Thursday, August 28, 2003
Oil
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis date?
A bold message from Dr Paranoia: "Oil is the lifebloood of the world. All political and military actions of the industrialized nations are related to oil. A chief national interest of a government is to assure steady and dependable supply of oil. The Left has learned to link greed of oil companies to wars. That is a socialist overrsimplification - substitute the self-interest of nations. This explains the enthusiasm of Tony Blair, much derided as a Bush lackey. He, a Laborite as much as a British patriot, may well be at the root of the Iraq war."
Dr. P. explains that, looking for inside information, he had gone back to the midtown bar frequented by the Texan who knows. He was there, drinking Maker’s Mark burbon, with a friend, male. No introductions, although the friend was identified as a golfer from Bethesda. Upon the doctor’s question about oil, the Texaan gave exploded with the above, "lifeblood of the world" and Blair blurb, followed by a history construct. His story:
The Britons have been much in the Middle East because their empire, the world’s manufacturer of finished goods, supplied raw materials for the industrial machine of Manchester and Liverpool, but had to depend on fuel on the hard-mined coal fields of Cardiff. Oil of the Ottoman Empire was a much more desirable combustible, and WWI was their vehicle of entry. The Turks, who foolishly sided with the Kaiser, suffered a breakup after their Versailles, the Treaty of Sevres (1918) . The part that had been ancient Persia turned into a virtual British protectorate, with Anglo-Iranian Oil company conceded as a gift to the conquerors by the Qajar Dynasty. The country became Iran in 1935, under Reza Pahlavi Shah, but the National Front under Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh took control in 1951, drove out the Shah and nationalized the company. The British tried to a return the Shah, but no dice - until they involved the US . One theory states that President Eisenhower was persuaded that Iran would turn Communist, and had the CIA foster a revolution. Kemir Roosevelt, TR’s grandson, was the agent, Moslem extremists and paid-off strong-arm rowdies such as sports clubs (wrestlers!) occupied the streets and forced the moderate Moassadegh out, returning the reluctant Pahlavi to the throne in 1953. But his arrogant police, the Savak, got too blood-thirdty. The authoritarian secularist rulers suppressed the orthodox religionists, Ayatollah Khomeini emigrated to France and fostered a revolution. Religious unrest forced Pahlevi out in 1978, the religionist militia overwhelmed the Shah’s modernists, Khomeini took over, and a militant group seized the US Embassy and helt the employees as hostages, until January 1981, Pres Regan’s inauguration. The 1980 oil war between Iran and Iraq, with Saddam Hussein quietly supported by the US, lasted eight years but failed to dislodge the Shiite radicals, and the British never got to regain their steady oil source.
That was a blow, because another oil source had dried up on them. The Iraq Petroleum Company, fostered by the British through their 1916 mandate over the Middle East, when they carefully manicured the various kingdoms, with Hashemite King Faisal ruling Iraq and its oil, was nationalized in 1973 by Saddam Hussein’s predecessors who overthrew the Hashemites. IPC had been owned by British Petroleum, Shell and the French Total/Fina/Elf predecesor, a quarter each, plus Mobil and Standard Oil. Although they signed the agreement, after much protest, and received compensation, the past owners would like to have their rights reconsidered, when Saddam is gone. US and Britain concur. Restoring to a friendly regime would give the allied group a leg up. This kind of speculation makes the motivation of Tony Blair more understandable, not to speak of the US.
You must understand the French position, interjected the Texan’s companion. The French, excluing themselves from the alliance, nevertheless would like to be part of the oil dividend, as would the Russians, whom Saddam Hussein had promised a share in Kirkuk.The potential of a cut in the oil distribution can bring them back, into joint action with the Alliance. This potential of sharing oil may explain why Powell is so boldly asking other nations to contribute to the peacekeeping and the restoration of Iraq .
Dr. P wanted to explore the reason for President Bush boldly admitting that alQaeda had no role in the 9/11 attack, when 70 percent of Americans believe that they did. At this point the Texan decided to leave, His final words, almost a whisper, hard to understand, were: "try spin doctoring, man. You will see, the red states will believe what they want anyway, and Bush now can claim to be right in attacking Iraq, for reasons that he can justify."
When the bourbon drinkers were gone, Dr. P asked the bartender about the newcomer. "Oh, him, that’s Tom Breedman, has a orse farm, in Maryland. Plays a lot of golf with Arabs, knows the Middle East, and then some."
