| Here's an interesting quote from Dick Cheney while he was still vice president of Halliburtion in 1999.
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| Oil is unique in that it is so strategic in nature. We are not talking about soap flakes or leisurewear here. Energy is truly fundamental to the world's economy. The [1991] Gulf War was a reflection of that reality. The degree of government involvement also makes oil a unique commodity. This is true in both the overwhelming control of oil resources by national oil companies and governments as well as in the consuming nations where oil products are heavily taxed and regulated... It is the basic, fundamental building block of the world's economy. It is unlike any other commodity. |
We are clearly lagging behind Middle Eastern thinking in what is going on in the Gulf. Democracy could well play a part in securing our oil supply, but it could also threaten our supply because if the Gulf states control the oil, then obviously WE DON'T. And that's why although we trumpet the democarcy angle, it is always going to play second fiddle to the security of our supply. Iraqis know this and the Americans running Iraq right know that the Iraqis know this. How much "democracy" we allow Iraq is dependant on what they do with the oil.
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In the Gulf states especially, there is a near-universal view among academics and policy analysts that the fundamental element in the developments of the past three years, far more important even then the US commitment to Israel, is oil.
...This kind of assessment suggests that any talk of US commitment to democracy is peripheral, and only relevant if it ensures increasing US influence, backed by powerful military forces. It sees Washington as engaged in a long-term struggle for indirect control of the region, at a time of intense competition with China and India for leverage over the world’s oil resources. The outconme will be crucial to the project of a “new American century”.
full article: http://www.opendemocracy.net/themes/article-2-2393.jsp |
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