The Argies Will Doubtless Be Inspired To Grow A Pair.

[Minimalist]

http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/W...ampaign=im

Independent Audit Confirms The Falkland Islands Are A Billion-Barrel Basin

[The Valkyrie]

Aaannndddd... another oil war on the horizon.

[AFTT47]

Another one? When was the first?

One of the talking points of the left that always makes me cringe is the "war for oil" thing. I don't know of a single instance where any western state went in to an oil-rich sovereign state, kicked ass and took oil. Did I miss it?

[The Valkyrie]

Iraq.

[account_inactive]

Fuck Argentina.

[Minimalist]

Iraq.

Except Bush The Dumber forgot to take the oil.

[AFTT47]

Iraq.

I mean, seriously.

I think this is an important point. One of the most powerful attacks you can make on an opponent (IMO) is exposing them for spewing bullshit. You can't do that though if you are spewing bullshit as well. As far as I know, there has never been a war for oil instigated by any western power. There have been a ton of cries of such accusation but as far as I can see, none of it has any substance.

I would like to see our side take the high ground and not engage in flinging bullshit.

[AFTT47]

Iraq.

Except Bush The Dumber forgot to take the oil.

W is almost dumb enough to make that argument plausible. Almost.

[Minimalist]

Iraq.

I mean, seriously.

I think this is an important point. One of the most powerful attacks you can make on an opponent (IMO) is exposing them for spewing bullshit. You can't do that though if you are spewing bullshit as well. As far as I know, there has never been a war for oil instigated by any western power. There have been a ton of cries of such accusation but as far as I can see, none of it has any substance.

I would like to see our side take the high ground and not engage in flinging bullshit.

Wheels within wheels.... especially when money is involved.

https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/c...40471.html

US and UK companies have been very concerned that their rivals might gain a major long-term advantage in the global oil business. "Iraq possesses huge reserves of oil and gas – reserves I'd love Chevron to have access to," enthused Chevron CEO Kenneth T. Derr in a 1998 speech at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, in which he pronounced his strong support for sanctions.(10) Sanctions have kept the rivals at bay, a clear advantage. US-UK companies hope that the regime will eventually collapse, giving them a strong edge over their competitors with a post-Saddam government. As the embargo weakened and Saddam held onto power, however, stakes in the rivalry rose, for US-UK companies worried that they might eventually be shouldered aside. Direct military intervention by the US-UK, then, offers a tempting but dangerous gamble that might put Exxon, Shell, BP and Chevron in immediate control of the Iraqi oil boom, but at the risk of backlash from a regional political explosion.

In testimony to Congress in 1999, General Anthony C.Zinni, commander in chief of the US Central Command, testified that the Gulf Region, with its huge oil reserves, is a "vital interest" of "long standing" for the United States and that the US "must have free access to the region's resources."(11) "Free access," it seems, means both military and economic control of these resources. This has been a major goal of US strategic doctrine ever since the end of World War II. Prior to 1971, Britain (the former colonial power) policed the region and its oil riches. Since then, the United States has deployed ever-larger military forces to assure "free access" through overwhelming armed might.(12)

A looming US war against Iraq is only comprehensible in this light. For all the talk about terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and human rights violations by Saddam Hussein, these are not the core issues driving US policy. Rather, it is "free access" to Iraqi oil and the ultimate control over that oil by US and UK companies that raises the stakes high enough to set US forces on the move and risk the stakes of global empire.