Home » Archives » "Iraq covered in slick of oil corruption"

Iraq covered in slick of oil corruption

Oct-16-2006 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

SEAN COCKERHAM; The News Tribune

Bayji, Iraq – Lt. Col. Ken Kamper of DuPont trained to be an artilleryman. Here in Iraq, though, he’s chin deep in the world of oil corruption.

This country has one of the world’s largest oil reserves. But Mosul, where Fort Lewis soldiers have fought against the insurgency for three years, has seen serious fuel shortages. It’s a lot harder to win over the Iraqi people when there are gas lines and high fuel prices.

Much of the problem is here at the Bayji Oil Refinery, the largest in Iraq. Kamper estimates that around 60 fuel trucks should leave the refinery for Mosul every day. But only half as many show up in the north’s largest city.

“Bayji is just rife with corruption,” said Kamper, who commands the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment from Fort Lewis. “It is so deeply embedded into everything about Bayji that to say Bayji is corrupt is an understatement.”

Kamper isn’t trained in petro-politics or how refineries work. But like the troops he commands – artillerymen converted to doing mostly infantry jobs – he is adapting to what is needed to fight Iraq’s insurgency.

“I never envisioned I’d be worried about distribution of fuel. But if we ignore the fuel, it’s something the terrorists would exploit,” he said. “How do you fight a counterinsurgency? Connect with the local population.”

The U.S.-led coalition has grappled with fuel problems and oil corruption in Iraq since toppling Saddam Hussein in 2003. It became a major problem for Fort Lewis commanders in Mosul a month ago, when a severe fuel shortage sent black market prices skyrocketing.


Advertisements