AMY GOODMAN: And you are listening to Democracy Now!, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

If there’s one place in Iraq where people know what the Bush administration has to gain by seizing the country’s oil wealth, it’s the Iraqi Oil Ministry. In an exclusive interview with Democracy Now!, the general director of Iraq’s oil program accused Washington of seeking to send the country into a state of Armageddon to capture the country’s oil fields. The comments come in the latest installment of Democracy Now!’s “Iraq Journal,” produced by correspondent Jeremy Scahill and filmmaker Jacquie Soohen on the ground in Baghdad.

JEREMY SCAHILL: It’s an understatement to say that Baghdad is a congested city. Every street is jam-packed with cars, most of them from the 1980s and earlier, but no one here is concerned much about driving a gas guzzler. Fuel is practically free. In fact, it’s cheaper than clean water, much cheaper. A gallon of gas costs less than five cents; a liter of drinking water costs about a quarter.

As the U.S. begins its major push for war at the United Nations, there is little doubt here that oil is once again fueling the crisis. Iraq holds the second-largest oil reserves in the world with more than 112 billion barrels. Add to that the more than 200 billion in potential reserves, and it’s not difficult to understand why the oiligarchy in Washington is gearing up for an attack. Worldwide, the demand for oil is on the rise, not just in the world’s biggest consumer, the U.S., but also in large nations like Russia, China and India. And as this demand grows, oil-producing countries are being pushed to increase their capacity.

And if there’s one place in Iraq where people know what the U.S. has to gain by taking over Iraq’s oil industry, it’s at the Ministry of Oil. Falah al-Khayat is the general director of Iraq’s oil industry.

FALAH AL-KHAYAT: Where do you get the oil from? Saudi Arabia is approximately producing to capacity. It cannot — it tried to produce more oil. It cannot. The only potential country that could increase its capacity quickly, cheaply and substantially is Iraq. It is not only — it has the second-largest reserve in the world, but potentially it has the largest oil reserves in the world. Secondly, it has already very great giant fields ready to be utilized. The amount of investment and the amount of time required to put these fields into production is minimal, two to three years. And then you immediately double its capacity from its present 3 million barrels per day to 6 million barrels per day, which is equivalent to the total spare capacity going in the world today.

JEREMY SCAHILL: This past June, Iraq marked the 30th anniversary of its nationalization of foreign oil companies by announcing that it was beginning oil exploitation at two sites that it described as gigantic oil fields. The West Qurna and Majnoon fields lie in southern Iraq and have gone untapped for decades. They were repeatedly attacked during the Iran-Iraq War, as well as the Gulf War. West Qurna, which is known here as the giant, had been contracted to the Russian company Lukoil. But Iraq accused the company of bowing to U.S. pressure not to begin drilling. Falah al-Khayat says the fields represent two of the largest untapped reserves in the world.

FALAH AL-KHAYAT: We’re talking about a half a million barrels each, at least. Now, this together, they will make a million barrels a day. And that is as big as many OPEC countries. Now, we’re talking about the giant fields, at the tip of the Gulf, on the flat ground, not in the wilderness of Alaska or in the isolation of the Caspian Sea. You see, when you invest in oil, what is important is what’s the reserve, is how much you can get out. Now, all this investment in the Caspian Sea — platforms, drillings, pipelines from Baku to the Mediterranean, going through countries and mountains and whatever — is to exploit a 15 billion barrels of oil. Now, 15 billion barrels of oil is equivalent to the reserves of the West Qurna field’s second stage, which we have signed with the Russians, and they are breach of its contract. I just want to, with this example, is to tell you what is the potential and the capability of the Iraqi oil industry. And it is sitting at the tip of the Gulf. Now, if you control the Iraqi oil — right? — now you are halfway there to control the world oil. You see? And with your substantial hold on the Saudi fields, then you are in complete control of oil supplies for a long time to come.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Despite Washington’s constant threats against Iraq, the Bush administration certainly isn’t putting its money where its mouth is. Iraqi oil continues to flow through the U.S. America is a major purchaser of Baghdad’s oil. But it doesn’t buy it directly from Iraq. Instead, American corporations buy Iraqi oil from French and Chinese middlemen. That’s how Iraq’s Basra oil ends up in the U.S.

FALAH AL-KHAYAT: American refineries love the Basra oil. It is optimized on their refinery. They get more yield from the oil than any other type of oil. And also, because of the distance from Basra to the U.S.A., they get benefits out of the differential. So, it’s a bit cheaper, and it exactly fits their refinery. I love it. By the way, it’s an known fact that we always sold our oil, lots of oil, to the United States, irrespective of the political situation. Probably that’s why these people from Texas who rules the American administration, is that they want to send us to Armageddon just to get their hands on the fields in Iraq.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Al-Khayat says this is why the oiligarchy wants to send Iraq to Armageddon, just to get their hands on the oil fields. As the Bush administration begins its major push for a resolution at the U.N. that could pave the way for a massive attack on the country, the saying born during the administration of Bush the father rings true with his son in the White House: When it comes to Iraq, it’s all about the oil. For Democracy Now!, this is Jeremy Scahill in Baghdad.

AMY GOODMAN: You are listening to Democracy Now! Special thanks also to Jacquie Soohen and Rick Rowley of Big Noise Tactical Media. If you want more information on “Iraq Journal,” you can go to democracynow.org or IraqJournal.org.