As an economist and firm believer in the laws thereof, I feel this article is relevant and reinforces some ideas that I have felt in the past. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oil, Sharon and the Axis of Evil The Great Game By Uri Avnery Some weeks ago, something curious happened: Israel discovered that Iran is the Great Satan. It happened quite suddenly. There was no prior sensational news, no new discovery. As if by the order of a drill-sergeant, the whole Israeli phalanx changed direction. All the politicians, all the generals, all the enlisted media, with the usual complement of professors-for-hire, - all of them discovered overnight that Iran is the immediate, real and terrible danger. By wondrous coincidence, at exactly the same moment a ship was captured that, allegedly, carried Iranian arms to Arafat. And in Washington Shimon Peres, a man for all seasons and the servant of all masters, accosted every passing diplomat and told him stories about thousands of Iranian missiles that have been given to the Hizbullah. Yes, yes, Hizbullah (included by President Bush in the list of "terrorist organizations") is receiving horrible arms from Iran (included by President Bush in the "Axis of Evil") in order to threaten Israel, the darling of the Congress. Does this sound mad? Not at all. There is method in this madness. On the face of it, the matter is easy to explain. America is still in a state of fury after the Twin-Towers outrage. It has won a amazing victory in Afghanistan, hardly sacrificing a single American soldier. Now it stands, furious and drunk with victory, and does not know who to attack next. Iraq? North Korea? Somalia? The Sudan? President Bush cannot stop now, because such an immense concentration of might cannot be laid off. The more so, as Bin-Laden has not been killed. The economic situation has deteriorated, a giant scandal (Enron) is rocki ng Washington. The American public should not be left to ponder on this. So here comes the Israeli leadership and shouts from the roof-tops: Iran is the enemy! Iran must be attacked! Who has made that decision? When? How? And most importantly - Where? Clearly not in Jerusalem, but in Washington DC. An important component of the US administration has given Israel a sign: Start a massive political offensive in order to pressure the Congress, the media and American public opinion. Who are these people? And what is their interest? A wider explanation is needed. The most coveted resource on earth is the giant oil-field in the Caspian Sea region, that competes in scale with the riches of Saudi Arabia. In 2010 it is expected to yield 3.2 billion barrels of crude oil per day, in addition to 4850 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year. The United States is determined (a) to take possession of it, (b) to eliminate all potential competitors, (c) to safeguard the area politically and militarily, and (d) to clear a way from the oil-fields to the open sea. This campaign is being led by a group of oil people, to which the Bush family belongs. Together with the arms industry, this group got both George Bush senior and George Bush junior elected. The President is a simple person, his mental world is shallow and his pronouncements are primitive, bordering on caricature, like a second-rate Western. That is good for the masses. But his handlers are very sophisticated people indeed. It's they who guide the administration. The Twin Towers outrage made their job much easier. Osama Bin Laden did not comprehend that his actions serve American interests. Bush's "War on Terrorism" constitutes a perfect pretext for the campaign planned by his handlers. Under the cover of this war, America has taken total control over the three small Muslim nations near the oil reserves: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The whole region is now completely under American political-military domination. All potential competitors - including Russia and China - have been pushed out. For a long time, the Americans have been arguing among themselves about the best route for piping this oil to the open sea. Routes that may be under Russian influence have been eliminated. The 19th century, deadly British-Russian competition, then called the "Great Game", is still going on between America and Russia. Until recently, the western route, leading to the Black Sea and Turkey, seemed most feasible, but the Americans did not like it very much, to say the least. Russia is much too near. The best route leads south, to the Indian Ocean. Iran was not even considered, since it is governed by Islamic fanatics. So there remained the alternative route: from the Caspian Sea, through Afghanistan and the western part of Pakistan (called Beluchistan), to the Indian Ocean. To this end, the Americans conducted, ever so quietly, negotiations with the Taliban regime. They bore no fruit. Then the "War on Terrorism" was started, the US conquered all of Afghanistan and installed their agents as the new government. The Pakistani dictator, too, was bent to the American will. If one looks at the map of the big American bases created for the war, one is struck by the fact that they are completely identical to the route of the projected oil pipeline to the Indian Ocean. That would have been the end of the story, but the appetite grows with the eating. The Americans drew two lessons from the Afghani experience: (a) that every country can be subdued by sophisticated bombs, without putting any soldiers in harm's way, and (b) that by military might and money America can install client governments anywhere. And so a new idea came up in Washington: Why lay a long pipeline around Iran (through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan) if