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Fri 24 Feb, 2006 09:52 am
Ted Koppel in 'NYT': Iraq for U.S. Is 'About the Oil'
By E&P Staff
Published: February 24, 2006 12:30 AM ET
NEW YORK
In a surprisingly strong Op Ed on Friday, Ted Koppel, the former "NIghtline" host who is now an occasional columnist for The New York Times, argues that when it comes right down to it, the U.S. adventure in Iraq is, as some charge, "about the oil."
He likened the situation to H.L. Mencken's statement that when someone says something is "not about the money" it is indeed "about the money." The same is true in this case relating to oil.
While it's wrong to say that we invaded the country to take over its oil supply, Koppel writes in the Times, "the construction of American military bases inside Iraq, bases that can be maintained long after the bulk of our military forces are ultimately withdrawn, will serve to replace the bases that the United States has lost in Saudi Arabia. There may be other national security reasons that the United States cannot now precipitously withdraw its forces from Iraq, including the danger that the country would become a regional terrorist base; but none is greater than forestalling the ensuing power vacuum and regional instability, and the impact this would have on oil production....
"Perhaps the day will come when the United States is no longer addicted to imported oil; but that day is still many years off. For now, the reason for America's rapt attention to the security of the Persian Gulf is what it has always been. It's about the oil."
Noting arguments for many years about the importance of oil to our economy, Koppel observes, "If those considerations did not enter into the Bush administration's calculations when the president ordered the invasion of Iraq in 2003, it would have been the first time in more than 50 years that the uninterrupted flow of Persian Gulf oil was not a central element of American foreign policy. "
The art of deception: Is it war for oil or war to save the dollar?
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“The strong-hold of the American Government is falling to pieces. She has lost her prestige among the nations of the earth. One of the greatest powers of America was her dollar. The loss of such power will bring any nation to weakness, for this is the media of exchange between nations. The English pound and the American dollar have been the power and beckoning light of these two great powers... But when the world went off the gold and silver standard, the financial doom of England and America was sealed.”
—The Honorable Elijah Muhammad,
“The Fall of America”
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(FinalCall.com) - These prophetic words of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad during the early sixties could well be at the root of the fear which prompted the aggressive attack on Iraq as well as the future aggression on Iran in a desperate attempt by the neoconic (neoconservative) mindset to save the threatened U.S. petrodollar.
The petrodollar is simply the U.S. dollar being used as the sole medium of exchange by all countries to buy or trade oil. This contributes to the illusion that the dollar—with nothing to back it—has a value.
“But today,” as the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s words continue to ring true, “the currency of America is not backed by any sound value, silver or gold. The note today is something that the government declares it will give you the value in return, but does not name what that value is. But they definitely are not backing their currency with silver or gold.”
Some analysts, therefore, believe that this false value of the terminal petrodollar led to the Iraq war and will lead to a military confrontation with Iran.
Zippo
Zippo, a lot of smart people agree that protection of the Petroldollar against the PetrolEuro is the underlying cause of the Iraq war.
To learn the truth, the Watergate saying, "follow the money" remains true.
BBB
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