Oil Addiction: The World in Peril - 21
by Pierre Chomat (Universal Publishers, 2004)
translated from the French by Pamela Gilbert-Snyder
Part III. The Power of America: Rooted in Dependency
Chapter 21. The Empire of the Oil Addicts
The world has changed a great deal since 1945. In 1948, the United States already had fifty percent of the world's wealth and only 0.3 percent of its population. {28} Preserving this situation would be an enormous challenge, particularly in a time of communist expansion. To fight communism, the United States developed a colossal military that could never have existed without a powerful industry behind it. With its own natural resources unable to keep up with the growing demand, America began relying more and more on other countries to supply what it needed to keep its enormous egosystems churning. The practice of latent colonization, which continues to this day through the giant multinationals, helped to give the United States a formidable empire. To deny this characterization is to completely misunderstand the current policies of the United States. Europe, Canada, Japan, and other countries have benefited from US practices, as well as the security it provides. Now, they must bear the consequences of belonging to an empire that is desperately addicted to oil.
The vast majority of US citizens do not realize they live in an empire. Perhaps this is only natural; they see empires as a thing of the past - a relic of the Roman era or a part of Britain's colonial history that has nothing to do with them. Another reason so many in the United States are unaware of America's status as head of an empire is that this empire is not geographical; the countries America exploits are not formally annexed to the White House. Remember the words of the British representative to Jeddah in 1944: "Among American businessmen and in the Republican Party there are fairly clear ideas about a system of informal empire by which the United States would control economic resources without formal annexation". George W Bush echoed these principles in a speech he gave in early November 2002: "We have no territorial ambitions; we don't seek an empire. Our nation is committed to freedom for ourselves and for others."
No matter what the politicians may say, the "American Empire" does exist, and it would crumble if it lost its far-reaching tentacles that stretch around the world to bring back what its industry and society need. Of course, the United States is not alone in this; all of the other industrialized nations have such tentacles. But the United States has gained control over many of the world's resources, including and above all oil, and it is determined not to lose it. One need only look at the military arsenal that was deployed to the Middle East in the autumn of 2002, well before UN inspectors had begun searching again for prohibited weapons in Iraq: some thirty American military bases were already up and running, ready to attack {29}, even before the UN report was completed. Equipped with an arsenal big enough to take on the world, US soldiers surrounded Saddam Hussein like a pack of hounds closing in around a deer, just waiting for the order to launch an all-out assault, with military resources totally outclassing those of Iraq.
On September 6 2002, George Shultz, still on the board of Bechtel, spoke of the dangers posed by Iraq to the American people in a long article in the Washington Post:
"A strong foundation exists for immediate military action against Hussein and for a multilateral effort to rebuild Iraq after he is gone ... The danger is immediate. The making of weapons of mass destruction grows increasingly difficult to counter with each passing day ... The challenge of Iraq offers an opportunity for a historic turning point that can lead us in the direction of a more peaceful, free and prosperous future ... And this powerful case for acting now must be made promptly to Congress. Its members will have to stand up and be counted. Then let's get on with the job." {30}
In March 2003, prior to launching the attack, the administration was already drawing up "post-war Iraq reconstruction" contracts with Bechtel and Kellog-Brown & Root. The latter is a subsidiary of the Halliburton group, of which Dick Cheney was CEO before he became vice president. The goal of the American government was to position its oil companies in Iraq, from which they had been shut out since the 1991 war in Kuwait and to build Iraqi-American egosystems like those that had proven to be so successful in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries. This operation, planned well in advance, was part of the "post-Saddam democratization of Iraq". It was also part of the plan to boost the American economy, which had been in recession since 2001.
The Empire wants to remain the Empire, even if its leaders deny it. It even wants to control most of the Earth's resources. The leaders of every nation know that the Earth's stores of hydrocarbons will eventually run out. Each of them wants his or her country to be the last to suffer from the ergamine shortage when it arrives. The only country that is prepared to resort to military force to control the final distribution of oil is the United States. It is an imperial reflex.
Although the United States was in a position to manipulate their oil markets, Iran and Iraq were not completely subject to the "Empire of the Oil Addicts" at the beginning of 2003. To the hawks in the American government, that was just intolerable.
Notes
{28} Richard Manning, "The Oil We Eat. Following the Food Chain Back to Iraq", Harper's Magazine (February 2004), 37-45.
{29} Bases were established in Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan.
{30} George P Shultz, Washington Post, 6 September 2002, A25.
