Say it ain't so. The President said we didn't go to war in Iraq over oil. So this article in the NYT must be a figment of my imagination, because it says that four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power. Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq's Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to operate Iraq's largest fields.