THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 18, 1995 TAG: 9503180021
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
Humorists say that there is nothing bigger than Texas but taxes. Pragmatic policy-makers say that there is nothing bigger than the United States government than the international oil companies.
Conoco, the oil subsidiary of DuPont, recently announced the signing of a billion-dollar contract with Iran by its Netherlands affiliate to develop two oil fields in the Persian Gulf for Iran.
Aware of the export and import sanctions the United States has placed on trade with Iran, Conoco found a way to bypass our government by dealing through its Netherlands affiliate. We cannot expect support of our bans by friendly European governments or Japan when our own oil companies circumvent our sanctions through their foreign affiliates.
Tehran needs American dollars to finance its policy of world terrorism and to support its large foreign debt. Its involvement in the bombing of the New York World Trade Center is an example of its international world-terrorism policy.
U.S. oil companies purchased more than $4 billion worth of Iranian oil last year through their foreign affiliates, providing badly needed hard currency to Iran.
If our State Department is unable to stop the consistent flouting of the official policy of our government, Congress should step in and close the loopholes that permit the oil companies to make a joke of our foreign policy. Or do the oil companies, with their generous political contributions, own Congress too?
STANLEY A. KAPLAN
Norfolk, March 14, 1995 by CNB