Is it all about oil?

[Marcus]

Received this in my email this morning:

Are the Wars in the Middle East and North Africa Really About Oil?
Date: October 9, 2012
Author: Washingtons Blog
Categories: Energy,Think Tank,War/Defense

The Wars in the Middle East and North Africa Are NOT Just About Oil … They’re Also About GAS
The Iraq war was really about oil, according to Alan Greenspan, John McCain, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, a high-level National Security Council officer and others.

Dick Cheney made Iraqi’s oil fields a national security priority before 9/11.

The Sunday Herald reported:

Five months before September 11, the US advocated using force against Iraq … to secure control of its oil.

The Afghanistan war was planned before 9/11 (see this and this). According to French intelligence officers, the U.S. wanted to run an oil pipeline through Afghanistan to transport Central Asian oil more easily and cheaply. And so the U.S. told the Taliban shortly before 9/11 that they would either get “a carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs”, the former if they greenlighted the pipeline, the second if they didn’t. See this, this and this.

Congressman Ed Markey said:

Well, we’re in Libya because of oil.

Senator Graham agreed.

And the U.S. and UK overthrew the democratically-elected leader of Iran because he announced that he would nationalize the oil industry in that country.

It’s a War for GAS
But it’s about gas as much as oil …

As key war architect John Bolton said last year:

The critical oil and natural gas producing region that we fought so many wars to try and protect our economy from the adverse impact of losing that supply or having it available only at very high prices.

For example, the pipeline which the U.S. wanted to run through Afghanistan prior to 9/11 was to transport gas as much as oil.
John C.K. Daly notes:

The proposed $7.6 billion, 1,040 mile-long TAPI [Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India ... admittedly a mouthful, but you'll be hearing a lot about it in the coming months] natural gas pipeline has a long regional history, having first been proposed even before the Taliban captured Kabul, as in 1995 Turkmenistan and Pakistan initialed a memorandum of understanding. TAPI, with a carrying capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of Turkmen natural gas a year, was projected to run from Turkmenistan’s Dauletabad gas field across Afghanistan and Pakistan and terminate at the northwestern Indian town of Fazilka.

TAPI would have required the assent of the Taliban, and two years after the MoU was signed the Central Asia Gas Pipeline Ltd. consortium, led by U.S. company Unocal, flew a Taliban delegation to Unocal headquarters in Houston, where the Taliban signed off on the project.

Much more at the link: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/10/ar ... um=twitter

[Enki]

I don't think it's about only oil or gas either. It's about regional stability and controlling trade. It's also about the dollar and dollar hegemony. It's about the silk road trade route. It's about a system of nations that is beholden to the Western hierarchy of Europe, the United States and the UN.

[monster_gardener]

I don't think it's about only oil or gas either. It's about regional stability and controlling trade. It's also about the dollar and dollar hegemony. It's about the silk road trade route. It's about a system of nations that is beholden to the Western hierarchy of Europe, the United States and the UN.

Thank You VERY Much for your post, Tinker

Much truth in your post but.........

Also about whether Islamic Culture will dominate the World or not..... Whether Muslims will be free to raid, rob, rape and enslave as they did in the not so distant past when they rode as high as the West or the East or higher......

The Malignant Muslim Meme remains at core as Malicious as ever.....

As shown by Osama bin Ladin and Fiends , Taliban Afghanistan, and the way the cultural wind is blowing in the Middle East... From Bad to Worse.......

[Typhoon]

[Zack Morris]

There seems little doubt that our involvement over there has largely to do with 1) oil/gas, 2) Israel, and 3) an ill-defined fear that instability and violence there will spread beyond the Middle East/North Africa. It's taken for granted among "smart people" (like the David Goldmans of the world) that securing resources in the Middle East improves our quality of life and perpetuates our global hegemony -- and after all, serious people understand that this sort of geopolitical game of Monopoly is something superpowers have no choice but to engage in. But, has anyone really made a convincing economic case for this? Would the loss of our already relatively thin influence really be so costly? Or, put another way, are the costs now worth it?

Prior to the Iraq War, maybe the case could be made that the paltry billions we funneled to dictators and corrupt regimes in the region were worth it. Even that seems dubious to me -- we aren't receiving a price discount, are we? That sort of cost analysis also fails to factor in the ill-will we have generated.

In the end, Bush's wars have certainly dissipated any sort of advantage we may have once enjoyed.

[Ibrahim]

When talking about oil, bear in mind that the place of origin of a specific barrel of oil doesn't matter. It's a commodity. If production is decreased anywhere then the cost of oil or gas goes up anywhere else. When oil goes up you get inflation across the board, and inflation punches your consumer-based economies right in the gut.

That said, this means it is in everyone's (aside from a few massive oil exporters) interest to keep oil flowing. Why should the US worry about securing Middle Eastern or Central Asian oil instead of, say, China? The obvious answer is that wealthy individuals stand to profit from US involvement in the region.

The companies that win contracts to exploit oil resources in, say, Iraq are some of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. They, along with defense companies, assert pressure on the US government and political system to keep the US eternally involved in overseas conflict in order to turn US tax dollars into private wealth. Defense and subsidies for oil companies are two budget line items that are also never challenged in domestic debate about the budget. Candidates will even lie that the other guy is going to slash defense, and this alone is seen as a major way to score points.

So in short, it isn't all about the oil. It's about the opportunity to bill the taxpayer to collect that oil, and protect the collection of that oil.

[Jnalum Persicum]

.

