Australia and the Iraq War

[John Simkin]

BBC Website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6272168.stm

Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has 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 was a priority.

But PM John Howard has played down the comments, saying it was "stretching it a bit" to conclude that Australia's Iraq involvement was motivated by oil.

The remarks are causing heated debate as the US-led Iraq coalition has avoided linking the war and oil.

Australia was involved in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and has about 1,500 military personnel still deployed in the region.

There are no immediate plans to bring them home.

In comments to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Nelson admitted that the supply of oil had influenced Australia's strategic planning in the region.

"Obviously the Middle East itself, not only Iraq but the entire region, is an important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world," he said.

"Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq.

"It's in our interests, our security interests, to make sure that we leave the Middle East, and leave Iraq in particular, in a position of sustainable security."

[Sid Walker]

BBC Website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6272168.stm

Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has 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 was a priority.

But PM John Howard has played down the comments, saying it was "stretching it a bit" to conclude that Australia's Iraq involvement was motivated by oil.

The remarks are causing heated debate as the US-led Iraq coalition has avoided linking the war and oil.

Australia was involved in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and has about 1,500 military personnel still deployed in the region.

There are no immediate plans to bring them home.

In comments to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Nelson admitted that the supply of oil had influenced Australia's strategic planning in the region.

"Obviously the Middle East itself, not only Iraq but the entire region, is an important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world," he said.

"Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq.

"It's in our interests, our security interests, to make sure that we leave the Middle East, and leave Iraq in particular, in a position of sustainable security."

Interviewed on the ABC's 7.30 Report current affairs this evening, analyst Hugh White from the Australian National University 'confirmed' that oil had, indeed, been in the minds of strategic planners in the west. He added that the gulf region has been western strategists sights because it is oil rich.

A staggering contribution to human wisdom!

Although there was great determination to dismiss this line of analysis in 2003, it's actually the only argument in favour of this appalling invasion and occupation that makes at least some sense to ordinary folk. Outright oil imperialism in a age of scarcity...

I wonder if the 'revelation' in Australia is a trial balloon? If it flies here, it may become the quasi-official line throughout the west. At least it makes the war appeal to basic human weaknesses such as greed and selfishness.

Personally, I've always believed the "war for oil" line, promoted so heavily by the left and anti-war movement in 2003, is itself a 'limited hangout'.

The ultimate driving force behind the destruction of Iraq, IMO, has been the perceived self interest of the State of Israel and its international cheer squad.

The Iraq war - and all the rest of the recent wars in the region - may more accurately be described as 'wars for Israel'.

The day that dirty little secret is 'revealed' on Australian prime time TV... that's when I'll feel a genuine truth revolution is underway.

Edited July 5, 2007 by Sid Walker

[Guest David Guyatt]

Anyone yet 'fessed up about the strategic oil pieline running across Afghanistan being a reason for the long-term positioning of troops there? Or must we just conclude they are there to ensure a safe and orderly increase (threefold since their arrival) in heroin production for export to the west?

David

[Sid Walker]

Anyone yet 'fessed up about the strategic oil pieline running across Afghanistan being a reason for the long-term positioning of troops there? Or must we just conclude they are there to ensure a safe and orderly increase (threefold since their arrival) in heroin production for export to the west?

David

This bar chart is instructive, David:

Source: Afghan opium production ’soars’

Things were looking grim indeed circa 2001.

Apparently the Taliban took the 'War on Drugs' rather too seriously.

Solution?

Switch wars.

Edited July 5, 2007 by Sid Walker

[Mark Stapleton]

BBC Website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6272168.stm

Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has 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 was a priority.

But PM John Howard has played down the comments, saying it was "stretching it a bit" to conclude that Australia's Iraq involvement was motivated by oil.

The remarks are causing heated debate as the US-led Iraq coalition has avoided linking the war and oil.

Australia was involved in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and has about 1,500 military personnel still deployed in the region.

There are no immediate plans to bring them home.

In comments to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Nelson admitted that the supply of oil had influenced Australia's strategic planning in the region.

"Obviously the Middle East itself, not only Iraq but the entire region, is an important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world," he said.

"Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq.

"It's in our interests, our security interests, to make sure that we leave the Middle East, and leave Iraq in particular, in a position of sustainable security."

John,

I think Nelson will have his knuckles wrapped for this outbreak of honesty. I think some of the more liberal Tories are considering their credibility after Howard has departed. Nelson is aligned to the faction which supports reluctant Howard challenger Peter Costello, and he would expect a plum job in any future Costello Government.

