Category Archives: U.S.

International, Opinion, U.S.

How will U.S., U.K. & France fund the attacks on Libya? You!

War isn’t free, and there is no true return on the ‘investment’ into war mongering.  So how are those countries attacking Libya going to fund their operation?  I have a suspicion, but in the case of the United States it’s not oil.

Notice that the lead countries in this act of war are; United States, United Kingdom and France.  All of them are in big financial/economic trouble.   They are all implementing austerity measures to address lack of funding for their governments.  That includes cutting many social programs for their citizens.

The push to attack Libya came fast, especially when compared to how much effort Bush Jr put into pushing for attacking Iraq.  Back then it was thought he rushed the process, but compare that to Obama’s push to attack Libya.  One U.S. congressman said Obama did not consult with Congress, at least Bush Jr did.

This is all suspicious. Especially when it is clear the Libyan protesters are not peaceful, and that in other Arab countries truly peaceful protesters have been killed, yet there is no call by Obama to take out those governments.

Most people around the world believe the attack on Iraq was about oil.  It was, but not for U.S. oil companies.  British Petroleum was awarded the biggest oil contracts in Iraq (by the way BP has been quietly taking over oil operations within the United States). In fact most oil contracts in Iraq did not go to U.S. oil companies.

Why would the U.S. take part in oil grabs if its oil companies are not benefiting? This is proof that the United States has become the bully puppet of the British Commonwealth (aka British Empire).

Notice that the price of oil shoots up when something like this happens.  Our governments are controlled by the corporations. The corporations make big profits when prices go up.  The corporations now use the governments to create situations that cause prices to go up.  Of course the corporations are not 100% reliant on oil sources in North Africa and the Middle East.  In fact BP has been busy taking over oil production in the U.S., and has just made deals with the Russians.  But the price of oil still goes up during war, regardless of where the oil comes from.  So they can shut down oil supply in one area, through war for example, driving up the price, and they will still make hugh profits off their other sources of oil.  Does anybody notice that despite oil companies saying their operating costs keep going up, they continue to report record profits?

So military action may be for the benefit of the oil corporations, but that doesn’t explain how the governments are going to fund the operations.   We the people are going to pay for it.  Through increased taxes, new taxes and cuts to the benefits you’re supposed to be getting in return for your tax payments.  Anybody remember the official reason for the American colonists revolution against the British Empire?  Taxes placed on the American colonists to pay for wars fought by the British Empire, and, lack of representation for the American colonists in the British government.  That’s what created the United States.

Here we area again, paying for wars that benefit the British Empire, and with this latest war our Congress wasn’t even consulted!  Taxation without representation!  Wake up people!

 

International, U.S.

Anti War Protests reving up in Europe and United States

People in the United Kingdom are taking to the streets to protest their government’s involvement in the attacks on Libya.

The Stop the War Coalition says the end result will not be the freedom of Libyans, but control by the western world. They also want to know why their country (U.K. aka Britain) is attacking Libya, supposedly to protect citizens, and has done nothing to stop other countries from attacking peaceful protesters.

In Boston, U.S., Members of Act Now to End War and End Racism were protesting, saying that oil was the only reason that The United States wants to attack Libya.

In Washington DC, more than 100 anti-war protesters, including the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers about Vietnam, were arrested outside the White House.

Protests are taking place on the west coast of the U.S. as well. Some protesters are targeting military recruiters.

U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel , D-NY, said he was angry that Congress was not consulted before the military strikes. He said he was undecided on whether the military action against Libya was justified.

International, U.S.

Arab League regrets supporting UN resolution against Libya. Emergency meeting called

“What we want is civilians’ protection not shelling more civilians.” said Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League.

Moussa said international military actions have gone beyond any so called no fly zone, and are actually causing more civilian deaths.  This is exactly what critics of the resolution warned of.

French president Sarkozy worked hard to convince the Arab League to support a so called no fly zone. When you read the historic resolution it is clear that it is more than a no fly zone, because it authorizes any/all military action.

The Arab League will now hold an emergency meeting.  This will affect the military action against Libya because several Arab League members are supposed to be taking part in that action.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Another example of being ripped off by Insurance Companies

The 9.0 quake that struck Japan could very easily cost more than $100 billion in damages. Don’t expect that insurance policy to cover it.

Insurance companies might cover as little as $12 billion of losses.

Eqecat, a catastrophe-modeling firm, estimated that the quake may trigger only $12 billion to $25 billion of insured losses.

And the government of the United States wants a health care system totally controlled by the insurance industry?

