A Humvee in Iraq.

Chevron made a big announcement this morning. From FuelFix:

Chevron said today it will enter Iraq and begin drilling for oil there next year after purchasing major interests in two areas of its Kurdistan region.

The company has no interests in Iraq and had previously not disclosed its pursuit of land in Kurdistan, Chevron spokesman Kurt Glaubitz said.

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The Iraqi government has expressed frustration with the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government for approving oil exploration and production contracts without approval from the national government

So, congratulations are in order to Chevron. It’s no doubt pleased to have figured out a way to get around the objections of that nation’s sovereign leadership.

In a completely unrelated note, Gawker’s John Cook uncovered this Department of Defense memo [PDF] dated Sept. 12, 2002, that makes the case for the invasion of Iraq. This was the same day that President Bush spoke before the United Nations, arguing that sanctions against the country were insufficient and that Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction were a serious threat to the West.

The full Department of Defense memo is below.

Presentation- The Case for Action[protected-iframe id=”7bca0d9fec61384fe55a6e2a5078b087-5104299-36375464″ info=”http://www.scribd.com/embeds/100530398/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-86b9p06eeole9f6mx92″ width=”400″ height=”600″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]

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