The
Bully on the Block
(Op-Ed:
June 2006)
"Americans are addicted to foreign oil!!"
(http://www.google.com/)
Actually, Americans
are not "addicted" to foreign oil. We are not even dependent upon
foreign oil. American-heavy, Standard Oil descendents and petroleum giants (once seven, now four sisters: Exxon/Mobil Royal Dutch/shell BP/America Chevron/Texaco)
actually own or control the
earth's petroleum reservoirs, production, transportation, refineries
and reserves. USDoE reports demostrate that the US is the largest
importer of oil--but these records are vague concerning the business of securing oil "upstream" --buying low and selling high
to our foreign neighbors,
avoiding messy paperwork and taxes, and obscuring this dimension of
"importing"--that is, oil procured, not for use here (unless it is cheaper to do so than
utilizing our own), but rather for profit.
Arabia couldn't even get the oil
out of the ground when oil was "discovered" in the sand in the early
part of the 20th century. King Ibn Saud finally "united" the
Arab territories as Saudi Arabia about the time American oil
interests sucessfully drilled, 1932.
From http://www.britannica.com/
In the 18th–19th century an Islamic reform group known as the Wahhābī joined with the Saʿūd dynasty
to take control of most of central Arabia; they suffered political
setbacks but regained most of their territory by 1904. The British held
Saudi lands as a protectorate (1915–27), after which they acknowledged
the sovereignty of the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd. The two kingdoms
were unified as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
[my emphasis added]
Originally, King Saud wasn't interested in oil; he merely
wanted to locate sources of water and to strengthen/stabilize the country's
desperate economy. And since the former territories had previously
been British protectorates (see: above), he really didn't want the
British involved. Fortunately for the King and Standard Oil, the
same drilling
techniques that had proved successful for pulling water out of the
ground, also proved
efficient for obtaining petroleum. Who then presented the
King with the technology to store the oil,
refine it, and take it to market, you ask? Who helped to enrich the
Arabian economy? Standard Oil of California, of NY, and New Jersey,
and Texaco, (they later changed their names to ARAMCO) negotiated with
the King for 100% interest in production, refining, and
distribution of
Saudi petroleum and all its by-products. (A look at this in more detail here.)
Oh, to be sure, the Saudis
made out well. In fact the original deal and its concessions proved so mutually
beneficial that last year the
Saudis celebrated the 75th anniversary of the deal, despite the apparent "nationalization" of ARAMCO to Saudi Aramco--
2008 Saudi Aramco celebrates the 75th anniversary of the May 29,
1933, signing of the oil concession between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
and Standard Oil of California (Socal). King Abdullah visits Dhahran to
celebrate the 75th anniversary. [my emphasis added]
Then, (and
this
is my favorite part)
as part of our mutually beneficial concession agreement, Saudi.Arabia (similar to
many familiar oil-producing countries) was required
to "buy" our national debt, on terms we dictated (read on for terms).
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=198926 --
(The following year, Kuwait signed a similar concession agreement.)
US aims to assure Gulf on debts (Monday 13 Jul, 2009)
http://www.7days.ae/
Saudi
Arabia and other Gulf holders of billions of dollars of US debt will be
seeking assurance on the US econ-omy when Timothy Geithner, the US
Secretary visits the region this week, econ-omists said yesterday.
Amid
calls from Russia, China and now France for a new global reserve
curr-ency, Geithner will have to sell a vision of recovery even as the
US economy continues to falter, the economists said.
“Secretary Geithner’s visit will be like a progress report
on the state of the US economy,” said econ-omist John Sfakianakis.
“Since
Saudi Arabia is a very important holder of US paper, some explanation
about the state of the US economy” is necessary from the top US finance
official, Sfakianakis said.
On Tuesday, Geithner arrives in
Jeddah, the Red Sea business centre where much of the Saudi govern-ment
has repaired for the summer months. He will address the Jeddah Chamber
of Commerce and Industry and will meet top officials, including
possibly King Abdullah.
On Wednesday, he is sche-duled to meet with UAE officials and the
heads of two of the UAE’s main public investment funds.
Economists
said the key US interest is making sure the petro-economies of the Gulf
keep most of their foreign reserves in dollar-based assets, especially
US Treasury debt.
“This is a reassurance trip,” a
UAE-based economist who works for a govern-ment agency told the Dow
Jones Newswires. “Geithner wants to let Abu Dhabi and Saudi know that
their investments in the US are safe,” he added.
Geithner will
also likely pitch for more Saudi and UAE investment in the US,
according to a Treasury official who speaking in Washington yesterday.
Who named the terms of such agreements and the
exchange rates? Who sets up Central Banks in oil-producing countries around the world, and threatens any foreign government's leaders (many of whom we put in
place to
maintain our interests) when they try to change the terms
of our
oil "agreement" or nationalize their resources--who declares war on, or "removes" that country's
leader? All good questions.
