This video is called [Australian conservative pro-Bush] Government admits oil is the reason for war in Iraq.
From British daily The Morning Star:
Fuelling the flame of war
(Monday 22 October 2007)
WHEN, towards the end of the last decade, then European Commission president Jacques Delors made it clear that a European army was required “to fight the resource wars of the 21st century,” there was a collective sharp intake of breath from all people on the left.
Many warned that this was to be expected from an EU designed by transnational capital and run on its behalf.
Others highlighted the energy issue as a crucial factor which would come to greater prominence as the years went by.
Both sides were, as it turns out, correct.
We have seen the first of those resource wars in Iraq and we are now seeing the lead-in to the second, in Iran.
We also see Britain trying to establish mineral rights over large tracts of the Antarctic, Nigerians being ignored over their rightful claims to their own oil and so-called peacekeeping forces being trucked in to anywhere that may have the slightest sniff of the stuff.
And that is without taking into account the abortive CIA-inspired coup attempt against President Chavez in Venezuela.
US sanctions against Iran: here.
Iran war threat update 27 October 2007: here.
29 October 2007: here.
`When the U.S. military command accused the Iranian Quds Force last January of providing the armour-piercing EFPs (explosively formed penetrators) that were killing U.S. troops, it knew that Iraqi machine shops had been producing their own EFPs for years, a review of the historical record of evidence on EFPs in Iraq shows´.
See also here.
In this video from the USA, Eddie Vedder is singing Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War”.
In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, the Amsterdam-based military historian Gabriel Kolko talks about the prospect of war with Iran and argues that ‘Many in the US military think Bush and Cheney are out of control’; see here.
See also here.
Leading German politician issues alarm about threat of war with Iran: here.
Iraq’s Environmental Crisis: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
US considering air strikes on Kurds in Iraq
Washington, Oct 23: The United States is considering air strikes against the Kurdish rebels operating in northern Iraq in an attempt to head off a Turkish incursion, it was reported on Tuesday, by unnamed government officials.
In Tuesday`s telephone conversation, President George W. Bush told Turkish President Abdullah Gul that the US officials were seriously looking into options beyond diplomacy to deal with attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), according to the officials.
Cruise missile launches against PKK targets have been discussed, but air strikes, using manned aircraft, would be an easier option, it is said.
“In the past, there has been reluctance to engage in direct US military action against the PKK,” the official said.
“But the red line was always, if the Turks were going to come over the border, it could be so destabilizing that it might be less risky for us to do something ourselves.
“Now the Turks are at the end of their rope, and our risk calculus is changing,” the official said.
The PKK, which Washington considers a terrorist group, said it had captured eight Turkish soldiers after an ambush on Sunday on a military unit near the village of Daglica on the Iraqi border, which left 12 troops dead.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to launch a military drive into northern Iraq unless Baghdad clamps down on the rebels and turns over the PKK leaders it accuses of masterminding cross-border attacks.
Bureau Report
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=402971&sid=wor&sname=&news=US%20considering%20air%20strikes%20on%20kurds%20in%20Iraq
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Sanctions: Another step towards war?
We have seen this before! The Bush Administration, with no visible opposition from the Democratically-controlled Congress, has taken another major step toward war. This time against the people of Iran.
Today, the Bush Administration announced a harsh new program of sanctions leveled against the people of Iran. Executive Orders 13382 and 13224 target the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces, and three of Iran’s largest state-owned banks, freezing any of their assets held in U.S. banks and prohibiting any U.S. citizen or company from engaging in financial transactions with these organizations. Sanctions themselves are an act of war! This is understood internationally. The Bush Administration latest announcement is clearly a precursor to military action against the people of Iran – as such actions and language were in 2003.
The sanctions package, combined with the sending of a second US carrier group to the Gulf earlier this year, comes at the same time when the media is reporting that Bush is determined to strike Iran before the end of his term. More than half the U.S. Navy is not off the coast of Iran. ABC News reports that the Bush Administration has requested $88 millionto modify B-2 bombers to carry a newly developed 30,000-pound bomb super “bunker-buster” designed to destroy hardened targets deep underground.
Just as in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Bush Administration is using claims about “weapons of mass destruction” to build support for military action. The Democrats in Congress have done nothing to oppose the growing threat of war — in fact, many of them, including leading Presidential candidates, are actively supporting the Administration’s drive to war against Iran.
Bush’s war in Iraq has already caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and almost 4,000 U.S. deaths. The cost will be over 2 trillion dollars with no end in sight – while infrastructure in the U.S. is collapsing.
Help Stop another war in the Middle East
It is clear that we cannot rely on politicians to stop a new war against Iran. The only force that will stop an attack is a massive international grassroots movement of opposition.
NOW is the time for activists from across the globe to sign on to a call from Stop War on Iran (http://stopwaroniran.org/statement.shtml) saying, “We urge an immediate end to Washington’s campaign of sanctions, hostility, and falsehood against the people of Iran. We oppose any new U.S. aggression against Iran. We need funds for human needs, not endless war for empire.”
