BP didn’t begin as BP. Indeed, it didn’t begin as British Petroleum. In 1908 it was known as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, and it exploited Iranian natural resources and labor ruthlessly. Majority shares in the company were owned by the British government, and Iran offered a rich yield for the company. In 1947, for example, the company pulled in after-tax profits of forty million pounds, while Iran received a mere seven million pounds. The average Iranian worker housed in huts formed by rusted hammered oil cans, lived in desolate oil towns, and earned about 50 cents a day.
One observer from Iran’s Petroleum Institute described one such shanty town, Kaghazabad, as a place where,”In every crevice hung the foul sulfur stench of burning oil.” Instead of streets, narrow alleyways existed, which the describer called “emporiums for rats.” He said the town was so desolate that there was not a single tree.
Is there any wonder that the government of Mohammed Mossadegh wanted to nationalize the country’s oil wealth, or that the CIA and Britain’s MI5 assured his ouster and imposed a Shah? BP plundered the country making money hand over fist. Now, they’re plundering American resources, and the chickens have indeed come home to roost. From death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noel Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
