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24061 [lbo-talk] War about oil? -- rank: 1000

Carrol Cox wrote: >Without seeing oil as _the_ motive, surely the fact of middle-east oil >figures in somewhere. Without a doubt, but I'm looking for a more precise specification than I've heard so far. Doug

Document Size:	4667
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 12 09:16:01 PDT 2004

24062 [lbo-talk] Re: Bush invaded Iraq because... -- rank: 1000

B. wrote: >And in any event, isnt control of the worlds energy >resources worth something? It might, if someone could explain to me what "control" means. There are scads of energy-producing regions in the world - Texas, Iran, Russia, Norway, Mexico.... They sell oil and its substitutes into world markets, where the country of origin label becomes illegible. I wish someone would explain how that complex structure could be controlled. Doug

Document Size:	5055
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 12 08:51:43 PDT 2004

24063 [lbo-talk] Bush invaded Iraq because... -- rank: 1000

Peter Huss wrote: >In our post bubble economy, we needed a weaker $ to soften our >inevitable hard landing which could have forced OPEC members to >completely switch over to Euros. Oddly enough, because of the dollar's fall against the euro, the euro zone has largely been insulated from the increase in oil prices, while the dollar zone has taken it squarely on the chin. This isn't necessarily with the doctor ordered. Doug

Document Size:	5003
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 12 08:46:45 PDT 2004

24064 [lbo-talk] Mozart, plumber's helper -- rank: 1000

Carl Remick wrote: >Yes, alienation of labor is a many-splendored thing. Carl, I hope you checked out the link Ted Winslow supplied: <http://internetdump.com/users/coprologist/Mozart.html>. Seems like the creators of the ad knew their Mozart. Doug

Document Size:	4832
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 12 07:10:37 PDT 2004

24065 [lbo-talk] Bush invaded Iraq because... -- rank: 1000

So some regime in the Middle East falls. So what? Their successors would still sell the oil - what else would they do with it? Iran and Libya have been selling theirs despite their status as pariahs. They could lobby within OPEC to push prices higher, but OPEC controls something like 38% of global production - it's doubtful the higher prices would stick. Of course PNAC & the Bush admin may think otherwise, but they believe a lot of nonsense. I have a hard time believing that the invasion of ...

Document Size:	5119
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 12 07:05:24 PDT 2004

24066 [lbo-talk] A Calculated Provocation -- rank: 1000

MOTECK1457 at aol.com wrote: >In a message dated 4/8/2004 11:13:44 AM Eastern Standard Time, >dhenwood at panix.com writes: > > >But "Death to Jews!" and not "End Israeli state terror!" isn't ok by me. > >Doug > >Doug - I wonder what you would think of a slogan that said: > >"End Israeli State Terror and Palestinian Suicide Bombings!" > >("and" is such a useful word for supplying context and connections!) I don't like ...

Document Size:	6008
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 12 06:55:51 PDT 2004

24067 [lbo-talk] War about oil? -- rank: 1000

John Thornton wrote: > Good guys wouldn't blockade France (a NATO friend) but telling >France we won't sell them cheap oil could be spun as "just >business", a much easier sell at home. Who are the "we" that would refuse to sell France "cheap" oil? Oil is traded on international commodity markets, populated by suppliers small and large, including some French ones. It's the classic fungible good. How could "we" selectively gouge the French and not ...

