Iraq first entered history when Nebuchadnezzar exiled the Jews into “the burning, fiery furnace,” a place in the desert where noxious tars oozed to the surface.

About five centuries ago, the Turks swallowed Iraq, along with the entire Middle East, as part of the Ottoman Empire, where it was to remain quiet until World War I. Unfortunately, Turkey bet on the Kaiser during that fracas and her possessions were to become dinner at the victory table. Chief among the diners was Great Britain, which carved out three Turkish provinces, named them Iraq, and installed a favorite Arab as king – a king who promptly awarded exclusive exploration, price, and production rights to the “noxious tars” for a period of 75 years to a London man about town named Gulbenkian (an interesting character who always traveled with three young women – one of whom had to be 18 years old – in the belief they would sustain his youthful abilities).

While the efficacy of his physical conditioning theories is uncertain, his nose for oil was not. His company, Turkish Oil, immediately struck a honey pot that brought other bears, such as Royal Dutch Shell and Standard Oil, to join him in a new conglomerate, renamed Iraq Oil – although Iraqis themselves were not included. But, even though they could do little, yhe desert dwellers eho ate camels, hid their women in black bags and prayed five times a day could sense that they were being had.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Texaco and Rockefeller provided enough oil for the United States – in fact, enough that America was a generous world supplier to others. Then, out of a more or less blue sky, came World War II, with its reciprocating engines. With Texas drying up, and no new sources to be found, the Yankees had to turn east. With Iraq already spoken for, that left Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran. American oil men were well received in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where the ruling families could be kept happy with Cadillacs, many wives and private jets. Iran was not so accommodating. By and large, the Iranians did not eat camels, and Persia had been a world power a couple of thousand years before the Pilgrims robbed the Indians.

In no time at all, an Iranian orator named Mossadegh rose to the national podium and had the temerity to claim ownership of Iranian oil. Such heresy was not to be tolerated. The U.S. sponsored a CIA coup that retired him. The same wise men then chose in his place a figurehead they called Shah (a Farsi equivalent of “Czar”). Unfortunately, this “Shah of Shahs” showed himself to be hypnotized by fantasies of Persian history, young wives, medals and his own nose. His misrule was to result in a revolution, which took the American embassy hostage and made the U.S. sit up and beg for a very long year.

With the Iranians successfully trumpeting ownership of their own oil, their ideas caught on next door in Iraq. An Army officer named Qasim sent the British-tainted king packing and established what he termed a republic. He shut down foreign exploration but left foreign profits alone, a policy that was not satisfactory to a group of socialists and radical Army officers called Baath. Another coup or two, and by 1968 the Baathists were in firm control, allowing them to nationalize the entire industry. Iraq oil production soared, bringing billions of dollars – with much of it spent on infrastructure: factories, schools, hospitals. Times were good.

But the cancer was only in remission. The first among Baath equals, an army officer named Saddam Hussein, took charge, mercilessly subdued any opposition and built himself many palaces. He also, with urging and support from the U.S,, initiated a long and expensive war with Iran. The war, unfortunately, was unsuccessful. It not only bankrupted Iraq, but also debased its oil infrastructure. So – needing oil and with his megalomania unslaked – Saddam turned his army onto oil-rich Kuwait.

He should have known better, for Kuwait was a major supplier to the U.S., and oil was thicker than either blood or water. An armed expedition promptly drove him back to Baghdad and a new strategy of purloining honey from “the fiery, burning furnace” was drawn up by those in charge. Unfortunately, this was another idea that had no legs, and by 2002, Iraq was producing only 10 percent of its oil potential.

What to do? Alaska was finite, Venezuela was getting antsy, Nigeria kept having pipeline fires and Iran was run by a bunch of religious nuts who not only prayed five times a day, but also, worse, were literate. However, not to despair – Iraq had potential. Properly developed, it could satisfy about as many SUVs as the U.S. wanted to put on the road.

So, the United States called dibs on “the fiery burning furnace”.

And got burned.

Rodney Quinn, a resident of Gorham, is an author and former secretary of state.

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