one can lay a much shorter pipeline through Iran itself? One has only to topple the Ayatullah regime and install a new pro-American government. In the past, that seemed impossible. Now, after the Afghani episode, it looks eminently practicable. One has only to prepare American public opinion and to acquire the support of the congress for an attack on Iran. For this, Israel's good services are needed. It has an enormous influence in the Congress and the media. It works like this: Israeli generals declare every day that Iran is producing weapons of mass-destruction and threatens the Jewish State with a second Holocaust. Sharon announces that the capture of the Iranian arms-ship proves Arafat is a part of the Iranian conspiracy. Peres tells everybody that Iranian missiles threaten the whole world. Every day some newspaper tells its readers that Bin Laden is in Iran or with the Hizbullah in Lebanon. President Bush knows how to reward those who serve him well. Sharon got a free hand to oppress the Palestinians, imprison Arafat, assassinate militants and enlarge the settlements. It's a simple deal: You deliver the support of the Congress and the media, I deliver the Palestinians on a platter. This could not happen if America was still in need of allies in Europe and the Arab world. But in Afghanistan, the Americans learned that they don't need anybody anymore. They can spit in the eyes of the pitiful Arab regimes, that are always begging for money, and disregard Europe altogether. Who needs the negligible armies of Britain and Germany, when America alone is mightier then all the armies of the world combined? The idea of American-Israeli cooperation against Iran is not new for Sharon. On the contrary, in 1981, when he was just appointed Minister of Defense, he offered the Pentagon a daring plan: in the event of Khomeini's demise, the Israeli army would immediately occupy Iran, in order to forestall the Soviet Union. The IDF would turn the country over to the slow-moving Americans, once they arrived. For this purpose, the Pentagon would stockpile in advance the most sophisticated arms in Israel, under American control, to be used in this operation. The Pentagon did not accept the idea at that time. Now, the cooperation is being established against a different background. What conclusions should we draw from all this? First of all, that we shall be located on the frontline of this coming war. Beyond the exchange of curses between the "two Persian Chiefs-of-Staff" (as the joke goes in Israeli command circles, alluding to the fact that Shaul Mofaz was born in Iran), an Iranian reaction to an American assault may hurt us grievously. There are missiles. There are chemical and biological weapons. Second, that those of us who desire an Israeli-Palestinian peace cannot rely on America. Now everything depends on us alone, the Israelis and the Palestinians. Our blood is more precious than Caspian Sea oil. At least to us. Uri Avnery lives in Israel. He has written extensively about the life and career of Ariel Sharon. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Its not Paranoia JuanValdez, it is simply the focus of the US government to never be in a situation similar to that of the 1970's oil embargo ever again. With the knowledge that Saudi Arabia is a time-bomb of sorts, this will help to stabilize the flow of oil from nations aside from Arab-only states. The idea that the former Russian Republics are sitting on some of the largest oil reserves in the world, and that it does not seem very appealing to US Oil interests is ignorance to say the least. Look at the chain of events, ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco have been negotiating with these republics and Kazakhastan (sp?) about contracting the oil drilling and work. But the transporting of the oil will be a very strong problem for the companies, the US and the frmr Russian Republics. There are two routes, Afghanistan and Pakistan or through Iran. The US government had been discussing the option with the Taliban, yet the talks resulted in nothing. This is ignorance on the Taliban's part, because the money would trickle down into their society as well and they would actually be able to feed their population and oppress their people in style. The Iran idea, I admit, is a bit far-fetched, but it is feasible. It is Ironic how Iran has clashed with the Wahhabi-Sunni Taliban since its existence, and we heard nothing about Iran, we even gained support from them in the war in Afghanistan. Then all of a sudden, the Ship arrives in Israel with weapons, Osama may be in Iran, Iran is sheltering Ex-Taliban and Al-Queda members, developing nuclear powers and is an "Axis of evil" I am not disputing any of these claims, yet they all seemed to have come out rather abruptly and recently.
Overall, I feel there is more than a note of truth in the piece....the main gist being...it's about money. Surely your not foolish enough to believe that the only reason that we're in Afghanistan is for terrorism. It's only one of the numerous agendas being serviced under that guise.
I agree that the war in Afghanistan is about economics as well as terror. Especially when you read, as I did yesterday, that the Bush Administration sent several million dollars to the Taliban in spring 2001 to "fight drugs" (I wonder how much of it was used to plan 9/11), and a mere 5 weeks before 9/11, the administration was negotiating with the Taliban over a central Asian oil pipeline. As far as Uri Avnery goes, I cannot tell whether he is a true peace activist or someone with a predisposition for hystrionics who is in love with the sound of his own voice. He reminds me very much of Abbie Hoffman. Only time will tell.
