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NYT: With Iraq foothold, oil giants eye future - The New York Times- msnbc.com

A few quotes:
“The attraction of these fields to oil companies is not the per-barrel profit, which is very low, but their value as an entrance ticket to the oil sector of southern Iraq,” said Reidar Visser, a research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs who operates an Iraq Web site, Historiae. “In terms of size and potential, the Basra region remains one of the most attractive areas of future growth for the international oil industry.” Within days of that deal’s ratification, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell signed an initial contract to develop West Qurna, Iraq’s most sought-after field in part because it is believed to have at least 8.6 billion barrels of oil.

The government said it expected production from the three fields alone to vault Iraq’s output to 7 million barrels a day from 2.5 million barrels a day within six years, which would move it from the world’s 13th largest producer to the fourth, according to Department of Energy statistics.

“Iraq is now on its way,” Mr. Shahristani said after the announcements. “The production from these three fields will surely threaten other oil-producing countries and will show the world that Iraq can match Saudi Arabia’s production,” said Mr. Hassani. “Our share has been taken by other countries, and we will gain our share again from the countries that took it.” This whole war was manufactured for the sole purpose of profit and control. And judging by the last quote, a gateway to a full blown world war in the middle east for control of the oil.

I am not the best researcher, if anyone could help put together a list of companies that have seen their profits skyrocket since the war started, I would be interested to see them. Haliburton, Blackwater (now called Xe), and Exxon-Mobile profitted big and are still profitting but I know there are more. I would also like to know what individuals whom have easy access to the president and major political players that have personally benefitted from the war.

Lets open a dialogue about this and see what we come up with.