THOSE
WERE THE DAYS
The
alliance of oil-producing states, known as OPEC, has long
been trying to establish itself as a worldwide oil cartel,
centered in the Middle East but also including Venezuela and
some African nations. Sitting atop the world's largest reserves
of crude oil, these nations have long sought to increase profits
and exercise a degree of control over the West by manipulating
the oil supply. If OPEC cuts production, prices rise; if they
open up the taps, and let the oil flow, prices plummet. But
not anymore.
A
FAILED CARTEL
Mexico,
a major producer, is not a member of OPEC, and the discipline
needed to maintain monopoly prices is not something that is
encouraged by the market: if one breaks ranks, prices fall
precipitously and, what's more, the one to break first
reaps the pot of gold, cashing in on inflated prices and ultimately
undercutting the cartel. It isn't a system built to last,
not even for a few months: as the discovery of oil reserves
in Central Asia, South America, Indonesia, and Alaska increased
the supply and sent the price of crude plunging, the myth
of the mighty OPEC was no longer enough to throw a scare into
the markets. For years now, oil prices have been falling,
and the major companies have had to undergo a series of mega-mergers
even to stay viable, never mind satisfy the demands of investors
for a reasonably large margin of profit.
TWO
BUCKS A BARREL?
While
OPEC did announce a production cutback this past April, the
fact is that, normally, this would not necessarily lead to
such a major uptick in prices as we are experiencing. For
all of the reasons stated above, OPEC is a toothless tiger,
good at growling but with not much of a bite. What, then is
the real reason for the outrageous surge in prices; what's
behind the fact that gas is rapidly heading toward $2 per
gallon?
THE
PAIN AT THE PUMP
To
begin with, government regulations and "environmental" safeguards,
especially in California, act as government-mandated price
supports. And as much as we are told that inflation has for
all intents and purpose been abolished in this the
new New Era of the cyber-economy, which is somehow
exempt from timeless economic laws I don't believe
it for a minute. If inflation is a thing of the past, how
come the prices of such essential items such as housing, clothing,
education, and medical care only seem to go up? But
while inflation is undoubtedly a factor, no matter how much
the economic gurus assure us that the monster has been slain,
it is not the major reason for the sudden pain at the pump.
THE
EMBARGO
The
silence on this issue is deafening: we are led to believe,
by implication, that the market itself is wreaking
vengeance on us sinners: we drive too much, when we could
help the environment and ourselves if we'd just get out that
bike. But come on, now, let's get serious: there is no real
mystery as to the proximate cause of the sudden drop in the
supply of oil. The sanctions maintained on Iraq, which are
killing 5,000 children a month and have already decimated
an entire generation, keep billions of gallons of oil off
the market. The last time gasoline prices spiked, in the Spring
of 1996, they settled down only after Iraq and the United
Nations agreed on an arrangement whereby Iraq would be allowed
to sell $2 billion worth of its embargoed oil over a six-month
period. That was the signal for the price to slide rapidly
downward by several dollars per barrel. At pre-Gulf war levels,
Iraq was shipping 3 million barrels per day. The agreement
allowed for the sale of about 700,000 barrels a day, but this
is sporadic and uncertain, subject to the exigencies of America's
ongoing struggle to bring the present Iraqi government to
its knees. No, it isn't the market that is causing this artificial
shortage, it is the most massive and violent form of government
intervention imaginable the US government's merciless
decade-long war on the Iraqi people.
OUR
LOYAL ARAB "ALLIES"
Protesting
the economic sanctions that forbid the importation of such
"weapons of mass destruction" as paper and pencils, as well
as essential food items, Iraq has withheld oil shipments and
is arguing within OPEC to curtail production. Iran, Saudi
Arabia, and even little Kuwait whose precious "sovereignty"
we fought to defend have all combined to hike the heretofore
sagging price of crude, although they may consider
opening the spigots just a little wider in due time. Without
the armed might of the United States, and the persuasive powers
of successive American Presidents who have somehow
managed to convince the American people that our fate is tied
to that of the Arab sheiks and princelings the decadent
and tottering monarchies of the Middle East would long since
have gone the way of the Iranian Shah. Why are we defending
a bunch of extortionists, who yelp for US intervention whenever
they get in trouble, and then turn around and rob us at the
gas pump the first chance they get?
WHAT
ARE HALF A MILLION CHILDREN WORTH?
But
why is the US government putting up with this state of affairs?
The obvious question to ask is: who benefits? The biggest
and most immediate beneficiaries of the price hike are the
oil companies, who stand to reap mega-profits as the cost
of their product rises over the summer, just as many people
are going on vacation. During a televised interview with reporter
Lesley Stahl of "60 Minutes," [May 12, 1996], Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright was asked:
"We
have heard that a half million children have died [as a result
of sanctions]. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima.
And and you know, is the price worth it?"
Madeleine
Albright: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price we think the price is worth it."
GIMME
GRAVY
Certainly,
from the point of view of the oil companies, it is "worth
it." But this is just gravy: the real meat of the matter is
how the sudden oil shortage will impact US foreign policy
and increase the chances of a major war breaking out
in the next few years by at least a factor of ten. The machinery
is already in place: all that remains now is for the "crisis"
to be suddenly ignited. An explosion is sure to follow.
REINVENTING
MERCANTILISM
In
the process of "reinventing government," Bill Clinton and
Al Gore created a special office deep in the bowels of the
federal bureaucracy, a "Special Advisor to the State Department
and the White House for Caspian Basin Energy." In a frankly
mercantilist policy, the purpose of this office has been,
as
Ambassador Richard Morningstar put it, "enhancing commercial
opportunities for U.S. and other companies." In terms of action,
this means "bolstering the energy security of the US and our
allies and the energy independence of the Caspian region by
ensuring the free flow of oil and gas to the world marketplace."
Both John McCain and George W. Bush have endorsed this Clintonian
plan, fueled by campaign
contributions from the Roger
Tamrazes of this world directly
into the coffers of the Democratic National Committee,
and if anything want to accelerate what is essentially a scheme
to seize the oil fields of central Asia on behalf of American
and European oil companies. Significantly, Morningstar, the
first person to hold this newly-created Ministry of Caspian
Oil, has since gone on to become Ambassador
to the European Union, the junior partner in the plunder.
As the phony, government-created oil "shortage" reaches critical
mass, the rationale that the US must intervene in the Caucasus
or, perhaps, in Colombia to protect vital oil
supplies begins to make a twisted kind of sense to the outraged
American consumer. As an added rationale to go after Saddam
Hussein, and up the ante in the ceaseless war against Iraq,
the contrived shortage will stoke the fiery rhetoric of the
War Party, and play a major role in the next foreign policy
"crisis."
URGENT
TASKS
With
major oil companies pouring millions into the campaign chests
of both major party candidates, another war for oil is almost
certain if and when one of them winds up in the Oval Office.
The only question is where, and under what pretext, will it
break out? In a White House where the Lincoln Bedroom was
rented out like a Motel 6, by the hour, and with an "opposition"
party so obviously in the pocket of Big Oil as the Bushian
GOP, it seems almost inevitable that we will soon be exporting
"democracy" to the steppes of Central Asia and the jungles
of South America and subsidizing oil imports with the
blood of our soldiers. Our policy of global intervention benefits
the few, while it hurts the many, not only here in America
but all over the world, and this is the Achilles heel of the
War Party, a weakness that could well prove fatal. It is,
of course, the job of this website to continually expose and
dramatize that fact, while putting it in context a
task that takes on a heightened sense of urgency with each
passing day.
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