July 21, 2008, 8 min 46 sec: Iraq events moving out of US control
Sabah al-Nasseri: Washington cannot dictate politics in Iraq
Sabah al-Nasseri: “They are instrumentalizing the internal resistance within the Iraqi Parliament, within the Iraqi societies, against the United States, against the presence of US troops in Iraq, and so on, to actually negotiate new deals concerning securities agreement, oil agreement, etcetera, by saying, “Look, we cannot signs all of these kind of agreements. Otherwise we’ll commit political suicide.”
Born in Basra, Iraq, Sabah al-Nasseri is Professor of Political Science (Middle East Politics) at York University, Toronto. Prior to that he was a Lecturer of Political Science at the J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt. Currently he is working on an article, “Understanding Iraq.”
Tag: oil
Jul 26 2008
Real News: Iraq Events Moving Out Of US Control
Jul 21 2008
More Real News: US Foreign Policy, and The Geo-Politics of Oil
What’s a rational American foreign policy?
Aijaz Ahmad: Start with the question, why does the US have to be the most powerful country on earth?
The United States economy is stagnant and faces the possibility of a real Depression. Its currency has lost a quarter of its value on global markets in three years. No country in the entire history of humankind has ever owed as much money to foreigners as the US does today, and this debt rises by about a billion dollars a day. Its military expenditures are higher than those of the next twenty countries combined. It’s time to question basic assumptions about US foreign policy.
Jul 03 2008
Iraqi Oil Contracts – It’s the Perception That Matters
Have you ever wondered why…
… it has been the practice of the major media to avoid mentioning oil in connection with military activity in Iraq; something also common in the Congress, all following the lead of the Bush administration.
Shouldn’t we all be shocked then? Shouldn’t we be shocked to learn, after the US – British led invasion of Iraq to save the world from the dangers of Saddam’s non-existant WMDs, struck Iraq with a shock and awe which was to have become the centerpiece for a GWOT, that as Reuters reported on Tuesday:
Iraq opened its giant oilfields to foreign firms on Monday, putting British and U.S. companies in pole position five years after U.S.-led troops invaded the country to oust Saddam Hussein.
Jun 19 2008
McCain: Lock-step and (oil) barrel
Cross-posted from THE ENVIRONMENTALIST
Wonderful rant from our Managing Editor that ties McCain to Big Oil:
In a campaign year where John McCain is seemingly doing everything he can to publicly distance himself from George W. Bush, he’s also been emulating the historically unpopular president by walking in lock-step with him along the path to Texas oil.
While Barack Obama was in Illinois shoveling sand in bags to hold back the Bush-neglected infrastructure crumbling around him — resulting in a multi-state version of Katrina with both an oblivious Republican president and Republican presidential candidate — John McCain just happened to be on his way to Texas to accept the whoops and cheers (and money) from oil industry insiders for his proclaimed flip-flop on offshore drilling as the answer to America’s oil-supply woes.
Want something worse? Aside from the fact that he did it while Senator Obama was showing empathy to those impacted by an unstable climate and deteriorating infrastructure, it turns out that John McCain gave his oil pandering speech CONCURRENT to the release of his new ad-buy proclaiming his independence from the Bush Administration on global warming.
Jun 18 2008
ENVIROFASCISTS!!! AAAAAIIEEEAAAGHHH!!!!
OMG, these Republican morans never learn.
Some of you with memories longer than a fruit fly’s may recall that, oh, last week (and, for that matter, every week since September 11, 2001), every right-wing neocon legislator screamshow host Supreme Court justice BushCheney clone was fulminating about how Islamofashionists posed an imminent threat to your personal safety and that of your children and dog.
Jun 18 2008
Follow the money … into McCain’s pockets
Recall Deep Throat (All the President’s Men), that basic piece of advice:
“Follow the Money.” As we listen to the George W. Bush’s, John McCain’s, the Republican Party’s, and the RWSM’s response to what George W. Bush described as America’s “addiction to oil”, remember those words.
In face of addiction, is the Republican Party fighting to get us (the US) to a treatment center? Struggling to help us (the US) get off the addiction? Preparing us (the US) for going cold turkey? No, they are struggling for ways to feed the addiction and keep us hooked. Hooked, that is, as the problem worsens even more such that the inevitable crash truly will be a crash and burn of our nation.
John McCain went to Houston Oilers’ territory for his first major energy speech. Totally apropos, because the best he could come up with was to argue for putting drills everywhere one can imagine.