Document Size:	4956
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 12 06:41:50 PDT 2004

24068 [lbo-talk] War about oil? -- rank: 1000

John Thornton wrote: >Attacking China (or whoever) or blockading France doesn't fit that >idea as neatly. Not now, of course, but neither would the U.S. ever use an oil lever against either right now. Whether done at the source or destination, turning off the oil supply is an act of war. This is all about hypotheticals and credibility, isn't it? isn't a major reason the U.S. is boss that we can blow everyone up? Doug

Document Size:	4854
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Apr 11 17:51:27 PDT 2004

24069 [lbo-talk] NYT: Gettleman's latest dispatch from Iraq -- rank: 1000

Carrol Cox wrote: >This is what I meant when I said the most important (in fact the only >important) figure in the poll of Iraqi responses to the occupation was >that the determined resistance was over 10%. As long as that figure >stays over 10%, the Occupation doesn't stand a chance of establishing >order. (Though it seems that the U.S. may have accomplished a minor >miracle of uniting Sunni & Shiite as Iraqi. > >I have never said that polls were inaccurate or bullsh ...

Document Size:	5439
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Apr 11 15:46:14 PDT 2004

24070 [lbo-talk] Protestant fundamentalism: pro-Israel & anti-UN before they existed -- rank: 1000

Michael Pollak wrote: >The same is true of Jewish fundamentalism. It has a similar reinforcing >relation. And both produce secular types who find in the hawkish >worldview a secular substitute for such faith -- "a faith in fundamental >values." There's a kosher deli across from our apartment on W 85th St that's festooned with pix of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Recently, awning appeared with a passage from the Psalms (something about "bulls will then be offered") and ...

Document Size:	5847
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Apr 11 15:39:26 PDT 2004

24071 [lbo-talk] Brits in Basra: facing a lot less trouble -- rank: 1000

Financial Times - April 8, 2004 The waiting game By Wendell Steavenson Since Baghdad's fall a year ago, the violence in central Iraq has been relentless. Fallujah, long synonymous with resistance to US forces, this week slipped into chaos as supporters of the radical young Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr attempted an autonomous uprising. But these daily reports of bloody mayhem have largely excluded Iraq's second city, Basra. In fact, when Sadr's militia took over the governor's building in Basra on ...

Document Size:	28288
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Apr 11 13:24:27 PDT 2004

24072 [lbo-talk] Would Gore have invaded Iraq? -- rank: 1000

uvj at vsnl.com wrote: >Doug Henwood wrote: > >> >There is a difference between actually cutting off supplies (by >> >blockade or by some other means) and a permanent threat to do so >> >that provides leverage to the US. >> >> The U.S. could, at any time, cut off anyone's oil supplies. > >Yes, if the US wants to fight wars on a permanent basis with the >rest of the world. Does the US have resources to go to war with >China, India or Ru ...

Document Size:	5544
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Apr 11 12:57:04 PDT 2004

24073 [lbo-talk] Would Gore have invaded Iraq? -- rank: 1000

uvj at vsnl.com wrote: >There is a difference between actually cutting off supplies (by >blockade or by some other means) and a permanent threat to do so >that provides leverage to the US. The U.S. could, at any time, cut off anyone's oil supplies. Or destroy any country completely. So what's so special about controlling oil? Doug

Document Size:	4960
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Apr 11 11:54:17 PDT 2004

24074 [lbo-talk] Iraqi army refuses to fight -- rank: 1000

Washington Post - April 11, 2004 Iraqi Battalion Refuses to 'Fight Iraqis' By Thomas E. Ricks Washington Post Staff Writer BAGHDAD, April 10 -- A battalion of the new Iraqi army refused to go to Fallujah earlier this week to support U.S. Marines battling for control of the city, senior U.S. Army officers here said, disclosing an incident that is casting new doubt on U.S. plans to transfer security matters to Iraqi forces. It was the first time U.S. commanders had sought to involve the postwar Ir ...

Document Size:	11145
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Apr 11 10:08:10 PDT 2004

24075 [lbo-talk] Re: Marc Cooper plugs Nathan -- rank: 1000

B. wrote: >Chuck0 wrote: > >> Last thing I ever wanted to see was this self >important blowhard of the >> left starting up a blog. > >Chuck0, berating others for acting "self-important." >Hilarious. Now now. Be nice. It's Easter Sunday. Doug

Document Size:	4906
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Apr 11 10:02:07 PDT 2004