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To: long-gone who wrote (94287)	3/29/2003 9:00:33 AM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116790

A friend of mine who has no posting privileges in SI asked me to post the following on his behalf. Read it (if you wish) for whatever it is worth. The words are all his. I am not reponsible for inaccuracies (if any) in the article. ========================= What makes a War Happen? Backstage of the Air Attack Against Iraq in 1991 The Expenses of the Gulf War 40 billion in U.S. Dollars or 42 billion Euros ----------------------------------------------------------- But who paid for this? Instinctively we say that the $40 billion was paid by the USA. This is only partially true. Indeed of the $40 billion, 25% = $10 billion of the expense was paid by the USA, and 75% = $30 billion was paid by Arab countries, specifically by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia ------------------------------- Where did they find this money? The oil price before the war was approx. $15 per barrel, but with the Gulf War, it rose to $42 per barrel, generating an EXTRA profit of about $60 billion. ------------------------ To whom did this profit go? In accordance with the "fifty-fifty" law of the Arab countries, 50% = $30 bn. went to the Arab States (Kuwait & Saudi Arabia) and $30 bn. to the multinational (oil companies). ----------------------------------------------------------- Who owns the oil companies? In the Middle East, the extraction and trading of oil is in the hands of the oil companies like Shell, Esso... etc. So of the $30 billion, $21 billion goes to the American State and $9 billion to the American private sector. Let's make some calculations:- Expense of Profit from the Profit or War increase in the oil Loss price --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arab nations $30 bn $30 bn 0 USA Govt. $10 bn $21 bn +$11 bn USA Private Sector 0 $9 bn +$9 bn ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now all is clear...... USA have made a profit of $21 billion from the war! It had nothing to do with the "Free Kuwait" ....... they were after the cheese. We, the consumers were the ones who paid for the war. So, the USA made a net profit of $11 bn from the oil. In addition, it made $49 bn from the sale of weapons! Where did the $40 bn spent on the war go to? To the War Insustry, all of which happens to be exclusively American!!! SOME LAST THOUGHTS Now it is easy to assume that the Gulf War in 1991 happened for financial reasons and not for some "humanitarian reason" or for the "right for freedom." From here it is easy to understand two other events --- the Afghan War and the current war against Iraq. ================================= The War in Afghanistan had as an adjunct target, the installation of a pawn government that would agree to the construction of a strategically imporant pipeline (American owned) of 2,500 km length that would run through the country. It is possible to construct an alternate pipeline of length 5,000km. But it would be much more costly to construct and maintain, due to taxes that would be charged to the USA by the countries through which it would run. It is much easier to reduce to dust a country already tormented by 30 years of war and turn it into your annex with the prospect of constructing and managing the shortest pipeline without any trouble at all. To understand why Bush Junior is now attacking Iraq, we must realize the main supplier of oil in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia. The relationship may be precarious because Saudi Arabia is involved with Osama bin Laden's terrorist movement. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia's atrocious human rights record will put the USA in an awkward relationship. So the Bush Administration has a goal: to find an alternate source for oil apart from Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. The easiest way, of course, is to wage a war in Iraq and install a pawn government under the guidance of the USA. The question that naturally comes to mind is, "Why Iraq"? For Three Simple Reasons: Iraq is a country that can be easily conquered. (Embargo and sanctions have weakened the country. Iraq offers an easy excuse to justify an attack --- that it has weapons of mass destruction --- (but which it does not have because WMD can be produced only with special hi-tech equipment which Iraq does not have.) The International community is largely unaware of the extent of the huge deposits of oil in Iraq. Iraq does not have a powerful ally in a position to help it counter the might of the USA. On top of this, during the last three years, a social revolution has been taking place in Venezuela against the government for not improving living conditions. Even though Venezuela is a huge supplier of oil for the USA, the Bush administration is determined to find an alternate source of oil apart from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. So the USA is very interested in occupying Iraq and building the pipeline in Afghanistan.