In the wake of black gold
Sridhar K. Chari

The Ultimate Prize Oil and Saddam's Iraq
by Ranjit Singh Kalha. Allied Publishers, New Delhi. Pages 428. Rs 695

Posted to Iraq as India's ambassador around the time of Saddam Hussein's costly misadventure into neighbouring Kuwait, Ranjit Singh Kalha had a ringside view of the events that were ultimately to change the course of history.

Almost two decades later, Iraq continues to be roiled by the relentless push and pull of conflicting interests, both domestic and global. In writing The Ultimate Prize, Kalha has taken on an ambitious task — to understand Iraq's past, chart the course of recent developments, and take a peek into the future.

That he succeeds in large measure is due to his dogged attention to detail and the instincts of a good story-teller. Oil is naturally the focus of his narration and the great game played by Britain, France and other colonial powers, along with the USA, with utter disregard for the welfare of the people of West Asia, stands exposed. He explains how oil has been both a curse and a blessing for the people of Iraq.

Iraq’s oil reserves are huge. Estimates range from a 115 billion to 400 billion barrels. It is the second largest in the world, at about 11 per cent of the total estimated. What is more, costs of getting that oil out of the earth are perhaps the lowest —around one dollar per barrel. To cap it all, the crude is of top quality and highly prized.

For all the West’s demurrals, their involvement in the region, particularly that of the USA, is clearly because of oil. Kalha quotes a key US national security directive from January 1991, at around the time of the crisis: "Access to Persian Gulf oil`85is vital to US national security`85the US is committed to defending its vital interests`85if necessary through the use of military force."

Kalha's effort thus is more than just a memoir of the time spent in the thick of action. He is sympathetic both to the Iraqi nation and its people, ill-served not only by the atrocities of the Saddam regime, which he does not gloss over, but by the rapaciousness of outside powers.

He devotes a chapter to the warmth and friendship that the Iraqis have shown towards India. Others capture, in neatly sketched vignettes, Iraqi history, life under sanctions, the Saddam regime, Iraq's neighbouring countries, the Kurds, and the country's relationship with the USA. He has even thrown in a chapter on places of antiquity and historical interest, which should whet the appetite of an intrepid traveller.

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