen, including his bewildered 11-year-old sister, that the whole narrative was merely a cover for the U.S. politicians trying to gain control of Iraqs vast petroleum reserves.
Now, Im reliving all that and more again as an adult. Blowback, a new podcast hosted by journalist Noah Kulwin and former Chapo Trap House producer Brendan James, details the lurid history of Iraq War. Its a gripping, thorough account of what Kulwin and James call the greatest crime of the 21st century. The show also puts the 2003 invasion in historical context and how the war shaped the U.S. oil industry and politics more broadly.
In reliving 2003, its also clear that Blowback is unfortunately all too relevant today. As a climate reporter, I write about the U.S. governments allegiance to the oil industry all the time. Ive seethed about how fossil fuel executives knowingly continue to fuel the deadly climate crisis, how their operations massively harm poor communities around the U.S. and world, and how our elected leaders prioritize oil, gas, and coal profits over the interests of the majority of people across the U.S.
But of course, oil companies plunder isnt limited to its massive contributions to the climate crisis and pollution. The industry, and the U.Ss continued quest for energy domination, is also built on a history of violence of which the Iraq War is one chapter. Earther spoke with Kulwin and James about the new show, corporate conquest, and what lessons it holds for the climate movement at this pivotal moment, one thats still haunted by 2003. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
G/O Media may get a commission
Earther: What are the biggest things youve learned from making this podcast?
Noah Kulwin: What was that Epstein tweet that said, some of our faves may be implicated? [Editors note:heres the tweet from Christine Pelosi, the Calfornia Democratic Party chair] If youre somebody who has anything invested in American culture or politicians, prepare to be extremely disappointed about what they will do in a moment of crisis. People we think of as mainstream Democrats, including the nominee for president, were strong supporters of the war.
Brendan James: I guess one lesson would be, when it comes to war, when it comes to controlling natural resources, dont give them an inch or theyll take a mile. Theyre always building cases for why this is a good idea. There will always be a reasonable seeming argument, a soft-toned argument, about why we need to intervene in Venezuela [which is one of the worlds largest exporters of oil] to stop a dictatorship thats threatening stability in the region or something. We need to see through that kind of thing. We need a radical break with those kinds of American politics.
Earther: Just two weeks ago, temperatures in Iraq shot up to 127 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the country. Because of ongoing electricity grid issues, a lot of people were forced to bear that heat with limited or no access to air conditioning. When people held protests in the street, two were killed by security forces. Blowback explains that U.S. intervention had a massive role in destabilizing Iraqs electricity, even before the 2003 invasion. Could you talk about that? Who gained from that destabilization?
Kulwin: Yeah, the recent heat wave has brought thousands of people across the country into the streets. And a lot of the people worst affected by the heat wave were in the marshlands in the southern part of Iraq. Well, people in the marshlands were persecuted by Saddam Hussein. The marshlands were drained to punish marsh Arabs who resisted Husseins rule in the 90s. That basically created climate refugees. Hot conditions have persisted in that region, and obviously now with climate change, that is becoming much more severe.
With heat, a countrys ability to manage and respond and keep people cool rests on its ability for its electrical system to function. But as part of the Gulf War, the U.S. basically destroyed and bombed the Iraqi electrical system back into the Stone Age. The purpose of that was ultimately to give the U.S. more leverage over Iraq in the sanctions that would impose over the course of the 90s to try essentially beat Saddam Hussein into submission.
When the U.S. invaded back in 2003, Iraqs electricity grid and the quality of the system and its infrastructure, had improved from where it was in 1991 when it was blown out by the Americans, but it still was not 100%, and the Americans totally brought it back even further into the past. Even today, its not like power is regularly supplied to everybody in the country. A lot of that is a function of American policy that goes back 20 years.
James: As we quote in the show, there are Washington Post quotes from Pentagon officials and Air Force guys who said, our job is not to help rebuild Iraq after the war. Our job is to bring the country to its knees. They wanted the maximum amount of leverage to extract whatever they wanted from this country just lost a war to them. They wanted the most difficult possible conditions for regular people in Iraq after Iraq messed with the U.S.
Then they also tied lifting sanctions needed to repair that infrastructure with Saddam stepping down, obliterating any reason for him to cooperate with the U.S. over sanctions at all. He was never going to voluntarily kick himself out of his own country.
In the beginning of the 2003 war, we knocked out the electricity grid pretty early. And then, in this kind of repulsive irony, the Americans took over Iraqs electricity grid. After intentionally battering the infrastructure of this country, now we were in charge of putting it back up. During the first few years of the occupation, America struggled to get it to even pre-war conditions. People on the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere would say, Saddam was a bit of a prick, but at least he got the electricity running again.
