Despite remarks by Defense Secretary James Mattis, US presence in Iraq is aimed at ‘stealing oil,’ an analyst says.

‘Gordon Duff, senior editor at Veterans Today, made the statement while commenting on Monday remarks by Mattis ahead of an unannounced visit to the war-ravaged country.
In an apparent attempt to distance himself from recent remarks by President Donald Trump regarding Iraq and its oil, the Pentagon chief, who was en route to Iraq, asserted that Americans are “not in Iraq to seize” oil.
In the course of one year after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US “stole 40 percent of Iraq’s oil that was sent out thought the Kirkuk pipeline to the Mediterranean port, south of Seyhan, Turkey,” Duff told Press TV.
“And it was loaded on the tankers owned by, well oddly enough, mostly Exxon corporation.” The former ExxonMobil CEO, Rex Tillerson, currently serves as Trump’s state department secretary.’
Read more: Despite remarks by Defense Secretary James Mattis, US presence in Iraq is aimed at ‘stealing oil,’ an analyst says.