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This ain't just about oil

  
 
01
21:47 / 11.05.03
America may have bombed its way into a whole new free-trade zone.

This article by Naomi Klein about the privatization of various industries in Iraq along side oil hits the mark with laser guided smart weapon precision.


It's obvious that the Bush Family is no different than any other mob family. Muscling their way into other gang's territories to personally profit off the spoils.
 
 
Simplist
21:58 / 11.05.03
A good analysis. The "it's all about oil" argument never rang entirely true for me--if the Bushies only wanted access to the oil, they could simply have lifted the sanctions and bought their way in with the full cooperation of Saddam's gov't. But this way they get to determine who runs not only the oil industry, but the entire Iraqi infrastructure and domestic economy. Not to mention the other half of the equation: a permanent U.S. military presence in Iraq, and an ominous example set for other regimes in the region who might previously have been contemplating noncompliance with U.S. aims.
 
 
Baz Auckland
02:12 / 12.05.03
There was an article today about how Bush wants a free-trade zone in the middle east within ten years. ...[searching internet]... here we go.

"I propose the establishment of a U.S.-Middle East free-trade area within a decade, to bring the Middle East into an expanding circle of opportunity, to provide hope for the people who live in that region," Mr. Bush said.

Ed Gresser, a trade expert at Washington's Progressive Policy Institute, said that the region's share of world trade has actually dropped from 13.5 per cent in 1980 to 4 per cent in 2001.

At the same time, its population has nearly doubled to 300 million.

"The problem is that you have more and more people and less and less economic opportunity, and that creates a lot of anger," Mr. Gresser said. "It makes it a lot harder for democracy to grow and things like peace talks to proceed."

Mr. Bush proposes to change all that by creating a Middle East free-trade area by 2013. By replacing "corruption and self-dealing with free markets and fair laws, the people of the Middle East will grow in prosperity and freedom."

...whether this will happen or not can't be said, but it fits in with conquering Iraq to open some markets for American companies. The article mentions Bush Sr. wanted to have the FTAA (Free Trade Association of the Americas?) in place by now (for probably the same reasons?)
 
 
Ganesh
23:02 / 12.05.03
I remember reading a New Statesman article, around a month ago, which speculated on the long-term political benefits of controlling a good percentage of oil used by potential rival powers, India and (particularly) China. Posted my musings on Cross + Flame, where they gathered tumbleweeds.
 
  
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