Every message signed will go automatically to members of every top congressional committee, the Bush Administration, the UN Security Council and to the major corporate media. Together let’s make out voices heard – NOW!
Stop War on Iran Campaign’s activists and organizers have held teach-ins and forums across the U.S. We have marched in antiwar demonstrations with Stop War on Iran placards and banners. We have distributed thousands of Stop War on Iran broadsheets and collected tens of thousands of petition signatures.
But we must do more and we need your help to do it. Here’s how you can help:
* Sign the petition now, located at http://stopwaroniran.org/petition.shtml.
* Download the petition from http://stopwaroniran.org/petition.pdf. Take copies to your school, workplace, union hall, church or mosque, community center, etc.
* Help get the word out. Pass the word along to your email lists.
* Donate – Help us with the enormous expenses of organizing meetings and rallies, printing leaflets, placards, and banners, and producing educational material. You can donate online at http://stopwaroniran.org/donate.shtml.
Stop War On Iran Campaign- 55 West 17th St, 5C, New York, NY 10011 – 212.633.6646
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One shoe away from war with Iran…
Any sane person hopes that writer Chris Floyd is wrong about all of this, so I
will suggest a “rosier” – but still disastrous – scenario. By that I mean it’s
short of WWIII.
Awhile back, I heard a commentator suggest that the war in Iraq is not so much
about taking that country’s oil as it is about CONTROLLING THE PRICE of oil.
Considering that Bush-Cheney and their buddies are all from the oil industry,
they clearly want HIGH oil prices, of course, no matter how grave the harm to
everyone else.
“When President Bush took office on January 20, 2001, the national average gas
price was $1.46 per gallon. Six and a half years later, on August 27, 2007, the
national average gas price had jumped to $2.76, roughly 89% HIGHER. Compounded
annually, this represents about a 10% jump each year Bush has been in office.”
(http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/ )
Oil was $22.81 a barrel in 2002.
“Oil prices moved above $90 A BARREL for the first time yesterday, setting a
record high on the back of renewed political tensions between the US and Iran
and fresh concern over supply shortages in the US ahead of the winter months.
Analysts say the recent surge means oil prices COULD REACH $100, while further
strain is placed on motorists.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,2200334,00.html)
Also see Bush Oil Buddies Divvy Up Iraq (Money Doesn’t Talk, It Swears) at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackson-williams/bush-oil-buddies-divvy-up_b_65361
.html
——————————————————————————–
People get ready — one shoe away from war with Iran
by Chris Floyd for Glenn Greenwald
Salon.com
Thursday October 25, 2007
This is the sound of one shoe dropping:
“Ratcheting up the pressure on Tehran, the United States on Thursday designated
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a proliferater of weapons of mass destruction
and its elite Qods force a supporter of terrorism. In total, Washington slapped
sanctions on more than 20 Iranian companies, major banks and individuals, as
well as the Defense Ministry, in a bid to pressure Tehran to halt its nuclear
program and curb its ‘terrorist’ activities.”
The other shoe, when it falls, will sound something like this:
“At least 26 U.S. troops are reported dead after an assault on their small
base near the Iranian border this morning, said Gen. David Petraeus, commander
of American forces in Iraq. While details are still sketchy at the moment, Gen.
Petraeus said it was “almost certain” that the attackers were units of Iran’s
elite Qods force, an arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“President Bush is now consulting his national security team, White House
spokeswoman Dana Perino said. “When we have all the facts, then the president
will decide upon the appropriate response. For now, our thoughts and prayers are
with the families and loved ones of those killed in this horrible sneak attack.”
Administration officials have been warning of possible “revenge attacks” for
months after President Bush formally designated the Qods force and the IRGC as
terrorist organizations in October. Just last Thursday, Bush cited a “flood” of
intelligence reports indicating “an aggressive build-up of Iranian firepower”
along key points of the Iran-Iraq border. The president said the intelligence
was copious, credible and disturbing: “Our guys tell me their hair is on fire,
reading this stuff.”
In a speech at the American Enterprise Institute the next day, Vice President
Dick Cheney delivered a stern warning to Tehran: “Armed retaliation would be an
act of madness on the part of Iran’s tyrannical leaders. But we are dealing with
an irrational enemy, so we must be prepared for anything. And let me assure you,
and the mullahs: we are prepared.”
Denouncing what he called “a new Pearl Harbor,” Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.,
introduced a measure this morning that would grant formal Senate approval to
“whatever action the Commander-in-Chief deems necessary to protect our troops,
and our nation, from Iranian aggression.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., signaled his support for “something
along those lines,” but said he would hold off bringing it to the Senate floor
“until we see what the president has to tell us.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
D-Calif., said that she too would act as soon as the president had made his
decision, adding, “Today there are no Democrats or Republicans; there are only
Americans united in our grief and our resolve.”
Look for it, get yourself ready — it’s coming.
***
Read this at http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/25/iran/index.html
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