Whew! And.....let's see, who gave us "Shock-n-awe" when Saddam threatened to change the terms of our
prior agreement
(gold and US treasury
notes) by
trading in Euros?
Who
also lifted the Chinese out of their dependence on whale oil (for illumination) at
the turn of the century and persuaded them to purchase cheaper (more efficient)
petroleum, and subsequently helped to set up their "oil economy" just like the
others ? H-mm. Who then controls the global flow of
oil, the price of oil, and the price of gold, and foreign
economy via central banks et al? And now why does our
current
administration appear to be driving our economy into the toilet? Is it so our national debt can be repaid at a lower rate than it was purchased, or is somebody just being taught a valuable lesson?
Who
really sits atop the largest oil fields on the planet? (One of our Alaskan
fields alone is allegedly capable of producing enough low sulfur-content high
grade petroleum .09%--at artesian pressure, I might add--projected to
be able to
service the
needs of the entire North American continent for 200 years)? Who capped those
very rich wells so the price of oil would rise
in the 80's and bulge our reserves? (See: this) Who set up ANWR to secure those capped Alaskan wells and
create a smokescreen of environmentalism in order to obfuscate pubic knowledge of
their efficiency, and, in most cases, of their existence? Who owns at least a controlling
interest
in every single oil field of any significance on this planet? Who really controls the
price per
barrel of oil, OPEC? Ha, ha, ha....And those who maintain controlling interests in energy, mass
communication,
transportation, and distribution to market--likewise do not regulate the
economies of all
energy-producing, refining or facilitating countries
on earth (through central banks).
Our diplomatic liaisons
never coerced
non-technologically advanced countries into financial
arrangements which included buying our national debt "high", though we
intended to repay
that debt "low"--they also are implementing plans to use Eminent Domain
to secure (privately owned) land right here in our homeland in order to
horde and preserve such resources for
themselves (See;
"Eminent Domain," UN's "Agenda 21", and "Sustainability", and the "UN
Biodiversity Treaty/Agreement");
who also control the
technology and our laws and Congress itself, in order to do so.
You probably aren't going to believe the next part either, so just turn
on ESPN and go back to sleep.
Since
the FCC deregulated ownership of the media in 2003,
unholy media mergers have metastasized, swallowing up television and
radio stations, satellite channels, newspapers, bus stop benches (yes),
sports arenas, stadiums and concert halls, so as to
further control
what we see, hear, and want (see;
Clear Channel Communications monopoly, to begin)-- all the while our government continues expanding the most extensive military
and technological "reach" since Alexander, Caesar,
Napoleon, and the Brits ever envisioned themselves inviolable
empires (see:Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Grand Chessboard).
Think they are going to bring back the Draft? Nah. Destroying the
economy and limiting our options, will force more 17- 42 year olds into
recruiting offices, lured by the prospect of "regular pay".
And keeping the world in constant fear ( you know--terrorists, dirty bombs, H1N1, orange alert,
smallpox, swine flu, avian flu) by means of monopolized tools of propaganda (TV, movies, radio, music, newspapers) has proven wholly effective, because every successful tyrant knows that generating continual FEAR is
how to control
people. Remember, he who
controls the
illusion--information, transportation, communication, natural
resources, and energy--controls the future. (Remember the little man behind the screen
in
the Wizard of Oz?) I suspect that our next natural resource to be controlled
will be water. See: Boone Pickens. We
have already learned from
Iraq
that controlling energy and water, are successfuls tool of domination.
And who relies on our endemic mass
ignorance and indifference in order to succeed...
Thank God Jesus knew what we were capable of
becoming (you won't hear that sermon
coming from the Pharisees). Thank God He is bigger than
this quintessential
darkness we have become. Just because we are comfortably asleep at the
wheel, doesn't mean we are not each and everyone complicit--see: "accessory after the fact."
In the final chapter, we won't be spared greed's inevitable consequences, but those who
seek The Lord's face will find comfort in His light as the darkness hastens its inevitable descent.
A couple of helpful books you might want to investigate:
Ida Tarbell's The History of Standard Oil Company
Daniel Yergin's The Prize
Zbigniew_Brzezinski's The Grand Chessboard
G. Edward Griffin's The Creature From Jekyll Island
The agency which regulates oil and gas industry in Texas - the Texas Railroad Commission, A source of energy references from UT
Those agencies which regulate on a federal level - http://www.iogcc.state.ok.us/member-states
OGRA
DOI Minerals Management Service
DOE Natural Gas Regulatory Program, including the Office and Gas Global Security and Supply
Thanks
for listening.
Betty
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