Gypsy & Willy - The Original Libertarian Bloggers
How Can You Laugh at a Time Like This?
Gypsy & Willy
No. 383
Conspiracy Theories...or...It's the OIL Stupid!
May 27, 2002
Ordinarily we avoid conspiracy theories like the plague. You know, the stringing together of random factoids...carefully avoiding any contradictory statements...to imply that high crimes are taking place among the rich and famous. For example, the Bushes have long been associated with oil money. However, since all rich people earned their money somehow, why oil money is singled out as "dirty" has not been entirely clear. Still, we thought that our readers might find the following information...provided by Ken Driesen of Wisconsin and Joseph Clifford of Rhode Island...interesting. It is certainly provocative.
- The Russians got into their Vietnam right after we got out of ours. We supported Bin Laden and the Taliban for years, and viewed them as freedom fighters against those Russians. As late as 1998 the US was paying the salary of every single Taliban official in Afghanistan
- There is more oil and gas in the Caspian Sea area than in Saudi Arabia, but you need a pipeline through Afghanistan (or Iran) to get the oil out. UNOCAL, a giant American oil conglomerate, wants to build a 1,000-mile long pipeline from the Caspian Sea through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. UNOCAL spent $10 billion on geological surveys for pipeline construction, and very nicely courted the Taliban for their support in allowing the construction to begin. All of the leading Taliban officials were in Texas negotiating with UNOCAL in 1998. In 1999, the Taliban changed its mind and threw UNOCAL out of the country and awarded the pipeline project to a company from Argentina. John Maresca, vice president of UNOCAL, testified before Congress and said there would be no pipeline until the Taliban was gone and a more friendly government was established.
- Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October. September 11th insured this. Bush went to war against Afghanistan even though none of the hijackers came from Afghanistan, justifying the attack instead on the fact that the Taliban was "harboring" terrorists. Bush blamed Bin Laden but has never offered any proof, saying it's "secret." The Taliban offered to negotiate to turn over Bin Laden if we showed them some proof. We refused and bombed instead.
- Bush said: "This is not about nation building. It's about getting the terrorists." But, we have a new government in Afghanistan and it is not clear that the terrorists have been "gotten." The leader of that government formerly worked for UNOCAL. Bush appointed a special envoy, to represent the U.S. and to deal with that new government, who formerly was the chief consultant to UNOCAL.
- Bush's secretary of interior was the president of an oil company before going to Washington. George Bush Sr. now works with the Carlyle Group specializing in huge oil investments around the world. Condoleezza Rice worked for Chevron before going to Washington. In fact, Chevron named one of its newest supertankers after Condoleezza. Dick Cheney worked for the giant oil conglomerate Haliburton before becoming Vice President. Haliburton gave Cheney $34 million as a farewell gift when he left the company. Oh, yes, Haliburton is in the pipeline construction business.
- There is $6 trillion worth of oil in the Caspian Sea area. The US government quietly announced on Jan 31, 2002 that we will support the construction of the trans-Afghanistan pipeline. President Musharraf (Pakistan), and interim leader Karzai, (Afghanistan - UNOCAL) announce agreement to build proposed gas pipeline from Central Asia to Pakistan via Afghanistan.
President Bush recently stated that it would be partisan politics to investigate allegations of prior knowledge to the 9/11 attacks. But, prior to 9/11, Cheney was Saddam's biggest U.S. supplier. While Dick Cheney was its CEO, Halliburton sold more technology to Saddam Hussein than any other U.S. corporation. From 1998 to 2001, at least two Halliburton subsidiaries sold Iraq $23.8 million worth of oil industry parts and equipment. These deals were arranged by Halliburton and routed through subsidiaries to avoid political exposure. More than any other U.S. company, Cheney's Halliburton helped Iraq restore its ability to earn the money to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Finally, we quote some excerpts from the writings of Representative Cynthia McKinney (Dem., 4th District, Georgia):
...moreover, persons close to this administration are poised to make huge profits off America's new war. Former President Bush sits on the board of the Carlyle Group. The Los Angeles Times reports that on a single day last month, Carlyle earned 237 million dollars selling shares in United Defense Industries, the Army's fifth-largest contractor. The stock offering was well timed. Carlyle officials say they decided to take the company public only after the September 11 attacks. The stock sale cashed in on increased Congressional support, a hefty defense spending including one of United Defense's cornerstone weapons program. Now is the time for our elected officials to be held accountable. Now is the time for the media to be held accountable. Why aren't the hard questions being asked? We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, delivered one such warning. Those engaged in unusual stock trades immediately before September 11 knew enough to make millions of dollars from United and American airlines, certain insurance and brokerage firms' stocks. What did this administration know and when did it know it, about the events of September 11? Who else knew and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered...
While G. W. Bush talks of faith based social programs, it seems to me that most of what he has done in office is greed based. While G. W. Bush did not invent the CIA, he is definitely pro CIA and pro military corporate contractors who have profited greatly over the 9/11 tragedy. I believe the people of the United States have a right to know how so few people, many whom have connections with the White house, could profit so much.
Talk to you later...
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