Chapter 288: The Oil-for-Food Programme

At 10am, Zhou Ming was in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace, exercising with the others under the palm trees. Zhou Ming now realised just how petty-minded the Americans were. Iraq had only destroyed one of his infantry regiments in Khuber, and yet American planes and missiles had been bombing Badina for five days.

in the words of the old warlord Liu Bei, this is just not fair. Are you saying that only you Americans are allowed to attack others, but no one is allowed to attack you in return? How can you say something like that? It's completely unreasonable and based on the logic of a robber.

However, since Iraq had prepared for this beforehand, the American bombing was largely ineffective. It was also for this reason that the US military gradually reduced the frequency of bombing . Zhou Ming had the opportunity to come up with him and seize the time to move around, otherwise, staying in that dark air-raid shelter every day, Zhou Ming felt like his whole body was going to rot.

Of course, this is not to say that the conditions in the air-raid shelter below were bad. In fact, because it was specially provided for the president and other senior officials, the environment was quite good, with plenty of space, satellite TV and various are also complete, and there are even two computers. However, this kind of life, where you can only see lights when you wake up every day, is still very depressing. It is simply like the ant tribe.

Suddenly Majid hurriedly came up to Zhou Ming and said, 'I'm sorry to interrupt your workout, but I have something very important to tell you.'

He could not help but say that since he understood that the situation in Iraq would have to be supported by Ming alone, he had apologised to Ming, consciously and put himself in a subordinate position. He lowered his head very low. This willingness to kowtow made Zhou Ming feel that he was also a person of some importance.

Zhou Ming sat down next to Majid, and before he could ask, Majid said, 'The frequency of US air raids has dropped significantly. According to intelligence, they are likely to be planning a second large-scale attack.'

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'They should attack, but after the lesson they learned last time, they will be more cautious this time. advance is bound to be very slow. Just prepare according to our original plan. We will contain their strength in each city. Is there anything else?'

Majid nodded and replied, 'There is one more thing. You said earlier that you wanted me to prepare oil. I have mobilised all the output of the family oil field, and it is expected to reach more than 200 million barrels.'

'That's not bad. At current international crude oil futures prices, it could generate billions or even tens of billions of dollars in revenue. But that's only the stock of one oil field, isn't it?' asked Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming's question is not without reason. After all, the output of a large oil field can reach hundreds of thousands of barrels a day, and Iraq has been under sanctions since its invasion of Kuwait . It has now been nearly half a year since Iraq has been under sanctions since its invasion of Kuwait. As the world's fourth largest oil producer, it is only natural that Iraq would stockpile a few hundred million barrels as long as production in the oil fields continues.

Majid's answer also confirmed Zhou Ming's guess. He replied, 'This is only the reserve of the Rumaila oilfield, an oilfield directly controlled by our Al-Hussein family. Communication and negotiation are still needed for other oilfields.'

It really turned out like this. In fact, as early as when he was asked to prepare to support Standard Oil, Zhou Ming had already foreseen this result. After all, Iraq is not a country where ethnic conflicts, sectarian conflicts, or even conflicts over some inexplicable concepts can tear a country apart. It's like the Kurds, who are fighting for independence. They control several large oil fields, so they can keep buying all kinds of arms and continue to fight against Saddam.

So even a dictator like Saddam could not control the whole of Iraq, so now that he has been replaced after only a week by al-Majid, naturally he is even less likely to be able to enforce his will.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, I know I haven't completed the task you assigned me, but communication with other families is still ongoing, and I am quite confident that I can convince them to cooperate with me in preparing the oil,' Majid hurriedly explained to Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming knew that he had said this because he thought he was angry, so he waved his hand at him and said, 'It's not necessary. If they are willing, that would be great, and if not, it doesn't matter. Just prepare as much as you can. I will let you know as soon as I find a buyer.'

Although Majid understood that capital was the devil that could take risks if there was a profit to be made, he had absolutely no idea what Zhou Ming could possibly do in the current situation. under the siege of the world's most powerful army, to transport the oil in Iraq out of the country. But since this person is Zhou Ming, Majid can only choose to believe in him now. If he says it will work, it will work!

After Majid left, Zhou Ming set up his satellite phone in the courtyard and, without exception, dialed Lin Muzhen's phone number. The phone was still quickly connected, and the familiar question was still asked: 'Is this Zhou Ming?'

'Of course it's me, Muqing. Have you and Ranran been keeping an eye on the phone? It connected so quickly,' said Zhou Ming.

Lin Muqing said with a nod, 'The situation in Iraq is so dangerous right now, I'm afraid of missing any of your calls, so I have to keep my phone charged and by my side at all times.'