May 23 2008
The Light at the End of the Tunnel (Updated May 31)
Right here -> (*). But that just means they’re going to get away with it.
UPDATE – May Thirty-One Oh Eight
The above link is to McClatchy 5/23/08. It looks like everything is going off on schedule. It’s amazing how nimble the Global Corpse can be when they set their collective minds and will to it.
This was predicted by the Ka-Ching. 😉 ;-(
Shanti.
May 10 2008
Enviro_wingnuts responsible for skyrocketing gas prices
Think Again: Why We’re Liberals: The Polls Speak
THE ZOGBY/LEAR CENTER SURVEYS ON POLITICS AND ENTERTAINMENT
http://mediamatters.org/progma…
And here it is, in black and white.
Liberals/Democrats/environmentalists responsible for high gas/energy prices
Who’s to blame for high gas prices?
Sean Hannity and Michael Reagan Try To Blame Liberals For High Gas Prices
May 10 2008
Senators Want Iraq to Pay for US Occupation
Last month’s Petraeus – Crocker, progress in Iraq, dog and pony show provided a forum which allowed them to tell us how well we are progressing in our endeavors to provide peace and stability in Iraq. The format was such that few hard questions were asked and few meaningful answers were given.
General Petraeus informs us:
“There has been significant but uneven security progress in Iraq.”
The gains, however, are “fragile and reversible,” he says, as he begins to outline a plan for a 45-day “period of consolidation and evaluation” to follow the end of the “surge” of extra American forces in July, before any more troops would be withdrawn.
“This process will be continuous, with recommendations for further reductions made as conditions permit,” he added. “This approach does not allow establishment of a set withdrawal timetable.”
There were no major surprises from Petraeus and Crocker, more wait and see, stall and delay. However there was something new and very significant from the Senators doing the questioning.
May 09 2008
Updated – Burma’s Military Junta Deports Aid Workers
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar said Friday it was not ready to let in foreign aid workers, rejecting international pressure to allow experts into the isolated nation where disease and starvation are stalking cyclone survivors.
One week after the devastating storm killed tens of thousands, Myanmar’s ruling generals — deeply suspicious of the outside world — said the country needed outside aid for those still alive, but would deliver it themselves.
The foreign ministry announcement came as a top UN official warned time was running out to move in disaster experts and supplies to prevent diseases that could claim even more victims.
Instead, the ministry said some relief workers who arrived on an aid flight from Qatar on Wednesday had been deported.
link: http://afp.google.com/article/…
Al Jazeera has an exemplary in-depth analysis of this tragedy, including an extended round table featuring UN Humanitarian Chief John Holmes, Bo Hla Tint, spokesperson for the Burmese Government in Exile and Marie Lall of the Asia Programme at Chatham House:
May 08 2008
Updated – Over 100,000 Dead In Burma: Why We Need To Change
ITN News UK is reporting that experts predict the death toll in Burma will be over 100,000:
This is bolstered by the military junta’s own estimates:
The Burmese military says it believes 80,000 people died in the one district of Labutta in the Irrawaddy delta, which bore the brunt of the storm.
That figure would imply an overall death toll for Cyclone Nargis well above 100,000 people.
link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/sto…
And yet the authorities in Burma have put up roadblocks to international assistance, including receiving relief supplies and – more vitally – disaster workers as the situation on the ground deteriorates.
It’s time for us, all of us, to start changing the way we do business.
May 07 2008
Updated (2x) – 80,000 Dead In Burma: The High Cost Of Oil
Despite economic sanctions against Myanmar by the United States and the European Union, Total continues to operate the Yadana gas field, and Chevron Corp. has a 28 percent stake through its takeover of Unocal. Existing investments were exempt from the investment ban.
Both Total and Chevron broadly defended their business in the nation.
“Far from solving Myanmar’s problems, a forced withdrawal would only lead to our replacement by other operators probably less committed to the ethical principles guiding all our initiatives,” Jean-Francois Lassalle, vice president of public affairs for Total Exploration & Production, said this week in a statement.
link: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/BU…
ABC News Australia is now reporting that the death toll from Cyclone Nargis in Burma could be as high as 80,000 right now, and a perfect storm of lack of sanitation, food and aid workers to – among other things – dispose of dead bodies decomposing in rice fields and local water supplies could lead to an even larger human tragedy. link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/sto…