American/ British relations strained because of oil spill and blame game?

[bebemoohatessnot]

I'm actually wondering about the personal side of this issue....
Being an American, but resident in Britain, can be tough sometimes when it comes to politics. I find myself as challenged lately mediating 'the sides' on the oil spill as I did trying to explain the Gulf war point of view to people.

Do you find yourself (or others) being overly defensive (of one side or another) because of the media involved with the oil spill? Does anyone else get tired of trying to wade through the information and the sweeping statements of blame.

and why, can't we see in others what we see in ourselves? and why can't our understanding of ourselves and our goals and fears help us to treat others a little better?

Yes, that's how it's being reported pretty much everywhere which MUST mean that investigations are now concluded?

Breaking news this morning on US channel
is that an engineer spotted a defect, reported it, and the people in charge (not bp) switched pods so that they could keep getting the oil. The defective pod was not repaired as expensivce.

Well this tells me at this point (if reports are to be believed) is that the waters are muddied. I'd imagine that BP, in this case, would have perhaps put pressure on the other company in terms of profit?

From my piont of view BP are the big players and hence need to accept the largest proportion of liability but,until the investigations are concluded,who knows.

What I find difficult is that British
Petroleum (erm doesn't exist) are being blamed 100% prior to the completion of investigations.

Bhopal resonates with me and it's a lesson in how not to clean up after your mess and condemn not the just the 20,000 lives lost but also the next generation and the next and and next. BP won't go down that route. But god, isn't it tempting?

Yes, and as mentioned, it's a national distaster - so why were the US navy not called up?

Obama is dealing with a national disaster, so he is taking care of this NOW. Hopefully, in the future, once this crisis is over he'll deal with the Bhopal disaster.*

Yes but any of the US presidents since 1984 have had the chance to deal with the Bhopal dister and they havn't - They have refused.
Why shouyld contries have to wait years and years for something to be done?

Will the new president want to wait 25 years for anything to be done or do you think he will get anngry with such a long wait

India doesn't want to wait anymore... India doesn't want to wait why the US clear up the mess BP has caused and why should they wait?

I strongly doubt the investigations have been concluded. I do wonder whether are BP prepared to take the flack for now due to political pressure - but it is being presented in the press as their sole responsibility.

A side question that I've been mulling over:
When an exploration licence is awarded, the Nation State owning the territory usually gets a cash sum in payment and an obligation that various exploration work will be done within a given time frame. At some point, if the companies with the lease wish to retain it, this will include drilling a well or wells. If a discovery is made and the oil companies wish to produce the discovery the exploration licence must be converted to a production licence, whereupon the Nation State sets out royalty terms for all production (either as cash or hydrocarbons). Given that the Nation State gets a significant amount of money by allowing oil companies to explore and produce oil within their territory, and that they put a legal obligation on those oil companies to drill wells, do the Nation States bear any responsibility should an accident such as that in the GoM occur? (For this discussion, lets assume that the oil companies have followed all safety legislation...)

Ivykaty, yes I know.

I'm Italian, and trust me, we know quite well that the american governments aren't that eager to take responsibility. See, for instance the cermis disaster or the plane disaster in Ustica here.

Not to mention the involvement of CIA during the 1970, when Italy was plagued by terrorism.

So, yes, I know how it is. Still, I don't think it has anything to do with the American government seeking responsibilities for this particular accident.

Oh Tangle that's an interesting idea... and it would put a further spin on the situation wouldn't it?