May 17, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was recently asked, by CBS’s 60 Minutes, about the war against Libya. He replied that the United States was not legally/technically at war with Libya (that would take a declaration of War by Congress). Instead Gates says the U.S. is engaged in “limited kinetic action” against Libya.
Gates is not the first U.S. official to make such a reference to the war against Libya.
“The wildfire situation in Alberta remains extreme.”-Ed Stelmach, Premier of Alberta
The wildfires in Alberta, Canada, are not only destroying homes, and even towns, but oil fields as well. The fires are adding to already damaged oil production in Canada.
This year, most oil producers in Canada are dealing with clean ups of major oil spills (ignored by main stream media) and explosions of sand oil fields (also ignored by main stream media). On top of that, and the fires in Alberta, some oil fields are under water because of flooding in Manitoba.
Oil producer Penn West says their oil production is down by 40,000 barrels per day, and that’s before the fires shut down their operation in Alberta.
The Rainbow pipeline (run by Plains All American Pipeline LP) in Alberta, is closed because of a massive oil spill earlier this year, but clean up of the spill is halted because of the wildfires. How long will the wildfires go once they hit the oil?
Reuters reported that at least half a dozen Canadian pipelines developed leaks this year. This is either a case of shoddy maintenance by Canadian companies, or sabotage.
The result of the explosions, pipeline spills, flooding and now fires, is causing several Canadian refiners to shut down. Operators of the Pelican Lake plant say they will have to shut down if they don’t get oil soon. The Marten Mountain plant is already shut down.
“The overall plan would need to be like an onion, each layer concealing the one below.”-Richard Dearlove, former SIS (MI-6) chief
When it comes to the long history of Iraq and the British Empire it’s always been about the oil.
The United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service (aka MI-6, aka SIS-4) has revealed documents that show that the British interest in the invasion of Iraq was all about controlling the oil.
The report appears in the U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail. SIS officers and the Blair administration discussed ways to “new security in oil supplies” by invading Iraq. The British Empire first took over Iraq after World War 1, for the purpose of surrounding Russia in what’s called the Great Game (which many think is still going on), and mainly to develop Iraq’s oil fields. Invading Iraq in the 21st century gave the U.K. another chance at controlling that oil.
The SIS documents also show that Richard Dearlove, then boss of the intelligence service, was concerned about the legality of the invasion. He wanted the input of “Government law officers to provide assurances of legality (there has been a serious problem here).”
If you need more proof that the U.K. was in the Iraq invasion for the oil, just compare how many oil contracts went to U.S. companies, to how many went to British companies.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the Oil Ministry, and says he will run Iran’s Oil Ministry himself: “The Iranian government and Parliament (Majlis) have consensus on the Oil Ministry merger…I am the caretaker for the Oil Ministry.”
Iran’s Five Year Development Plan requires the merger of several Ministries, to make the government more efficient. Those mergers are Roads and Transportation with Housing and Urban Development, Energy with Oil, Industries and Mines with Commerce, and Welfare and Social Security with Labor and Social Affairs.
Despite the fact that the mergers are required by law, under the five year plan, Ahmadinejad is being criticized by those ministers who’ve lost their jobs.
Some Parliament members say Ahmadinejad was supposed to get their approval before merging the ministries. Ahmadinejad says the Parliament did approve the Oil Ministry merger.
Many U.S. media reports about President Obama’s push to increase U.S. oil production, blame it on the people’s demand for lower gas prices.
The problem with that argument is that world demand for oil products is so high that even if the U.S. can increase oil production, it will never be able to increase it enough to bring down prices. That means the real reason for increasing U.S. oil production is to take advantage of high oil prices.
Is it possible that Obama is going back on his clean energy promise, because the United States is in so much debt, that he’s had to make a deal with the oil companies to give them access to oil rich areas, in exchange for bailing out the U.S. government?
An audio recording of Gaddafi was played on Libyan TV May 13. He state that he was alive and called the West “cowards”. For weeks Italian media speculated that he was wounded or dead.
“I thank all the presidents, ministers, ambassadors and all the people of the world who have expressed their deep concerns on my life after the attack.”-Muammar Gaddafi
Italian officials reporting that Libyan Catholic Bishop, Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, says Gaddafi has left Triopli, and is wounded.
For weeks the Italian media reported that Gaddafi was dead. Libyan government denies both claims.
As if the United States and Europe aren’t doing enough for the Libyan Civil War. Today, May 13, Libyan rebel reps are meeting with President Obama, to ask for more money.
Mahmoud Jebril, with the rebel’s National Transitional Council, is asking that Obama turn over the frozen assets of Gaddafi. Jebril is a U.S. educated technocrat, who is helping to lead the rebel campaign against the Libyan government.
Jebril says that if the rebel Council doesn’t get more money soon, they will not be able to pay their mercenaries, I mean rebel troops. The implication is that the so called rebel freedom fighters would walk away.
In the rebel controlled city of Berga, at least 16 civilians were killed, 40 wounded, after NATO planes bombed them.
Witnesses say most of the victims were Muslim clerics. They were holding a religious meeting at a home in the city. Many rebels now doubt that NATO is acting to protect civilians in rebel held territory. They point out that NATO rarely acts when they need them, and, as in the recent airstrike on Berga, NATO has bombed civilians on several occasions.
“In a post-Gaddafi era, I think we will still have a role to play in assisting a new Libyan government in a transition to a sustainable democracy.”-Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary General
Rasmussen explained that NATO will focus on rebuilding Libya’s security and military units.
Basically what Rasmussen is saying is that U.S. led NATO plans on setting up shop in Libya, after they kill off Gaddafi. What was that Obama said about this not being a long term adventure?