At 02:42 PM 11/29/97 -0500, Thomas Lunde wrote:
>Citizen a couple of days ago, it was reported that Saudi Arabia was
>advocating that OPEC increase its sale of crude oil. Given all the
>background provided so ably by Jay Hanson, I was stumped as to why this was
>happening and I was going to type out the press article and post it - alas,
It's because the Saudis are our friends, and the optimum oil
price for the US economy is about $20 a barrel.
According to Peter Schweizer [1], the Saudis cooperate with the
US in exchange for intel on dissidents [p. 31], satellite pics,
AWACS [p. 51], Stinger missiles [p. 190], advanced fighters,
direct military protection, and were even "leaked" information
when Treasury Department planned to devalue the dollar so they
could shift investments into nondollar assets. [p. 233]
During the Cold War, the Saudis worked in the black with the
CIA to lower global oil prices and thereby deprive the USSR
of the much-needed hard currency it needed to operate. Each
$1 drop in oil price cost the USSR about one billion dollars
in revenue.
A $5 drop in the price of a barrel of oil would increase the
U.S. GDP by about 1.4 percent. Poindexter: "It was in our
interest to drive the price of oil as low as we could". [p. 218]
Weinberger: "One of the reasons we were selling all those arms
to the Saudis was for lower oil prices." [p. 203]
Alan Fiers: The Saudis were also providing financial aid to
the mujahedin and the contras. [p. 202]
In 1983, the Treasury Department did a secret study that the
optimum oil price for the US economy was about $20 a barrel.
[p. 141]
I am surprised that Schweizer's GREAT book hasn't been made
into a movie!
_________________
CONSPIRACY THEORY
Campbell [2] doesn't know whether to believe the conspiracy
theory or not, but it goes something like this:
After the Cold War was over, low oil prices made it difficult
for the Saudis -- and Oilman-President George Bush's friends --
to make ends meet because OPEC members were cheating on quotas.
(I am getting tired of typing all this stuff, so if you want more
detail buy the books. Moreover, I am embellishing a bit here. )
The obvious solution to OPEC cheating to sequester an entire
country: Iraq. In order for our scheme to work, Saddam would
have to remain in power and the UN would have to embargo his oil.
That's exactly what we did.
We only needed Saddam for a few years -- till the rest of the
world's oil production "peaks". Once global oil peaks, and we
NEED to start pumping Saddam's oil, Americans will invade and
OCCUPY Iraq. Moreover, profits will flow to friends of George
Bush -- not some wild-eyed, gun-waving crackpot like Saddam.
Obviously, once oil production peaks in a couple of years, the
public will throw their total support behind an invasion of Iraq.
There is simply no other way we can guarantee access to the oil
patch.
I'm impressed, this scheme is really quite clever. I wouldn't
have thought they were that smart. <G>
[1] For a fascinating account of how American government operates
in the black, read VICTORY: The Reagan Administration's Secret
Strategy That Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union,
by Peter Schweizer; Grove/Atlantic, 1996; ISBN 0871136333
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0871136333/7316-8640065-053141
[2] Campbell's is the best book BY FAR on oil depletion, read
THE COMING OIL CRISIS, by C. J. Campbell;
Multi-Science Publishing Company & Petroconsultants, 1997
ISBN 0906522110
See a review and order it now from Amazon books:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0906522110/3088-4711339-639335
Jay -- http://dieoff.org/page1.htm
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Sustainable development both improves quality of life
and retains continuity with physical conditions. To
do both requires that social systems be equitable and
physical systems circular.
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