Blood oil: More than half the oil traded across the world has been stolen

The source of the problem is an archaic law left over from the days of the Atlantic slave trade

Donald Trump tweeted something true recently. Responding to the protests in Iran, the US president stated that “The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered.” Trump’s point is correct: what vice-president Mike Pence called Iran’s “unelected dictators” really have been stealing the oil that belongs to the people and spending the money for their own purposes, including (as Trump also said) “to fund terrorism abroad”.

Though right about Iran, Trump’s tweets have been too selective. In neighbouring Saudi Arabia, an ally of America’s, the elite