The United States of America inherited Britain's imperialist ambitions. Starting from a group of colonies in "New England" it expanded by stealing land on which Native Americans had lived for tens of thousands of years (killing millions of them in the process). It also stole half of Mexico. In 1898 the U.S. expanded its imperialist program overseas when it annexed the Philippines to benefit American companies wanting to exploit the land and the people. Since then it has maintained the same predatory attitude to the rest of the world. It will not stop until it has gained control of the entire planet or it has been destroyed (or destroys itself).
The World Trade Center Demolition
and the So-Called War on Terrorism9. Wars for Oil
Skipping over a long history of U.S. imperialist aggression against other countries, we may note that the U.S. did not go to war in the Persian Gulf in 1991 to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi aggression (to which its ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, had given a green light) but rather to move military forces into the area and to establish military bases so as to exercise greater control over the area's oil. Talk of removing "that evil dictator Saddam Hussein" is simple obfuscation. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are lying to the American people when they pretend to be outraged at the actions of the Iraqi dictator (whom the U.S. supported right up until 1991, including Saddam's use of chemical weapons against the Kurds). In fact it is control of Middle Eastern oil which is the primary motivation for U.S. military plans for that area.
Even before assuming the office of President it was announced by George W. Bush that war was planned.
And so one of Secretary [of Defense] Rumsfeld's first tasks will be ... to develop a strategy necessary to have a force equipped for warfare of the 21st century. — George W. Bush, Washington DC, December 28, 2000And, conveniently enough, the attacks of September 11th provided just the excuse needed for a yet greater military build up (and justification for Bush's $344 billion war budget) — in particular the already-planned development of "defensive" missiles, allegedly to foil attacks by "international terrorists" (even though they neither possess nor need intercontinental nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles), but which might also prove quite useful in defending the U.S. from retaliation by any nation which it chooses to attack.
WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind ... — Preamble to the Charter of the United NationsAs a member of the United Nations the U.S. has committed itself to the principles expressed in the Charter. Since 1980, however, the U.S. has consistently flouted these principles, abrogating treaties and attacking other nations without international consent.
Indeed, the U.S. government, in violation of the United Nations charter and international law, has now given itself permission — in the form of a congressional resolution — to attack whoever it wants to, to engage openly in political assassinations in the manner of Israel, and generally to wage war upon whoever it chooses to label as its enemy. Actually Congress excused itself from any direct responsibility for this aggression since it resolved "That the president is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines [emphasis added] planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons ..." So if George W. Bush thinks (to the extent that he is able to think) that, say, Iran "harbors terrorists" then Congress has said it's OK by them for George to nuke Teheran.
The number of innocent civilians who have died as a result of U.S. military action in Afghanistan and Iraq is far greater than the number of those who died in the WTC attack. But, of course, since those killed by American firepower were not Americans, British or Australians, this is of no concern, except insofar as it might result in international condemnation, making it difficult to maintain the "international coalition" (the coalition of the willingly bribed) that the U.S. seeks to provide a fig-leaf for its planned military aggression against those countries that stand in the way of its global domination. And, by the way, such aggression and the collateral regional wars that it will cause in various parts of Asia will, of course, be good for U.S. arms manufacturers, and other American companies with friends in the U.S. government, which profit from war.
Not only did Bush announce a "War on Terrorism", he even spoke stupidly of a "crusade", invoking memories of the medieval Christian crusades against Islam to recover "the Holy Land" (conveniently forgetting that the Crusaders held Palestine for a comparatively brief period before they were defeated by Muslim forces under Saladin on July 4th, 1187, and subsequently driven into the sea). These days, for some people, oil is the holy grail, and recovery of the Holy Land means gaining control of the oil fields, the primary reason why America has given itself permission to invade whatever countries it chooses to.
And it's not just Middle Eastern oil — there are huge oil deposits in the Caspian Basin (larger than in Saudia Arabia). In 1998 John J. Maresca, vice-president of Unocal, testified before the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific that a pipeline across Afghanistan was crucial to transport Caspian Basin oil to the Indian Ocean. Bush and the American oil companies dearly wanted to lay such a pipeline across Afghanistan but they could not do so while the Taleban ruled Afghanistan because the Taleban demanded
too large a per centage as their cut for allowing the pipeline project to proceed. Hence, the oil monopoly need[ed] to overthrow the Kabul government, install their own government, and proceed with the pipeline project. — Sherman H. Skolnick, The Overthrow of the American Republic, Part 2
In fact from February to August 2001 the Bush administration conducted detailed negotiations with the Taliban to lay this hoped-for pipeline across Afghanistan and Pakistan so as to profit from lucrative sales to oil-hungry Asian countries. In August the negotiations broke down, after a U.S. negotiator threatened military action against the Taliban, saying, accept our offer of a carpet of gold or you will get a carpet of bombs (see Bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth). One month later the rationale for the carpet-bombing was provided by the destruction of the WTC.
George Monbiot:
America's Pipe DreamAnd, sure enough, in September 2002 plans for this pipeline were being implemented.
Oil ministers from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan [were] to meet in the Afghan capital Kabul Monday [2002-09-16] to review progress on the 1,500-kilometer, $2billion Afghan-Pakistan-Turkmenistan gas pipeline, officials said. ... The pipeline is to carry gas from Turkmenistan's Dauletabad-Donmez field to Afghanistan and Multan, Pakistan. It is supported by the United States. — Islamic Republic News AgencyAnd in December 2002 the deal was signed.
Turkmen President Sapamurat Niyazov, Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and Afghan President Hamid Karzai finalised a vital gas pipeline agreement here on Thursday [2002-12-26]. The leaders of the three countries would sign the framework agreement to build the 1,500-kilometre Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline project from Turkmenistan's Dauletabad fields across Afghanistan to Pakistan on Friday. — HiPakistan.comAs is obvious, the modern West (and those countries which have followed its lead) have been built on a ruthless exploitation of the Earth's resources, particularly oil. For these countries oil is an addiction, and there is no political will to break the habit. The hyperactivity of the global economy during the last century is like the hyperactivity of a speed freak, and in the end both will crash. If the dominance of the oil industry over government is not broken then in the near future of the human race global famine and disease are a certainty (and don't think Americans, Europeans or Australians will be spared).
The System may or may not understand that it's only buying time. And that time is an artificial resource to begin with, of no value to anyone other than the System, which must sooner or later crash to its death, when its addiction to energy has become more than the rest of the World can supply, dragging with it innocent souls all along the chain of life. — Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's RainbowAnd, by the way, there's something in Central Asia that's a lot more profitable than oil. This region has the main transit routes for Afghani heroin being smuggled to Western countries. When one recalls that American military cargo planes were returning from Central America in the 1980s loaded with cocaine for distribution in the U.S. by the CIA and the Mafia one has to wonder what might be in American military cargo planes currently flying out of recently-established U.S. bases and airports in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
For more on the subject of the proposed oil pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India, see also Hamad Subani's Enron and 9-11; Connecting the Dots
It's all about GOD: Gold, Oil and Drugs.
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