Michael Klare: Oil, Iraq & American Foreign Policy

Michael T. Klare is the Five College Professor of Program Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst. Defense analyst for The Nation and NPR and contributing editor for Current History, he is the author of Resource Wars, Rogue States and Nuclear Outlaws, and Low Intensity Warfare.

 

Michael Klare: Oil, Iraq & American Foreign Policy (1 of 4)

 

 

Click on link below to see parts 2, 3, and 4 of Michael Klare: Oil, Iraq & American Foreign Policy

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“Of course it’s about oil, we can’t really deny that.”

 

Featuring the author of Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet; Blood and Oil; and Resource Wars.

 

“Of course it’s about oil, we can’t really deny that.” Fmr. CENTCOM Commander General John Abizaid

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis:

The notion that oil motivates America’s military engagements in the Middle East is often disregarded as nonsense or mere conspiracy theory. Blood and Oil, a new documentary based on the critically-acclaimed work of Nation magazine defense correspondent Michael T. Klare, challenges this conventional wisdom to correct the historical record. The film unearths declassified documents and highlights forgotten passages in prominent presidential doctrines to show how concerns about oil have been at the core of American foreign policy for more than 60 years — rendering our contemporary energy and military policies virtually indistinguishable. In the end, Blood and Oil calls for a radical re-thinking of US energy policy, warning that unless we change direction, we stand to be drawn into one oil war after another as the global hunt for diminishing world petroleum supplies accelerates.

 

Blood and Oil – Trailer – Featuring Michael Klare

Click on link below to see more film clips from Blood and Oil.

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Letting Cheney Off the Hook

A Low-Level Investigation

By Joanne Mariner, Counterpunch, Aug 13, 2009

Attorney General Eric Holder appears to be on the verge of appointing a federal prosecutor to investigate Bush-era interrogation abuses.

Citing current and former US officials, the Los Angeles Times said Holder was planning an inquiry that would be narrow in scope. The investigation, which would focus solely on CIA crimes, would examine “whether people went beyond the techniques that were authorized” in memos issued by Bush administration lawyers.

Continues >>

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Afghanistan and the New Great Game

Prized pipeline route could explain West’s stubborn interest in poor, remote land

by John Foster, The Toronto Star, Aug 14, 2009

Why is Afghanistan so important?

A glance at a map and a little knowledge of the region suggest that the real reasons for Western military involvement may be largely hidden.

Afghanistan is adjacent to Middle Eastern countries that are rich in oil and natural gas. And though Afghanistan may have little petroleum itself, it borders both Iran and Turkmenistan, countries with the second and third largest natural gas reserves in the world. (Russia is first.)

Turkmenistan is the country nobody talks about. Its huge reserves of natural gas can only get to market through pipelines. Until 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union and its gas flowed only north through Soviet pipelines. Now the Russians plan a new pipeline north. The Chinese are building a new pipeline east. The U.S. is pushing for “multiple oil and gas export routes.” High-level Russian, Chinese and American delegations visit Turkmenistan frequently to discuss energy. The U.S. even has a special envoy for Eurasian energy diplomacy.

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• Karzai only controls 1/3 of Afghanistan
• Afghan woman knows why U.S. policy is failing
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Crosby Stills Nash A Long Time Gone Woodstock 1969

Tomorrow marks the fortieth anniversary of the first day of the Woodstock Festival, and you can be sure that I’ll be pulling something out of the hat. In the meantime watch the build-up of Woodstock’s stages while CS&N are playing on the background.

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Oil, Obama and Afghanistan

Sixteen hours ago, Associated Press published the following brief article:

Obama: Afghanistan will be neither quick nor easy

PHOENIX — President Barack Obama says U.S. troops in Afghanistan are working to secure polling places so this week’s elections can go forward and Afghans can decide their future.

Obama told the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Monday that the United States didn’t choose to fight in Afghanistan, but was forced to invade that country to stop future Sept. 11-type attacks at home. Obama says his new strategy recognizes that al-Qaida has moved its bases into remote areas of Pakistan and that military power alone will not win that war.

Obama says it’s important to note that the insurgency in Afghanistan didn’t happen overnight and would not be defeated overnight. Obama warned Americans that the battle there will be neither quick nor easy.

SOURCE

So Obama says “the United States didn’t choose to fight in Afghanistan, but was forced to invade that country to stop future Sept. 11-type attacks at home”.

That is bullshit!

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