Swish Stated: "The whole terrorism excuse is a sham....and the whole of America is buying into it...with money." Out of this statement, I can't tell if you agree with the article or not? And maybe instead of worrying about my summarization, you should re-read your posts to see if we can derive your point.
F.D. Khan, thanks for the article. I had heard his name, but it prompted me to do some reaearch on Uri Averny. Here is a speech of his with a bio. __________________________________________________ Uri Avnery On receiving the Right Livelihood Prize Stockholm, 7.12.þþ01 Madam Speaker, Honorable Members of Parliament, Jacob von Uexkull, Honorable Ambassador of Palestine, (I would have liked to greet also my own ambassador, but he did not see fit to attend,) Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me start on a personal note: On this day, the seventh of December, exactly fifty-three years ago, I was hit in the belly by a burst of machine-gun bullets. After many months of bitter fighting, I knew that I had little chance of surviving. It was broad daylight and I was lying in full view of the enemy machine-guns. But four of my soldiers, new immigrants from Morocco, ran up to me and under fierce fire carried me to safety. After a long and bumpy journey on a jeep, without morphine, I reached the army hospital, just in time for the doctors to operate on me and save my life. I lay there for many days, unable to sleep or eat, connected to pipes and instruments, surrounded by soldiers in agony, some dying, some losing limbs, and thinking, thinking, thinking. - Thinking about my comrades, who had lost their lives or become invalids. - Thinking about the unseen inhabitants of the Palestinian villages that my company had conquered. After all, we had often entered houses where the oven was still hot and the uneaten meal was still on the table, left behind by the families who had escaped only a few minutes before and become refugees. Refugees to this very day. - Thinking about the tragedy of the war between these two peoples, we, the new Israelis, they, the Palestinians. I was 25 years old and had to decide what to do with the rest of my life, a life – I felt – that had been given to me as a gift by those four young men who risked theirs to save mine. Lying in bed, sleepless and forever thirsty, I decided that my life must have a purpose, and that the only purpose worth living for was to bring an end to this tragic war, to make peace between our peoples, the Israelis and the Palestinians. My goal became making peace, saving lives and being part of the march of humanity towards a civilized world order without war and hunger and oppression. Since then, for 53 years, I have tried hard to live up to that commitment. I created a magazine, and as its editor, for 40 years, I battled against the demagogues preaching national and religious hatred. As a member of the Knesset for ten years. I strove for a democratic, liberal, secular, multi-ethnic, civil society in Israel, based on equality and social justice, living in close partnership with a free, sovereign State of Palestine. I was never alone in this fight. Throughout it, I was lucky to be in the company of courageous men and women, who had embraced the cause of peace and justice. In the beginning we were few, a mere handful, but in the course of the struggle our numbers grew. To many it seems that our cause is a labor of Sisyphus. And indeed, the disappointments on the way have been many and heart-breaking. But the victories gained are far more important. When we set out, more than 50 years ago, there was hardly an Israeli who was ready to admit that a Palestinian people even exists, let alone that it had any rights. Only 30 years ago, Golda Meir, then Prime Minister of Israel, declared that “there is no such thing as a Palestinian people”. Today, there is hardly an Israeli who denies the existence of the Palestinian people. When we said, 40 years ago, that there must be a State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, it sounded mad. Today, the vast majority of Israelis believe that there will be no peace without it. When we said, 30 years ago, that we must negotiate with the Palestinian Liberation Organization, it sounded like treason. Indeed, when I first met Yasser Arafat during the battle of Beirut, several Israeli cabinet ministers demanded that I be put on trial for high treason. Today, Israeli cabinet ministers stand in line at Yasser Arafat’s door. When, six years ago, we coined the slogan “Jerusalem – Capital of Two States”, we were accused of breaking the national consensus. But last year, when the Israeli delegation at Camp David suggested turning over several Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem to the future Palestinian state, hardly any protest was heard in Israel. The road in front of us is hard and dangerous. Let us not underestimate the force of hatred, fear and prejudice, bred by 120 years of conflict. But when we look back at the long road we have traveled, we can say with confidence that the end is already in sight. Dark as the night may be, we know that the dawn of a new day will come. Nine years ago Rachel and I took part in a protest against the decision of the Rabin government to expel 415 Islamic activists from the country. We put up a tent in Jerusalem, opposite the Prime