Zhou Ming knew very well that she wasn't just saying this. After all, he was in the Middle East, and there was a ten-hour time difference between him and them in San Francisco. It was midday for him, but midnight for them.

'Okay, Zhou Ming, I know that you don't have much contact time due to the US military air strikes, so I'll get straight to the point. Regarding your proposal to convert Iraqi oil into crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange, offer. Both Ran and I have already separately approached the Dow family and the Edwar

'Put simply, those guys think that given the current situation in Iraq, their oil is very valuable, but they don't want to bear the loss of reputation as war profiteers, right?' asked Zhou Ming.

Lin Muqing replied, 'That's exactly what they mean. They think that Iraq is now an evil warring state that should be sanctioned, an enemy of the United States and of freedom and democracy. If they help Iraq digest oil, they would become enemies of the United States, and they were unwilling to take that risk, or say that the benefits of oil were not enough to offset the reputational risk.'

'Then what if it was done under the banner of humanitarianism?' asked Zhou Ming.

Faced with this sudden question, Lin Muming was momentarily stunned because she had no idea what Zhou Ming was talking about.

Zhou Ming knew that Lin Muqing couldn't understand it at the moment, so he explained, 'In fact, it's very easy to understand. The Gulf region is a desert. Although there is the Mesopotamian region here in Iraq, the area of arable land here is still very worrying in nature, and there is a constant danger of desertification. It can It can be said that Iraq, including most countries in the Gulf region, has always relied on imports for food and fresh water.

' now, after Iraq has been subjected to US sanctions, it has undoubtedly lost this import channel.' Zhou Ming continued, 'Of course, this will not be a problem for a ruling family like the Al-Hussein family, but what about the ordinary Iraqi people? Having a stable source of food and fresh water, what will become of their lives?'

'Prices are rising, and life is very difficult for ordinary Iraqis. They may not be able to eat a full meal a day, so they become emaciated,' Lin Muqing guessed, picking up Zhou Ming's train of thought.

'This is inevitable. At this time, as long as there is media exposure of the lives of ordinary people in Iraq, and some publicity about the human rights of civilians, emphasising that it is Saddam's dictatorship dictatorship, not the ordinary Iraqi people, and you can propose an oil-for-food programme under the banner of humanitarianism. I think you can then justifiably exchange Iraqi oil at a very low price.'

Zhou Ming said, adding at the end, 'Since it is humanitarian aid, there is no need to worry about damage to reputation at all, and on the contrary, it can even earn a good reputation.'

Regarding Zhou Ming's proposal, Lin Muqing did not blindly applaud, but asked with some concern, 'Zhou Ming, your idea is very imaginative and surprising, but the key question is whether the Americans really sympathise with the suffering Iraqi people? Because it seems to be still subsidising the enemy, just in a different way.'

'That is indeed the case, but the Americans are civilized after all. Even though they are the ones who caused the tragedy here, they still grieve over the tragedy. This is the key to their agreement,' said Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming is very confident about this. After all, the original Oil-for-Food Programme was first proposed by the Americans, and later led by the United Nations, for which a certain Secretary-General was even involved in a bribery scandal.

And as as a born-again Christian, Zhou Ming has witnessed the sanctimoniousness of Westerners very thoroughly. They disrupted a country, created more than 4 million refugees, and then a picture of a photo of a dead little boy shocked the West, and later Western countries, under the power of the Virgin Mary, began to accept refugees, to the extent that they completely ignored the other party's qualities and living habits, etc., and even happened. Refugee crime incidents also asked the people of their own country to understand the ridiculous things.

It is also the understanding of the understanding of this kind of super-motherly heart of Westerners, Zhou Ming is very confident about the oil-for-food programme.

'It's just that, Muqing, if we do this, we'll become real profiteers of war,' Zhou Ming said.

'I don't think so,' said Lin Muqing, 'because the Iraqi people are indeed living in great hardship due to the US sanctions. If there had been no oil-for-food programme, then these Iraqi civilians would have suffered more and more. Not only would they have had food, but also a shortage of medicine. It was the oil-for-food programme that gave their lives a new lease of life. So from this perspective, Zhou Ming, you are their saviour!'

Zhou Ming laughed: 'My dear Muqing, I'm afraid you're the only one who thinks like this.'

'I don't think so. I think the Iraqi people can still tell right from wrong,' Lin Muqing said seriously. 'Then Zhou Ming and I will contact the Tang family and Edward tomorrow. I believe that, given their personalities, they will be happy to accept the plan. You have to know that yesterday the prices of crops such as soybeans and wheat hit a ten-year low. Trading in cheap crops for soaring oil is a very profitable deal.

'That's really good news,' said Zhou Ming.