Deja Screwed

This may require Glenn Beck's blackboard, or better yet, one that makes sense, the LA Times.

Under International law, offshore oil rigs like the Deepwater Horizon are treated as ships, and companies are allowed to "register" them in unlikely places such as the Marshall Islands, Panama and Liberia — reducing the U.S. government's role in inspecting and enforcing safety and other standards.

Sounds more than dodgy enough, the Amoco Cadiz after all was owned by Amoco, but registered in Liberia, go on...

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico was built in South Korea. It was operated by a Swiss company under contract to a British oil firm. Primary responsibility for safety and other inspections rested not with the U.S. government but with the Republic of the Marshall Islands — a tiny, impoverished nation in the Pacific Ocean.

Hey, the Marshall islands are only in two completely different hemispheres, but I understand they are to oil rig inspection what the Swiss are to Nazi war booty chocolate.

The Marshall Islands, where have we recently seen that name crop up?

Oh yeah, Casino Jack Abramoff.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]