Bill Totten http://www.ashisuto.co.jp/english/
translated from the French by Pamela Gilbert-Snyder
Part III. The Power of America: Rooted in Dependency
Chapter 21. The Empire of the Oil Addicts
The world has changed a great deal since 1945. In 1948, the United States already had fifty percent of the world's wealth and only 0.3 percent of its population. {28} Preserving this situation would be an enormous challenge, particularly in a time of communist expansion. To fight communism, the United States developed a colossal military that could never have existed without a powerful industry behind it. With its own natural resources unable to keep up with the growing demand, America began relying more and more on other countries to supply what it needed to keep its enormous egosystems churning. The practice of latent colonization, which continues to this day through the giant multinationals, helped to give the United States a formidable empire. To deny this characterization is to completely misunderstand the current policies of the United States. Europe, Canada, Japan, and other countries have benefited from US practices, as well as the security it provides. Now, they must bear the consequences of belonging to an empire that is desperately addicted to oil.
The vast majority of US citizens do not realize they live in an empire. Perhaps this is only natural; they see empires as a thing of the past - a relic of the Roman era or a part of Britain's colonial history that has nothing to do with them. Another reason so many in the United States are unaware of America's status as head of an empire is that this empire is not geographical; the countries America exploits are not formally annexed to the White House. Remember the words of the British representative to Jeddah in 1944: "Among American businessmen and in the Republican Party there are fairly clear ideas about a system of informal empire by which the United States would control economic resources without formal annexation". George W Bush echoed these principles in a speech he gave in early November 2002: "We have no territorial ambitions; we don't seek an empire. Our nation is committed to freedom for ourselves and for others."
No matter what the politicians may say, the "American Empire" does exist, and it would crumble if it lost its far-reaching tentacles that stretch around the world to bring back what its industry and society need. Of course, the United States is not alone in this; all of the other industrialized nations have such tentacles. But the United States has gained control over many of the world's resources, including and above all oil, and it is determined not to lose it. One need only look at the military arsenal that was deployed to the Middle East in the autumn of 2002, well before UN inspectors had begun searching again for prohibited weapons in Iraq: some thirty American military bases were already up and running, ready to attack {29}, even before the UN report was completed. Equipped with an arsenal big enough to take on the world, US soldiers surrounded Saddam Hussein like a pack of hounds closing in around a deer, just waiting for the order to launch an all-out assault, with military resources totally outclassing those of Iraq.
On September 6 2002, George Shultz, still on the board of Bechtel, spoke of the dangers posed by Iraq to the American people in a long article in the Washington Post:
"A strong foundation exists for immediate military action against Hussein and for a multilateral effort to rebuild Iraq after he is gone ... The danger is immediate. The making of weapons of mass destruction grows increasingly difficult to counter with each passing day ... The challenge of Iraq offers an opportunity for a historic turning point that can lead us in the direction of a more peaceful, free and prosperous future ... And this powerful case for acting now must be made promptly to Congress. Its members will have to stand up and be counted. Then let's get on with the job." {30}
In March 2003, prior to launching the attack, the administration was already drawing up "post-war Iraq reconstruction" contracts with Bechtel and Kellog-Brown & Root. The latter is a subsidiary of the Halliburton group, of which Dick Cheney was CEO before he became vice president. The goal of the American government was to position its oil companies in Iraq, from which they had been shut out since the 1991 war in Kuwait and to build Iraqi-American egosystems like those that had proven to be so successful in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries. This operation, planned well in advance, was part of the "post-Saddam democratization of Iraq". It was also part of the plan to boost the American economy, which had been in recession since 2001.
The Empire wants to remain the Empire, even if its leaders deny it. It even wants to control most of the Earth's resources. The leaders of every nation know that the Earth's stores of hydrocarbons will eventually run out. Each of them wants his or her country to be the last to suffer from the ergamine shortage when it arrives. The only country that is prepared to resort to military force to control the final distribution of oil is the United States. It is an imperial reflex.
Although the United States was in a position to manipulate their oil markets, Iran and Iraq were not completely subject to the "Empire of the Oil Addicts" at the beginning of 2003. To the hawks in the American government, that was just intolerable.
Notes
{28} Richard Manning, "The Oil We Eat. Following the Food Chain Back to Iraq", Harper's Magazine (February 2004), 37-45.
{29} Bases were established in Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan.
{30} George P Shultz, Washington Post, 6 September 2002, A25.
Bill Totten http://www.ashisuto.co.jp/english/
posted by Bill Totten at
8:54 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home