International, U.S.

Libya working to get support from China

A Libyan government official said they will discuss oil contracts with China, India, Russia and Brazil.

This is to gain support against “neo-crusaders”, taking military action against Libya, through the UN resolution.

China has already condemned the military operation against Libya.  20,000+ Chinese were evacuated from Libya at the end of February.

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh said he wanted to see Libyans make their own decisions “free of outside interference.”  India evacuated 18,000 workers from Libya.

Will Russia resume weapons sales to Libya?  Russia stopped weapons sales, but only on the condition that military action would not be taken against Libya. “In Moscow, we regret this armed action within the hastily passed UNSCR Resolution 1973,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich.

Brazil’s newly elected president, Dilma Rousseff, said Brazil expects more of the United States, criticizing American protectionism. Brazil opposes military action against Libya. Brazil has also evacuated citizens from Libya.

Brazil, Russia, China and India are now the world’s strongest economies.

International, U.S.

WikiLeaks forces U.S. Ambassador to Resign

WikiLeaks reveal documents that showed U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Carlos Pascual, had criticized Mexico’s handling of the Drug War.

Mexico’s President, Felipe Calderon, retaliated by pointing out that the various U.S. security forces, in Mexico, repeatedly fail to coordinate with each other and  actually view each other as competitors. This makes them useless to Mexican security forces fighting the drug gangs.

President Calderon also said, in a newspaper interview, that U.S. Ambassador Pascual is ignorant and continually distorts the facts.  Calderon says weapons being used by Mexican drug gangs are still coming from the United States. He has repeatedly asked the Obama administration to remove Pascual.

Hillary Clinton admitted that Pascual’s resignation is meant to keep attention away from Calderon’s accusations; “…to avert issues raised by President Calderon that could distract from the important business of advancing our bilateral interests”.

International, Opinion, U.S.

Oil Speculators are War Mongers. Was UN Resolution pushed because of crashing oil prices?

When Japan got hit by the massive quake/tsunami, and then the nuclear power plant disaster, world oil prices dropped.  By a lot.

Prior to the Japan event, on March 10th, Brent crude oil closed at $115.60 per barrel. U.S. light sweet crude closed at $104.25.  Oil prices had been going up, and the “Libyan crisis” was blamed. “…mainly fueled by regime-toppling instability in the Middle East and North Africa.” -CNN/Money

March 11th, the Japan event and immediately oil prices began falling.  Brent crude fell to $113.67, U.S. crude $101.16.  By March 15th Brent crude had fallen to $108.52, U.S. crude $97.18.

From March 10th to March 15th Brent crude prices dropped by $7.10,  U.S. crude dropped by $7.07.

Then, suddenly, the United Nations announced it had passed a resolution authorizing any military action necessary to get rid of Gaddafi (an historic resolution by the way, it’s NOT a no fly zone).  This seemed to come out of no where.  What happened to oil prices?  Immediately oil price shot up: March 16th Brent crude closed at $110.62, U.S. crude $97.98.  March 17th: Brent crude $114.90, U.S. crude $101.42.    “The Middle East unrest outweighed concerns about radiation from a Japanese nuclear plant…” -Bloomberg

Another evidence of war mongering by speculators is that oil prices fell when Gaddafi announced a ceasefire.  March 18th (ceasefire announced) Brent crude closed $113.90, U.S. crude $101.07.

I speculate that British Brent crude prices are more sensitive because the British, along with the French, have a big stake in gaining control of Libya’s eastern oil fields.  After all, who got the biggest oil contract in Iraq? BP (British Petroleum).

International, U.S.

No Fly Zone is Hyperbole, UN becoming war monger

Technically a no fly zone simply means that no aircraft can fly in a specific area.  At the most this should mean that if an aircraft is found flying in such area it will be shot down.  But the current United Nations resolution against Libya is NOT a no fly zone.

The resolution allows any force necessary, that would mean air strikes, and even troops, on the ground.  That is NOT a no fly zone.  This is what UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “The resolution authorizes the use of ‘all necessary measures’, including a no-fly zone to prevent further casualties and loss of innocent lives.” In other words a no fly zone is just one part of the military operations that will take place.

Ed Luck, a special adviser on the protection of civilians,  said this current resolution is historic : “This is the first time that the council has taken Chapter 7 enforcement measures specifically to ensure the responsibility to protect.” He added that it “…authorizes a much greater use of coercive force if necessary.” In other words the UN (at the urging of France, United Kingdom & United States) has just moved closer to being willing to go to all out war with member nations.