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207 19 The Story of Oil Three letters of the alphabet spell the little word oil, which, like the little word atom, is charged with tremendous power, both for good and for evil. Oil has shaped and shapes national and international policies. It causes plans and intrigues to move as does that dark and thick and oily flow. It brings about international complications and is politically explosive. That is one side of oil. That it is the lifeblood of industry and a vital force in civilization is the other side. In no small way does it contribute to a nation’s prosperity and a nation’s influence in the world. The rich oil fields of Iraq are a blessing both to Iraq and to the world; but there is also the other side, a very shady side. Iraq would certainly con- firm the statement that her oil fields have not been an unmixed blessing. Oil and strategy may not be synonymous, but, as it has been observed, they are inseparable, at least so far as Iraq and the Middle East are concerned. Oil and strategic location equal power, and this expresses the importance of Iraq in international affairs. It was this background of oil that invariably determined the nature of the treaties in which Iraq was involved. From the Paris Peace Conference that followed World War I to the later treaties pertaining to Iraq, we detect the smell of oil. It is Iraq’s oil that has made her one of the vital areas from any point of view, not only in the Middle East but in the world as well. The story of oil in Iraq is often stranger than fiction and equally engrossing. The tale is an epic in a major key. My first contacts with oil, and men connected with oil, were not shadowed by any thoughts of darkling scheming either by nations or by men, or by the “ups and downs” of international oil politics. On the contrary, we met those delightful and interesting people who were sent to Iraq to 208 • Living in Romantic Baghdad prospect for oil, to develop the oil industry, and to manage the oil business . These people had come from different countries. The first to arrive on the field were business executives, who were all British; then came the geologists, who were an international group; and lastly came the drillers and welders, who were Americans. Having fallen into the English custom of four o’clock tea, we met most of these men around the tea tray, where in their relaxed state and under the stimulus of tea, we learned so much about oil that I fell in heartily with Reginald Hine’s encomium of tea. He said, “There is black magic in tea . . . I shall have much to say of this blessed beverage which has neither the arrogance of wine, nor the self-consciousness of coffee, nor the simpering innocence of cocoa. If tea can make the most taciturn Quaker talk, what will it do to an ordinary conversable human being? Blessed be tea whose gracious influence can so wondrously enliven the intellect and stimulate the flow of soul. For my part I am constantly declaring that the day does not begin till tea time. Sydney Smith gave public thanks to Almighty God that he had not been born into the world ‘before the age of tea!’” This comment on tea would have been incomprehensible to us had not the British inducted us into this afternoon ritual so yielding in returns. Besides, not a little of my information in regard to the production and distribution of oil I learned by reading the essays on oil which some of our students yearly wrote in a prize competition. For a number of years a group of students were annually sent to the oil fields, where as guests of the Iraq Petroleum Company, they saw and had explained to them matters pertaining to oil. But the most satisfactory introduction into the mystery of the knowledge of oil came to us when we were the guests of the manager of the company in the oil fields. We spent two days on the field not only enjoying his hospitality but also seeing things with our own eyes as we were driven around in his car and officially guided. We visited the stores and laboratories and saw the actual drilling. For a number of years our host had been our neighbor...

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