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The central battlefield in the global resource war By Mike Whitney INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE)

by Open-Publishing - Saturday 18 March 2006
2 comments

International Governments USA

03/17/06 "ICH" — - It’s impossible to understand the goals of the Bush administration without looking at a map. The entire Middle East and Central Asia is referred to in military parlance as CENTCOM; the central battlefield in the global resource war. This region extends from Sudan in the south to Kazakhstan to the north; from Egypt in the west to Pakistan in the east. This is where the vast majority of the world’s remaining resources lie and it will continue to be the primary area of focus for American foreign policy throughout the century.

Once we observe the sharp black outline of America’s newest battlefield, the illusions of the “war on terror” are quickly dispelled. This is the geographic reality of the present conflict. The war on terror is merely public relations fluff.

A careful look at the region illustrates the crucial importance of integrating Iran into the overall plan. American industry must dominate this area if it hopes to maintain its edge on competitors in China and Europe. Iran and Syria are the unfortunate obstacles to that plan. Most of the other countries are either clients of the United States or are willing to comply without major resistance. Sudan may be the exception to this rule, but a strategy is already materializing (pushed by Ambassador John Bolton) at the UN to send in “Peacekeepers” who will carry out Washington’s orders. This will place Sudan’s oil and natural gas reserves under western control and divide the resources among the former colonial powers. Those who believe that “humanitarian intervention” in Sudan will reduce the suffering of the people in Darfur are sadly mistaken. We only need to look at the “liberation” of Iraq or the “Marshall Plan” in Afghanistan to realize that no attempt will be made to establish security in the hinterland. “Humanitarian intervention” is a tragic ruse invoked to disguise aggression and exploitation. We should not expect genuine aid from the international community or the many “lofty-sounding” institutions (World Bank, International Monetary Fund) that advance the exclusive interests of private industry.

The Bush master-plan cannot fully succeed without affecting regime change in Tehran and integrating Iran into the schema for regional domination. Iran has nearly 10% of the world’s remaining oil as well as natural gas reserves that are second only to Russia’s. Iran occupies an area that is critical to future pipeline routes that will link East to West; feeding the new giants of energy consumption in China and India. The Bush administration has no intention of allowing that wealth and power to fall into the hands of the Mullahs.

The present standoff over Iran’s imaginary nuclear weapons-programs is merely a device for Washington to demonize Iran before taking military action. As IAEA Chief Mohammad ElBaradei has said repeatedly, there is “no evidence of a nuclear weapons program or the diversion of nuclear weapons material”. Nevertheless, the administration has skillfully manipulated public opinion by providing a steady stream of misleading accusations which has weakened resistance for another war. The UN has played a vital role in this charade by fostering the belief that there is great uncertainty about Iran’s nuclear activities, when in fact there is not.

The astonishing success of commercial media in co-opting public opinion for Washington’s wars of aggression has exceeded all expectations. On any day, it is possible to find between 500 to 2,500 articles written on the topic of Iran (from different sources Reuters, AP, NY Times, Washington Post, ABC etc) written from the very same perspective, invoking the same talking points, language, buzz-words and quotes, and creating the same impression that Iran is in “noncompliance” with its treaty obligations. Without question, the corporate propaganda system is the most impressive weapon in the Pentagon’s arsenal. It’s clear that the administration would be incapable of pursuing its current war-strategy without the combined efforts of the corporate media.

An attack on Iran involves great risk and there is the real prospect that escalation might lead to nuclear war. As the increasingly inflammatory rhetoric indicates, however, the plan is going forward and will not be derailed by the reluctance of Congress, the thousands of protestors on the streets, or the ineffective braying at United Nations.

Those who dismiss the likelihood of an attack on Iran as “madness”, fail to appreciate the true nature of fanaticism. The Bush administration is less guided by reason than it is by moral rectitude; neither plays any role in their decision-making process.

The bombing of Iran could take place some time as early as in the next two weeks or, as Condoleezza Rice likes to say, “At a time of our choosing.”

