[QUOTE=devildogmech;6578700]Uh.... How did they steal "OUR" mineral rights? Its not "OUR" land.... I'm not being a wisenheimer (for once) this is a new argument to me.

By "Our" I mean the oil companies of the time; or more collectively the property of civilized western nations. Most middle-eastern countries of the time were fairly paid royalties on the minerals that oil companies pulled from underneath their land-- the same would be done for a farmer in Texas should someone wish to extract some minerals from under his property. Along the line many of these countries nationalized their oil production--stole 'our' infrastructure, broke contracts and decided that they could make more money by selling 'their' oil to us- OPEC=evil oil cartel. Mineral rights do not equal land rights. If these countries actually understood what rights were these oil companies would have contracts with individual landowners. That a country doesn't allow something as simple as property-rights should have been a red flag to any company wishing to do business within their borders.