<strong>Written By:</strong> Mike_VC
<strong>Date:</strong> 2006-07-27 11:07:00
<a href="/article/90752212-the-war-on-lebanon-and-the-battle-for-oil">Article Link</a>

Also in attendance was British Petroleum's (BP) CEO, Lord Browne, together with senior government officials from Britain, the US and Israel. BP leads the BTC pipeline consortium. Other major Western shareholders include Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, France's Total and Italy's ENI. (see Annex)

Israel's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Eliezer was present at the venue together with a delegation of top Israeli oil officials.

The BTC pipeline totally bypasses the territory of the Russian Federation. It transits through the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Georgia, both of which have become US "protectorates", firmly integrated into a military alliance with the US and NATO. Moreover, both Azerbaijan and Georgia have longstanding military cooperation agreements with Israel. In 2005, Georgian companies received some $24 million in military contracts funded out of U.S. military assistance to Israel under the so-called "Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program".

<a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20060726&articleId=2824">http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20060726&articleId=2824</a>







[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on July 28, 2006]

   

I neglected to attribute this article to it author, Michel Chossudovsky.

For me this is a major piece of the puzzle that answers the question: Why now?


Mike
Winnipeg

   

<p>There’s a typo in the original article that was reproduced above: the name of the palace in İstanbul is <i>Çırağan</i>. (For any computer geeks out there, the spelling of the typo suggests an incomplete character set conversion from ISO 8859-9.)</p> <p>Mike, my reaction was nearly opposite to yours; if Turkey and Israël are working on building underwater pipelines between Ceyhan and Ashkelon (presumably through international waters) to supply Israël with water/oil/&c., to me it would seem that that project’s completion would help <i>reduce</i> tension in the region, since increasing the amount of available water (in particular) would make land grabs based on water sources less vital to perceived Israëli interests. Of course, one presumption on my part is that enlightened Israëli self-interest would make some portion of the increased water supply affordably available to the Palestinians …</p><p>---<br>Shatter your ideals upon the rock of Truth.<br />
<br />
— The Divine Symphony, by Inayat Khan<br />

   

How long before it's sabotaged? And how many "oil lakes" will the sabotage form? And where? And what kind of damage will these lakes pose to resident populations? (shades of tar sands effluent!)<br />
Or remember the USS Cole?<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cole_bombing">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cole_bombing</a><br />
Will the constant stream of tankers end up being escorted by the US Navy to avoid suicide bombers......? And if just one gets through, what will happen to the eastern Mediteranean environmentally? Is this why Israel wants to "neutralize" Hezbollah?<p>---<br>"We can have a democracy or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few. We cannot have both."<br />
- Justice Louis Brandeis

   

Another oil connection I've been thinking about is this:

Israel's aim is regime collapse in Lebanon, followed by pressure on Syria and regime collapse there. This would help the US get oil out of northern Iraq, through the oil pipeline that Hafiz Assad closed when Iraq invaded Iran in 1980.

   

<p>Eleanor,</p> <p><a href="http://www.kurdistanica.com/english/economy/eco-images/map_41.jpg">this map</a> may be of interest. It suggests that there is (or perhaps was) an outlet for oil from Iraqi Kurdistan through Turkey.</p><p>---<br>Shatter your ideals upon the rock of Truth.<br />
<br />
— The Divine Symphony, by Inayat Khan<br />

   

"Is this why Israel wants to "neutralize" Hezbollah?"



Yes RPW I think that's the case.


Mike
Winnipeg

   

Brother Jonathon: It would be nice if things worked that way as far as the water question is concerned. As far as oil and natural gas goes, Israel wouldn't have to buy as much oil and natural gas from Russia, maybe none. So that cuts Russia out of the picture.

Further to the article: I don't think that there is any question about the link between this meeting and the timing of the bombardment of Lebanon. It also explains why Britain isn't calling for a ceasefire. The cheerleading from the US is appalling but unfortunately expected. The backdrop for everything that is happening in the Middle East is of course energy politics.



Mike
Winnipeg

   

I believe one needs to take into account the internal dynamics as well. Ideally zionists (not all Israelis, mind) would like to annex the Gaza Strip (if not <a href="http://www.imemc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20372&Itemid=1">more</a>)! <p> It is not without reason that the Gazans are being subjected to <a href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/345430.html">such a level of abuse</a> as to make it almost impossible to survive in that region. At the right moment, the World will be brought in to witness how the living conditions of the Gazans are so dire and abject. <a href="http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2934">We may already be on our way there.</a> It will then be easy for the zionist government to "transfer" them to another location with our tacit approval! <p> The legitimate election of Hamas may have precipitated things, couple with many other factors for sure. With Hamas in the picture, the Palestinians and the Gazans in particular were no longer as vulnerable as before. Hence the need to demonize Hamas and prevent its morphing from a resistance militia into a genuine political voice in Palestinian politics by ferociously going after its leaders. As <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2006-07/27/content_650583.htm">this Chinese</a> columnist writes: <blockquote>From the 1967 war onward, Israel’s key strategic goal has been to avoid a political process at all costs. The country understood that the inescapable result of such a process would be Israel’s return to its 1967 borders, with only minor adjustments. Avoiding a political process is also the reason behind Israel’s decision to withdraw Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip in return for an intensification of Israel’s presence in the West Bank. But this tit-for-tat strategy has never found them peace.</blockquote> <p> In fact, they <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/loewenstein08172005.html">never withdrew</a> from the Gaza strip (also <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1553749,00.html">here</a>) and now they have re-occupied it! <p> Where does Hezbollah fit in all of this? There are two versions. Depending on one's allegiance, it will be <a href="http://www.meib.org/articles/0308_l3.htm">one</a> or the <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5031.shtml">other</a>.