Kulwin: And of course, in civil society, all things rest on the electricity grid and water system, both of which were destroyed. Without good electricity, Iraq sees everything from more infant mortality to high general population death rates. Chronic electricity shortages take a substantial toll.
James: This is a story about what was once a hypermodern country in the region. Before intervention, Iraq was by no means perfect, but it was quite modern and progressive comparatively. Americans worked, first sometimes with Saddam and eventually of course against Saddam, to undo all that progress. So now, when we see headlines about Baghdads heat wave and electricity, we should remember that these problems didnt come out of Iraqis inability to manage their affairs or run their state. It came from all of these war crimes and policies that were very deliberate by America.
Earther: Despite the insistence from officials, Blowback makes clear these war crimes werent about promoting democracy. What were they for? And to what extent was this a war waged for oil?
James: The short answer and the one that you saw with the protest signs that said no blood for oil is that American invaded Iraq because it had the second largest oil reserves in the region.
But to what extent the war was to profit off of a newly acquired Iraqi oil industry is a more of an interesting question. It certainly was the main reason why we targeted Iraq, not even just with the Iraq War in 2003 but in 1991. The reason that Iraq could even be in the position to piss America off was because we had made friends with it due to its status as a strong oil producer and its strategic position against Iran, another very strong oil producer.
But then if you look at what actually happened, the Bush administration and its allies failed to privatize the Iraqi oil sector. It was an ambition to basically turn it into a fully open and revitalized industry for the highest bidders in the international market. That did not happen. Iraqs oil industry to this very day is still state-owned. Thats not for lack of trying. But Iraqi politicians were not about to hand over the thing that made up 99% of Iraqs economy. That was their only bargaining chip.
But what the Iraqi state oil sector did do is enter into multibillion dollar contracts around with giants like Exxon Mobil, Total Oil, Chevron in order to develop the state sector Iraqs oil reserves. Thats still an incredibly profitable payday for friends of oil like George W Bush, Dick Cheney, and Condoleeza Rice.
Its a neo-colonial process where the U.S. can say Iraq has sovereignty and it has its own political institutions, when in fact, all of that is guided by a very heavy American hand that leads them to do business with the big American firms.
Earther: In addition to the push to privatize the oil reserves, Blowback details the push to privatize war itselfto bring far more private contractors into the military sector. How did the fight to privatize war intersect with the fight to privatize natural resources? And how did those same kinds of conflicts of interest play into that?
Kulwin: The privatization of the U.S. army during this time was a change in the labor structure of federal contracting. Previously, a role that would have gone to the Army or federal institutions went to private institutions. This didnt save the U.S. money; in fact it was more costly. But this was part of an effort that Donald Rumsfeld spun when he was Secretary of Defense, he said he wanted to make the Defense Department more nimble.
Of course, one obvious conflict of interest was Dick Cheney and Halliburton. Cheney had previously been the chairman and CEO of Halliburton. Between 2000 and 2003, Halliburton went from being the 22nd largest government contractor to the seventh largest government contractor. Cheney was paid almost $2 million during this period. Its not that all of this was done quid pro quo, but you can see how Bush administration officials were pretty simpatico with this general shift.
James: In a sense, this was an act of self-looting. We were at a point when the U.S. empire was declining. That was an unstated premise. So for people in charge, with oil, with war, I think they thought, why not make a bit of money off of this slipping position of America as the undisputed hegemon? So with Rumsfeld, when he said lets make things more efficient, he really meant lets charge our own government to hire pirates like Blackwater and give money to Halliburton.
Not to extoll the U.S. government before this, but we used to do this as a state. To paraphrase that Warren Beatty line from Network, there are no countries there is no America, theres just giant companies like Exxon and Total Oil and Gilead.
We think of Rumsfeld now as the king bureaucrat, but in fact, when he came in, it was very much like Rex Tillerson and the Trump administration. He was the CEO guy, he was the business guy who was gonna turn America into a corporation. I dont mean to belittle how corrupt the Trump administration can be, or say the Bush administration was so much worse, but theres a continuity between the two.
Earther: Looking back to that period shows how the Trump administration isnt just an aberration, but the continuation of this government relationship to corporations. So for the climate movement, for movements fighting corporations and their friends in government, what lessons should we take from that period to now, when we have former coal lobbyists heading the Environmental Protection Agency, former oil lobbyists in the Department of Interior?
