Don’t go near here on Friday . . . there’s a gouger lurking, with a very greedy eye on your hard-earned money.
This was the story that broke yesterday: Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson admitted that securing oil supplies is a key factor behind the presence of Australian troops in Iraq. He said maintaining “resource security” in the Middle East is a priority.
This is what True North has said all along: the Iraq adventure had nothing to do with spreading democracy, or Iraq weapons of mass destruction — plain and simple it had to do with seizing control of the sea of oil that lies beneath the sands of Iraq.
There were many ways that peaceful and secure access to the oil pool could have been achieved. For all his faults Saddam Hussein, a one-time American puppet, was not a religious fanatic. In fact he had put a firm lid on religious fanatics within his country and told delegates from Osoma bin Laden to get out and stay out. And they stayed out until George W. Bush let them back in.
The Washington-led coalition-of-the-damned were drunk with a false sense of power — they had the financial and military resources they told themselves. History is written by the victor, they reasoned, so we can tell any lie we want and when we win all the sorrows and miseries we have caused will be forgiven. Besides we’ve got to get a firm grip on that oil before the Chinese do.
And win we shall, because the Wogs won’t stop us — they have neither the weapons nor the intelligence to stop us. We’ll use shock and awe. It’ll be a slam-dunk.
During and after his October 2002 Ohio speech, George W. Bush sounded like Hitler about Poland in 1939. Hitler said the Poles were menacing Germany’s border. That the only way to solve the problem was to attack Poland. The only difference in the argument was the names of the countries. Hitler’s speechwriter had been resurrected. George W.’s delivery was different — Hitler ranted; Bush had been well-schooled in 21 st century American delivery. The only thing he couldn’t hide was the smirk that revealed he was lying.
And that to me is the core of the problem. We are neighbours with the United States. Our economies are intertwined. It is important to us for reasons economic and cultural that the people next door are happy and thriving. But they’ve got to stop behaving like thugs with guns. They’ve got to stop lying to get their way.
The problem is that too many people are so programmed to lie that they lie even when the truth will do.
People, whom the Washington-led geniuses had held in contempt, have risen in self-defense with such force that the liars and their true intentions are being exposed.
Let’s hope that enough Democrats and Republicans unite in the American congress to stop the war and end the killing of tens of thousands of innocents.
As the truth will out, it’s becoming clear that it’s all about oil. But oil that is won at the bargaining table is a lot more secure than oil taken at the point of as gun. The pipelines are far too long to defend.
Meanwhile, a letter to the editor below reasonably objects to True North’s No Gas Fridays. I hope others join the debate. We are not helpless if we join together in common cause to challenge the gougers. We just have to agree on what to do. Have a good weekend.
Looking forward
Carl Dow
Editor and Publisher
True North Perspective