Minister’s office, and lived there, Jews and Arabs, for 45 days and nights. It was an almost Scandinavian winter. For several days Jerusalem was covered with snow and we either shivered in the freezing cold or were choked by the open Beduin fire, and we talked about the failure of the old peace movement, which was unwilling to protest against a Labor party government. There and then we decided to set up a new peace movement – independent, militant, uncorrupted by a craving for popularity, determined to stick to the truth even when faced with hatred. Thus Gush Shalom, the Peace Bloc, was born. Rachel and I accept this prize first of all as a salute to the hundreds of activists of Gush Shalom: the women and men, old and young, who give their all – time, energy, money and, most important of all, their faith – to the cause of peace and justice; who go out in pouring rain and the scorching sun to demonstrate against injustice and oppression, braving the hatred and threats and violence of self-appointed patriots. They have remained true to their convictions even when despair and resignation seemed to gain the upper hand, when all around them other peace groups collapsed and gave up. To all of these, and to all other peace activists in Israel, I send from here, this beautiful city, a message of good cheer and hope: Let us keep our heads up high, for our cause will prevail. Whatever the odds, however difficult the road, even when the forces of evil and ignorance seem to be winning – the future belongs to us, the forces of peace and conciliation, the true patriots of Israel and Palestine, two peoples, two states, but with one common future. This prize is a tremendous encouragement to all of us. We accept it with gratitude and humility. It reminds us that ours is but a small part in a world-wide struggle for peace, justice and equality between human beings and between nations, for the preservation of our planet. This struggle is symbolized by Jacob von Uexkull, a truly admirable man. I wish to thanks him and all his associates from the bottom of my heart. It can all be summed up in one word, which both in Hebrew and in Arabic means not only peace, but also wholeness, security and wellbeing: Shalom, Salaam. (While applauding this speech, the whole audience spontaneously rose to its feet – a demonstration without precedent in the history of the Alternative Nobel Prize award ceremonies
Everyone should read this article. There is plenty of truth to it. The oil conglomerates control most everything. Don't you think if it weren't for controlling interests and making $ that we would see the results of technological advances in clean energy. Someone should start a thread about all the attrocities commited around the world by those who want more black gold.
The most coveted resource on earth is the giant oil-field in the Caspian Sea region, that competes in scale with the riches of Saudi Arabia. In 2010 it is expected to yield 3.2 billion barrels of crude oil per day, in addition to 4850 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year. Anyone else think that he might be off the mark just a tad on some of his facts?
Black Gold. TEXAS TEA. Y'all come back now! Yes, yes. Those damn capitalists! We would all be much better off being led by someone like Mao or Stalin or Lenin or Mengistu or Pol Pot... The problem with conspiracy theories is that the no one in the mainstream (academia, government, media) will take the time to respond to every crackpot who can write a column on a .org socialist or peace website. Get a clue. Is it possible we attacked Afghanistan because some guy, bin something.....uh, bin Laden, yeah that's it I think....yeah, this bin Laden did something.....uh, yeah, yeah, he BLEW UP THE ****ING WTC!!!!! And he was being given safe haven in Afghanistan.... Is it just me or does that seem like a more plausible answer? You want to say we kicked Saddam out of Kuwait because of oil, not to protect democracy? I'd say ok. That makes sense (although you could make the argument that by keeping one government from annexing a recognized neighbor that democratic values were upheld vis-a-vis nation states). But there is a point at which you can go astray. The US has interests of one kind or another in EVERY part of the globe (and even in space!) so its not hard to create a conspiracy theory off of any action the US takes (or declines to take)... Of course, it's possible that Bin Laden is really Ken Lay, and created all this to distract us from the (then) coming Enron collapse. And I did hear once that Steffi Graf and Randy Johnson were the same person (as they had not EVER been seen in the same place at the same time)...
Yeah, given that the US consumes 20 million barrels of oil a day, if we could control the pot for just a couple of months, we'd be set for decades....
The US does have an interest in a steady supply of oil. I'm sure that any measure the US takes in Afghanistan is studied with that in mind. However, I think it highly unlikely that such was our primary motivation in this case. I am somewhat worried that our war on terrorism could be continued for reasons other than preventing terrorism in the future. It's not every day a righteous cause jumps in your lap... (I'm not saying that anyone is glad 9/11 happened, just that since it did, some might take advantage of it).