James: On the show, we interviewed longtime anti-war activist Kathy Kelly, who was active in opposing not only the war in 2003 but also the sanctions in the 90s. She said that in 2003, that was the closest an anti-war movement had come in America to actually stopping war before it started. There was a pressure point where in Britain, which was an essential ally for the U.S. carrying out this war, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair was nervous about coming on board. As a Labour Party politician, he was still dependent on the legitimacy of the United Nations. and was begging the Bush administration to get the UN to pass a second resolution to put a rubber stamp on it.
People all over the world linked arms and took to the streets in Turkey, Britain, Paris, Italy, Morocco, the U.S. It looked like there was potentially going to be a delay in going to war.
There was a report that came out by Hans Blix [a UN weapons inspector] that said there were no weapons of mass destruction, but Tony Blair had just a couple weeks before bit the bullet and signed on without the resolution. It makes you wonder what would have happened if that report had come out just a little sooner when that mass movement was happening.
It shows that all too much is contingent upon the whims and mistakes of the ruling class, of inter-ruling class pressures. We definitely learned that marches are not enough. But that was still a rather inspiring moment to learn about how powerful international movements can be.
Earther: Theres been a recent push, especially from a lot of folks who did oppose the Iraq War like Rep. Barbara Lee and Sen. Bernie Sanders, and also from likely incoming officials like Jamal Bowman, to cut the military budget as part of the Green New Deal. Thats not just because the military contributes to severe environmental damage but also because the military is the worlds largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels and biggest institutional polluter.What effects do you all think cutting the Pentagon budget could have?
Kulwin: It would straightforwardly, substantially reduce or minimize a lot of ecological damage.But looking back to Iraq, we can also see that the more resources these people have the liberty to control, the more leverage they have to continue getting more resources. Budgets dont just mean resources, but they also decide who has power.
Read the rest here:
What the Iraq War Can Teach the Climate Movement - Gizmodo
- Trump announces tariffs on six more countries including Philippines and Iraq - The Indian Express - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Trump announces new tariffs including for Iraq, Brazil and the Philippines - Al Jazeera - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Twelve Turkish soldiers killed by gas exposure during cave search in Iraq - Reuters - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- PKK Disarmament to Take a Few Months in Iraq, Turkey Ruling Party Says - U.S. News & World Report - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- America and Israels plan to destroy Iraq, Syria and Iran set the entire Middle East on fire - Analyst News - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Iraq: Protecting womens rights, reforming law - The Lutheran World Federation - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Harsanyi: Trump learned the lessons of Iraq - The Detroit News - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- PKK disarmament to take a few months in Iraq, Turkey ruling party says - The Mighty 790 KFGO - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Trump hits Iraq with 30% tariffs as he releases 7 new letters - Global News - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Five Turkish soldiers killed by methane gas during northern Iraq cave search - France 24 - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Watch Trump Reveals New Batch of Tariffs From Iraq to Philippines - Bloomberg.com - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Trump slaps new tariffs on Sri Lanka, Iraq, 5 other countries with a warning: If you raise your - The Economic Times - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Iraq committed to ending Kurdistan salary deadlock - Shafaq News - - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Trump enforces new tariffs on Iraq, five other nations - Shafaq News - - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Iraq steers clear of Khor Abdullah crisis amid fears of Trumps reaction - The Arab Weekly - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Trump Slaps 30% Tariff On Iraq, Says Its Less Than What Is Needed - Stocktwits - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- From August 1, the United States will impose duties on imports from Algeria, Libya and Iraq. - - - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Kurdish PKK to hand over weapons in Iraq in peace process with Turkey - The Jerusalem Post - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Iraq Aims to Export Surplus Oil Products After Refinery Upgrades - Bloomberg - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Why Iran's Shah declined Iraq's Saddam Hussein's bid to kill Khomenei - The Jerusalem Post - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Iraq Lifts Oil Output by 80,000 bpd Across Three Key Fields - Crude Oil Prices Today | OilPrice.com - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Trump learned the lessons of Iraq - Temple Daily Telegram - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- UN Special Representative for Iraq and Head of UNAMI, Dr. Mohamed Al Hassan, visits Karbala Governorate [EN/AR] - ReliefWeb - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Turkey: Five soldiers killed by methane gas in Iraq cave search - The New Arab - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- I needed to leave Man United to grow: Zidane Iqbal on identity, Iraq and a new start in Utrecht - thenationalnews.com - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Turkeys water policies leave Iraq parched and poised for unrest - The Arab Weekly - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- The Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces is behind the drone attacks on Iraq - Yahoo - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Iraq, But Funny at Lookingglass Theatre | Weve Got Your Ticket - CBS News - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Turkey gives drought-stricken Iraq more water in boost to PM Sudani - AL-Monitor - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Is Kurdish Protection of Assyrians in North Iraq a Myth? - Assyrian International News Agency - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Eight OPEC+ alliance members including Iraq move toward output hike - Iraqi News - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq to hand over weapons in first step toward disarmament - AP News - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Reconstruction Firms Hear Plan for Rebuilding Southern Iraq - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Gates Vows to Focus on Iraq, Troop Welfare if Confirmed - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Corps' Command Change Marks Year Of Iraq Transition - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Iraqi Government Prepares to Take Control of Sons of Iraq Program - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Top NCOs Inform Soldiers in Iraq of Wartime Training Changes - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Operation New Town Molds Trust in Iraq - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - On the Ground: Forces Build Cooperation, Security in Iraq - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Sheik Meeting Leads to Information on al Qaeda in Iraq - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - On the Ground: U.S. Forces Build Security at Sea, On Land in Iraq - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Biden, Odierno Preside Over Naturalization Ceremony in Iraq - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Face of Defense: Marine Amputee Who Returned to Iraq Earns Fellowship - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Face of Defense: Twins Serve Together in Iraq - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Face of Defense: Deployed Soldier Keeps Wheels Turning in Iraq - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Face of Defense: Canadian-Born Soldier Serves as Sniper in Iraq - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- How regional shifts may shape the future of the Iraq-Syria relationship - Amwaj.media - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Hagel: All Assessments Needed for Full Picture in Iraq - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Sadr Links Election Participation to Militia Disarmament in Iraq - kurdistan24.net - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Refusing the leash: How Iraq shut its skies to Tel Aviv and held the line with Washington - thecradle.co - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- In Iraq, restored tomb of biblical prophet Nahum quietly attracts Jewish pilgrimage - The Times of Israel - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Rockets fired at northern Iraq airport, one hits house; two lightly wounded - The Times of Israel - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- United Nations in Iraq condemns attack in IDP camp in Duhok [EN/AR/KU] - ReliefWeb - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iran, Iraq hold critical talks following delivery of Araghchis letter on regional security - Tehran Times - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Turkey to Increase Tigris and Euphrates Water Flow to Iraq Starting Wednesday - kurdistan24.net - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Turkey approves increased water flow to aid Iraq amid growing crisis - rudaw.net - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iraq pilgrimages proceed by land due to flight restrictions - Tehran Times - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- 'Oh, here we go': For Iraq veterans, bombing of Iran opens old wounds - San Antonio Express-News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Woman in Najaf Dies of Hemorrhagic Fever as Iraq's CCHF Cases Continue to Rise - kurdistan24.net - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Israel illegally used Iraq's airspace to attack Iran - Mehr News Agency - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Has the UK really learned the lessons of Iraq? Don't count on it - The New Arab - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Turkey hands over Babylonian and Akkadian clay tablets to Iraq - The Jerusalem Post - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- 'Iraq, But Funny': A new satire tracing 5 generations of Assyrian women hits the stage - FOX 32 Chicago - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iraq calls on Sudan to cease fighting - Iraqi News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Redefining and Strengthening the U.S.-Iraq Relationship Through Energy and Security - The Washington Institute - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Iraq revives bid to resume oil exports through Turkey - Arabian Gulf Business Insight | AGBI - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Syrian authorities uncover mass grave near Iraq border - Shafaq News - - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- 3 prominent ISIS terrorists eliminated in northern Iraq - Iraqi News - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Emirates extends flight suspension to Iran, Iraq routes to resume soon: What travelers need to know - Times of India - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Statement Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of IRAQ - - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- From Iraq to Iran: the US quest for Israeli military dominance and its fallout - South China Morning Post - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Israel-Iran war recalls the 2003 US invasion of Iraq a war my undergraduate students see as a relic of the past - The Conversation - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Trump is making US intelligence parrot his line on Iran - it echoes Bushs invasion of Iraq - The Guardian - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- David Harsanyi: Trump learned the lessons of Iraq - UnionLeader.com - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Texas Firm In Talks To Supply Iraq's First LNG Terminal - Crude Oil Prices Today | OilPrice.com - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Assessing Trumps Claims That He Was Very Much Opposed to the Iraq War - The Dispatch - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Iraq War architect Condi Rice heaps praise on Trump admin for Iran strikes - The Independent - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- In Iran, we risk repeating the mistakes of Iraq 22 years later - The Boar - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Noors world collapsed when the US invaded Iraq. She has a message for Trump about Iran - SBS Australia - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Van Havel honored for heroic actions in skies of above Iraq - WTVB - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]