Forum posts

  • I absolutely agree that our presence - which will grow in the future - in the Middle East is about one thing: oil. This is partly for reasons of profit, but mostly because oil is a strategic resource. This was one of the key points in my own post:

    http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10817

  • The new moon is the best time for an aerial attack on Iran, or for any aerial attack on any country, for that matter. The next new moon is the 29th of March, 10 days from now. I doubt very much that the neocons will attack in 10 days. In order for this attack to succeed, it must succeed as a public relations triumph as much as it must succeed as a military action. The masses must believe that an attack on Iran is for their protection. Too many educated people throughout the US as well as the rest of the world no longer believe one word coming out of any US Cabinet member’s mouth, despite Faux News and CNN’s banal attempts to make these lying parasites credible. Without the public’s complete faith in the administration’s reasons for expanding this immoral war even further, there can be no public relations triumph.

    The mass media might think they have succeeded in brainwashing the population, and they may well have done that with perhaps 35 to 45%, but they have not succeeded in fooling the most aware, the most intelligent. Without at least 51% of the adult population in full support of this new maniacal undertaking, their public relations triumph will be a complete failure. Launching an attack on Iran will definitely put the US permanently on a track for world domination, our culture will become more and more ’militarized’, insensitive to all others. The America of our Founding Fathers will be a forgotten memory as our nation becomes yet another foolish leviathan bent on world conquest, like so many other cruel warrior nations that launched themselves into this adolescent dream of violence & domination only to fail, leaving their people in misery and in poverty; the one, true legacy of any Genghis Khan or any Stalin.

    But the neocons [who have demonstrated their lack of intellectual prowess many times before and thus may not be aware that a nation’s most articulate people make up its pool of moral leadership] must now contend with the fact that there are far too many Americans who will break away permanently from their own government’s hegemonic ambitions if this attack were to occur, I repeat permanently break away. These people may not number more than a third of the adult population, but they are without a doubt the brightest & most successful Americans. Without the all out support of the best and brightest this lawless administration’s relentless drive to conquer the world through violence will ultimately fail. There can only be more bloodshed, more destruction in Iraq and more confusion and dismay in America as the Iranian Shiia militias move in; an attack will be a fatal error on the neocons’ part for the US military force of 138,000, reviled by the majority of Iraqis, will either have to hunker down in their bases, removing them from action, or perish by the tens of thousands. Iran’s militia, infinitely more motivated to fight than the rural, ignorant youths who are fighting for the American side, number over 2 million strong, according to Global Security.org. They have a standing army of 350,000 as well . Let’s not forget that a ’pre-emptive’ attack on Iran, which is by now more than adequately prepared to strike back, will bring more dangerous fall out to the US’s stagnant economy, as an attack will more than likely send the US dollar on a fast track to hell.

    If the neocons still plan on attacking Iran now, they can only be thinking of nuking it out of existence, any other attack, even a limited neutron-bomb attack, will fail. An America that nukes a nation out of existence will be seen by the rest of the world as the new Nazi Empire, and will soon have only one ally on its side, the State of Israel. Our country will then become a world pariah, and will suffer from the same sanctions and economic disaster that has haunted Iraq. Call it Kismet. Remember, fellow Americans, we are no longer the bread basket of the world, nor the manufacturing colossus we once were. The US Treasury needs the world and its hard currency more than the world needs us.

    Yet another fall out if there were to be an attack on Iran, one rarely mentioned anywhere, will be the eventual demise of the mass media, as more and more Americans will also permanently break away from the ’Ministry of Propaganda’, turning more and more to the Net and alternative outlets for their news. The attack will definitely precipitate an all out regional war throughout the Middle East, unleashing a decimating war far more destructive than the present Iraqi war, a war that these whores who call themselves journalists will find very hard pressed to explain to a public that will no longer be fooled by their High School pep-rally antics, their superficial and faulty analyses, their constant fawning over US apologists , their sophistry and their lies. No amount of spin will change the hard stone facts of yet another war gone astray, wreaking more havoc than the last dismal failure.