Fuel on the Fire

In Fuel on the Fire, investigative journalist Greg Muttitt reveals what the press never told us, delivering the heretofore-untold story of oil politics run rampant in the war ravaged streets of Iraq, and giving us a "brilliant, comprehensive account" ( New Internationalist). Drawing upon hundreds of unreleased government documents and extensive interviews with senior American, British, and Iraqi officials, Muttitt exposes the plans and preparations that were in place to shape policies in favor of American and British energy interests. We follow him behind the scenes through a labyrinth of clandestine meetings, reneged promises, and shocking abuses of power as corporations and governments attempt to wrest control of the Iraqi oil industry and return it to multinational companies. Although the Iraqi people have stymied these efforts in a stirring display of democratic action, the machinations to impose a Western oil agenda have already incurred a steep price in the country's politically dysfunctional government and rising levels of violence. First published to high acclaim in the UK, the U.S. edition features major new material, including analysis of the Wikileaks cables and a new chapter on Libya and how lessons from Iraq could influence state-building there. Fuel on the Fireis a revelation crucial to our understanding of the war in Iraq, politics in the Middle East, and the nature of the governments we empower.