Now that we are @ the Oil subject , this belongs here (I deleted the original post)


.


http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/09 ... ore-years/

.

. . “Iran is the only state with exceptional conditions due to its [oil] reserves and production. Assume that our production capacity is four million [barrels per day] while our proven reserves exceed five billion barrels. [Hence] we can claim that we are the only country capable of supplying oil to the world for 150 years to come,” . .

“Saudi Arabia’s proven oil reserves are more than Iran’s, with the difference that the Saudi government is producing over 10-11 million barrels. Russia’s [crude oil] reserves and production are also high. Therefore, these countries cannot live long in oil supply,” . .

[.]

We predict that some oil consumer countries like Japan, [South] Korea and China would face US threats in the energy sector. However, if the US [manages to] dominate the world’s energy resources, it would easily put pressure on the European economy and threaten the economies of China, Korea, Japan and Russia,”

.

America has lots of Oil & Gas reserves, probably more than Saudi and and

but

America wants to deplete other people's resources first

and

later

blackmail China, Japan, Europe and others with energy supply

This already happening

US must give "export license" to export American LNG .. those Export licenses explicitly name nations that American LNG is allowed 2B exported to .. you not on the list, you better go to hell


.

[Jnalum Persicum]

.

Now that we are @ the Oil subject , this belongs here (I deleted the original post)


http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/09 ... ore-years/

.

. . “Iran is the only state with exceptional conditions due to its [oil] reserves and production. Assume that our production capacity is four million [barrels per day] while our proven reserves exceed five billion barrels. [Hence] we can claim that we are the only country capable of supplying oil to the world for 150 years to come,” . .

“Saudi Arabia’s proven oil reserves are more than Iran’s, with the difference that the Saudi government is producing over 10-11 million barrels. Russia’s [crude oil] reserves and production are also high. Therefore, these countries cannot live long in oil supply,” . .

[.]

We predict that some oil consumer countries like Japan, [South] Korea and China would face US threats in the energy sector. However, if the US [manages to] dominate the world’s energy resources, it would easily put pressure on the European economy and threaten the economies of China, Korea, Japan and Russia,”

.

America has lots of Oil & Gas reserves, probably more than Saudi and and

but

America wants to deplete other people's resources first

and

later

blackmail China, Japan, Europe and others with energy supply

This already happening

US must give "export license" to export American LNG .. those Export licenses explicitly name nations that American LNG is allowed 2B exported to .. you not on the list, you better go to hell


.

[Enki]

I don't think it's about only oil or gas either. It's about regional stability and controlling trade. It's also about the dollar and dollar hegemony. It's about the silk road trade route. It's about a system of nations that is beholden to the Western hierarchy of Europe, the United States and the UN.

Thank You VERY Much for your post, Tinker

Much truth in your post but.........

Also about whether Islamic Culture will dominate the World or not..... Whether Muslims will be free to raid, rob, rape and enslave as they did in the not so distant past when they rode as high as the West or the East or higher......

The Malignant Muslim Meme remains at core as Malicious as ever.....

As shown by Osama bin Ladin and Fiends , Taliban Afghanistan, and the way the cultural wind is blowing in the Middle East... From Bad to Worse.......

The Muslim world is

1) Fractured
2) Less powerful than the West

They are not in a position to take over the world.

I don't buy into the idea that America must take over the world lest Islam/Communism/China/Fascists etc... will.

[Ibrahim]

The Muslim world is

1) Fractured
2) Less powerful than the West

They are not in a position to take over the world.

That's why Bin Laden's whole scheme was to entice "the West" to destroy itself.

[Enki]

The Muslim world is

1) Fractured
2) Less powerful than the West

They are not in a position to take over the world.

That's why Bin Laden's whole scheme was to entice "the West" to destroy itself.

Yup, and his most fanatical enemies were the ones most zealous to do exactly what he said. I couldn't believe as I saw America marching lock-step to the blueprint that he explicitly gloated about back in 2001.

[Ibrahim]

Ultimately Bin Laden was wrong, and so was Bush II. Both bought into the Huntington "clash of civilizations" worldview, which simply isn't the case and never has been. Cultures do collide, but then they mash together and adopt parts of one another. And there is no "the West" or "the Muslim world" to fight against.

So all that aside, clearly the ongoing bloodshed is mixture of some people having nothing better to do, and pure $$$.

[Parodite]

The Muslim world is

1) Fractured
2) Less powerful than the West

They are not in a position to take over the world.

That's why Bin Laden's whole scheme was to entice "the West" to destroy itself.

Yup, and his most fanatical enemies were the ones most zealous to do exactly what he said. I couldn't believe as I saw America marching lock-step to the blueprint that he explicitly gloated about back in 2001.

But it was still a blessing in disguise. The West much earlier discovered that it can't nor should fix the wrold and rather leave it to Doc Milo. We can now stay home, focus on self-defence and make money where we can with however wants the trade. If anything is then ready to implode and self-destruct it is OBLs precious Islamic empire.

[Mr. Perfect]

Ultimately Bin Laden was wrong, and so was Bush II. Both bought into the Huntington "clash of civilizations" worldview, which simply isn't the case and never has been. Cultures do collide, but then they mash together and adopt parts of one another. And there is no "the West" or "the Muslim world" to fight against.

So all that aside, clearly the ongoing bloodshed is mixture of some people having nothing better to do, and pure $$$.

This is an extrememly naive worldview, the desire for war for a pol and the pol class is glory and aggrandizement. Nothing is a bigger political boon then a successful war. Presidents of all stripes dream of such wars.