A sidebar to this was the spectacular gaffe made last week by Howard enforcer Bill Heffernan, a backbencher from Queensland. Heffernan publicly advocated that all parliamentarians be routinely drug-tested in order to set a good example to society. An EXCELLENT idea, I thought. Alas, Howard quickly dimissed the suggestion, claiming that he would only consider it if he thought there was a problem, and there's none, so forget it OK. You can bet your life Howard has already cut Heffernan out of his inner circle. His close advisor has revealed himself to be so stupid he actually believes the idiotic rhetoric which underpins the war on drugs. He failed to understand the obvious, namely that the War on Drugs is designed to fill the jails with the poor and disadvantaged, not the elite classes. What a clod!

[Mark Stapleton]

Anyone yet 'fessed up about the strategic oil pieline running across Afghanistan being a reason for the long-term positioning of troops there? Or must we just conclude they are there to ensure a safe and orderly increase (threefold since their arrival) in heroin production for export to the west?

David

This bar chart is instructive, David:

Source: Afghan opium production ’soars’

Things were looking grim indeed circa 2001.

Apparently the Taliban took the 'War on Drugs' rather too seriously.

Solution?

Switch wars.

The War on Terror and the War on Drugs complement each other perfectly.

[David G. Healy]

[...]

The Iraq war - and all the rest of the recent wars in the region - may more accurately be described as 'wars for Israel'.

The day that dirty little secret is 'revealed' on Australian prime time TV... that's when I'll feel a genuine truth revolution is underway.

grow up, smell the roses!

[Sid Walker]

[...]

The Iraq war - and all the rest of the recent wars in the region - may more accurately be described as 'wars for Israel'.

The day that dirty little secret is 'revealed' on Australian prime time TV... that's when I'll feel a genuine truth revolution is underway.

grow up, smell the roses!

What?

[Sid Walker]

I think Nelson will have his knuckles wrapped for this outbreak of honesty. I think some of the more liberal Tories are considering their credibility after Howard has departed. Nelson is aligned to the faction which supports reluctant Howard challenger Peter Costello, and he would expect a plum job in any future Costello Government.

I think you have it right, Mark.

Last night's media amounted to a carpeting for Nelson.

Incidentally, has anyone else noticed that the Right Execrable Brendan Nelson is a doctor? Very suss, IMO. What does it mean? Shouldn't we vet our 'Defence' Ministers more carefully? Does he have links with international terror? (easy to answer that one!)

Nice Steve Bell cartoon in the Guardian:

[Mark Stapleton]

I think Nelson will have his knuckles wrapped for this outbreak of honesty. I think some of the more liberal Tories are considering their credibility after Howard has departed. Nelson is aligned to the faction which supports reluctant Howard challenger Peter Costello, and he would expect a plum job in any future Costello Government.

I think you have it right, Mark.

Last night's media amounted to a carpeting for Nelson.

Incidentally, has anyone else noticed that the Right Execrable Brendan Nelson is a doctor? Very suss, IMO. What does it mean? Shouldn't we vet our 'Defence' Ministers more carefully? Does he have links with international terror? (easy to answer that one!)

Nice Steve Bell cartoon in the Guardian:

Yes when Nelson was head of the AMA, his public statements were so critical of the conservatives that many were surprised that he subsequently joined the Tories instead of the Labor Party.

Luckily for us, Sid, the media have tumbled to the duplicity of the medical profession. We're saved.

[Sid Walker]

Luckily for us, Sid, the media have tumbled to the duplicity of the medical profession. We're saved.

Mark... you mean it's really just one big doctor-ing conspiracy?

It figures. Dr Watson... Dr No... Dr Goebbels... Dr Al-Zawahri... Dr David Death... Now Nelson too!

Anyone noticed how Ron Paul used to make a living? Scary!

But yes, as you pointed out, the Australian media has tumbled to the great medical conspiracy and is now reporting this dire threat to our way of life with its customary fearless gusto.

"Those who cure you will kill you!". Too right!

PS. What about nurses?

Edited July 7, 2007 by Sid Walker

[Sid Walker]

Public healthcare kills!

Mr Murdoch advises that a socialized health system can seriously damage your health.

Fox News: Universal health care breeds terrorists

Today on Fox News’s Your World With Neil Cavuto, National Review Online columnist Jerry Bowyer attacked Michael Moore’s movie SiCKO and its positive portrayal of the health care in countries such as Britain and France. He argued that national health care systems are breeding grounds for terrorists because they are “bureaucratic.” “I think the terrorists have shown over and over again…they’re very good at gaming the system with bureaucracies,” said Bowyer.

Bowyer also claimed that in the United States, “if one of your doctors is spending all the time online reading Osama bin Laden fatwas, someone’s going to notice that.”

Edited July 8, 2007 by Sid Walker