Francis Raven

An Iraq Oil Play

          A Political Play for 7 voices in 4 movements.

          How the play works: each movement consists of 1 statement from 7 different characters about the situation in Iraq. The order of the voices remains constant throughout and is as follows: 1) George W. Bush (quotations from between January 28, 2003 and February 7, 2003). 2) An overly intellectual commentator. 3) The text of an ad from 4 major oil companies. 4) A commentator who is mainly interested in the UN. 5) A liberal. 6) A placard protesting the war. 7) Saddam Hussein (quotations from "Saddam's Brain," by David Brooks.

1.

"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world; it is God's gift to humanity."

                                    "What is it to be a liberal foreign policy? What would make it
                                      the case that people who call themselves liberal would assent to war?"

                    "WE'RE DRIVERS TOO"
                     EXXON

                                                            "The Security Council knows that part of its
                                                              process is to decide again if the use of force
                                                              is necessary. Its integrity lies in the fact that
                                                              it is not a machine."

        "This is a totally manufactured issue. Containment has worked for a decade and
          there is no reason why it shouldn't work for decades to come."

                                                   REGIME CHANGE BEGINS AT HOME

                                                                          "That is why a Revolution has no
                                                                            beginning and no end; it is not like a
                                                                            war, and its soldiers must not profit
                                                                            from its spoils. It is something continuous, it is a message to life,
                                                                            and the human being is only the
                                                                            bearer of the message."

2.

"Your enemy is not surrounding your country. Your enemy is ruling your country."

                                        "Listen: Saddam is neither Bush nor Osama, despite beliefs
                                          to the contrary."

                          "WHAT DO WE REALLY NEED IN TODAY'S ENERGY HUNGRY
                           WORLD? MORE GARDENERS"
                           SHELL OIL

                                                                       "Of course, there is the possibility that old
                                                                         Europe will leak into the creation of the old
                                                                         UN."

         "Violence begets violence. War slaughters innocent people. "

                                                    INSTEAD OF WAR, JUSTICE

                                                                          "The Revolution chooses its
                                                                            enemies, and we say chooses its
                                                                            enemies because some enemies are
                                                                            chosen by it from among the people
                                                                            who run up against its program and
                                                                            who intend to harm it."

3.

"Saddam Hussein can now be expected to begin another round of empty concessions,
transparently false denials. No doubt he will play a last-minute game of deception. "

                                        "And what will come of the oil? Not a cynical read. Despite
                                         beliefs to the contrary Chevron is not getting the oil."

                      "MOVING BEYOND PETROLEUM"
                       BRITISH PETROLEUM

                                                                     "Does partial cooperation count as
                                                                       cooperation? Or is it an event which should
                                                                       give the inspectors more time?"

             "How can we justify spending money on a war to impose American values when
              our own economy is in a shambles."

                                                            ACT NOW. STOP WAR. END RACISM.

                                                                                 "The Revolution has its eyes wide
                                                                                  open. Throughout all its stages the
                                                                                  Revolution will remain capable of
                                                                                  performing its role courageously and
                                                                                  precisely without hesitation or panic,
                                                                                  once it takes action to crush the
                                                                                  pockets of the counter-revolution."

4.

"The United States would welcome and support a new resolution which makes clear that
the Security Council stands behind its previous demands, yet resolutions mean little
without resolve."

                                      "What if Iraq was a democracy? Would it bring democracy into
                                         the entire Middle East? If Iraq were a democracy would it pull
                                         out of OPEC? And if Iraq were to pull out of OPEC would
                                         OPEC's power be diminished? And would that mean that we
                                         wouldn't have to deal with the Saudi princes anymore?"

                         "PEOPLE DO"
                          CHEVRON

                                                                     "For the UN process to retain its integrity
                                                                       war needs to remain a possibility. We have
                                                                       to know that if there was a smoking gun the
                                                                       Security Council would back the use of
                                                                       force in Iraq."

"A preemptive strike against Iraq totally undermines the American position in
international law."

                                           PEACE IS PATRIOTIC

                                                                "The writing of history must take on
                                                                  the same specificity as our Baathist
                                                                  way; in other words the writing of
                                                                  Arab history should be from our
                                                                 point of view with an emphasis on
                                                                  analysis and not realistic story
                                                                  telling."

<<