A bold message from Dr Paranoia: "Oil is the lifebloood of the world. All political and military actions of the industrialized nations are related to oil. A chief national interest of a government is to assure steady and dependable supply of oil. The Left has learned to link greed of oil companies to wars. That is a socialist overrsimplification - substitute the self-interest of nations. This explains the enthusiasm of Tony Blair, much derided as a Bush lackey. He, a Laborite as much as a British patriot, may well be at the root of the Iraq war."
Dr. P. explains that, looking for inside information, he had gone back to the midtown bar frequented by the Texan who knows. He was there, drinking Maker’s Mark burbon, with a friend, male. No introductions, although the friend was identified as a golfer from Bethesda. Upon the doctor’s question about oil, the Texaan gave exploded with the above, "lifeblood of the world" and Blair blurb, followed by a history construct. His story:
The Britons have been much in the Middle East because their empire, the world’s manufacturer of finished goods, supplied raw materials for the industrial machine of Manchester and Liverpool, but had to depend on fuel on the hard-mined coal fields of Cardiff. Oil of the Ottoman Empire was a much more desirable combustible, and WWI was their vehicle of entry. The Turks, who foolishly sided with the Kaiser, suffered a breakup after their Versailles, the Treaty of Sevres (1918) . The part that had been ancient Persia turned into a virtual British protectorate, with Anglo-Iranian Oil company conceded as a gift to the conquerors by the Qajar Dynasty. The country became Iran in 1935, under Reza Pahlavi Shah, but the National Front under Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh took control in 1951, drove out the Shah and nationalized the company. The British tried to a return the Shah, but no dice - until they involved the US . One theory states that President Eisenhower was persuaded that Iran would turn Communist, and had the CIA foster a revolution. Kemir Roosevelt, TR’s grandson, was the agent, Moslem extremists and paid-off strong-arm rowdies such as sports clubs (wrestlers!) occupied the streets and forced the moderate Moassadegh out, returning the reluctant Pahlavi to the throne in 1953. But his arrogant police, the Savak, got too blood-thirdty. The authoritarian secularist rulers suppressed the orthodox religionists, Ayatollah Khomeini emigrated to France and fostered a revolution. Religious unrest forced Pahlevi out in 1978, the religionist militia overwhelmed the Shah’s modernists, Khomeini took over, and a militant group seized the US Embassy and helt the employees as hostages, until January 1981, Pres Regan’s inauguration. The 1980 oil war between Iran and Iraq, with Saddam Hussein quietly supported by the US, lasted eight years but failed to dislodge the Shiite radicals, and the British never got to regain their steady oil source.
That was a blow, because another oil source had dried up on them. The Iraq Petroleum Company, fostered by the British through their 1916 mandate over the Middle East, when they carefully manicured the various kingdoms, with Hashemite King Faisal ruling Iraq and its oil, was nationalized in 1973 by Saddam Hussein’s predecessors who overthrew the Hashemites. IPC had been owned by British Petroleum, Shell and the French Total/Fina/Elf predecesor, a quarter each, plus Mobil and Standard Oil. Although they signed the agreement, after much protest, and received compensation, the past owners would like to have their rights reconsidered, when Saddam is gone. US and Britain concur. Restoring to a friendly regime would give the allied group a leg up. This kind of speculation makes the motivation of Tony Blair more understandable, not to speak of the US.
You must understand the French position, interjected the Texan’s companion. The French, excluing themselves from the alliance, nevertheless would like to be part of the oil dividend, as would the Russians, whom Saddam Hussein had promised a share in Kirkuk.The potential of a cut in the oil distribution can bring them back, into joint action with the Alliance. This potential of sharing oil may explain why Powell is so boldly asking other nations to contribute to the peacekeeping and the restoration of Iraq .
Dr. P wanted to explore the reason for President Bush boldly admitting that alQaeda had no role in the 9/11 attack, when 70 percent of Americans believe that they did. At this point the Texan decided to leave, His final words, almost a whisper, hard to understand, were: "try spin doctoring, man. You will see, the red states will believe what they want anyway, and Bush now can claim to be right in attacking Iraq, for reasons that he can justify."
When the bourbon drinkers were gone, Dr. P asked the bartender about the newcomer. "Oh, him, that’s Tom Breedman, has a orse farm, in Maryland. Plays a lot of golf with Arabs, knows the Middle East, and then some."
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 5:12 PM 
