<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
I think it's a mistake to see this as an opposition. For more that
a century the goal of American foreign policy - representing the
desires of dominant domestic social groups - has been the control
of the world economy. "Manifest Destiny" didn't stop at the edge of
the Pacific. That's what caused the unpleasantness with Japan 70+
years ago. <br>
<br>
As the only undamaged major country to emerge from WWII, the US
could put its imperial desires into practice. Control of energy was
both a goal and a tactic.<br>
<br>
George Kennan was the head of the State Department policy planning
staff in the late 1940s. In a secret document in February 1948
(PPS23), he outlined the basic thinking of US planners;<br>
<br>
"We have about 50 percent of the world's wealth, but only 6.3
percent of its population.... In this situation, we cannot fail to
be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming
period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us
to maintain this position of disparity.... We need not deceive
ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and
world-benefaction.... We should cease to talk about vague and...,
unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living
standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are
going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are
then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better."<br>
<br>
That was obviously the situation in regard to the invasion of Iraq:<br>
<br>
"The real reason for the invasion, surely, is that Iraq has the
second largest oil reserves in the world, very cheap to exploit, and
lies right at the heart of the world's major hydrocarbon resources,
what the State Department 60 years ago described as "a stupendous
source of strategic power." The issue is not access, but rather
control (and for the energy corporations, profit). Control over
these resources gives the US "critical leverage" over industrial
rivals, to borrow Zbigniew Brezinski's phrase, echoing George Kennan
when he was a leading planner and recognized that such control would
give the US "veto power" over others. Dick Cheney observed that
control over energy resources provides "tools of intimidation or
blackmail" -- when in the hands of others, that is. We are too pure
and noble for those considerations to apply to us, so true believers
declare -- or more accurately, just presuppose, taking the point to
be too obvious to articulate." <br>
<br>
<br>
On 10/7/10 10:17 PM, John W. wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:AANLkTimteToevDQJhxcWJWUbQwC-xKnvj9h7zjbVLRLw@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">Blum is correct. Thanks for the perspective, Mort.
<div><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 9:13 PM, Brussel
Morton K. <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:mkbrussel@comcast.net">mkbrussel@comcast.net</a>></span>
wrote:</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt
0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);
padding-left: 1ex;">
<div style="word-wrap: break-word;">From Bill Blum:
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer86.html"
target="_blank">http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer86.html</a></div>
<div>
<h2>The secret to understanding US foreign policy</h2>
<p>In one of his regular "Reflections" essays, Fidel
Castro recently discussed United States hostility
towards Venezuela. "What they really want is
Venezuela's oil," wrote the Cuban leader. <sup><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer86.html#note-9"
target="_blank">9</a></sup> This is a
commonly-held viewpoint within the international left.
The point is put forth, for example, in Oliver Stone's
recent film "South of the Border". I must, however,
take exception.</p>
<p>In the post-World War Two period, in Latin America
alone, the US has had a similar hostile policy toward
progressive governments and movements in Guatemala,
Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Grenada, Dominican
Republic, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, and Bolivia.
What these governments and movements all had in common
was that they were/are leftist; nothing to do with
oil. For more than half a century Washington has been
trying to block the rise of any government in Latin
America that threatens to offer a viable alternative
to the capitalist model. Venezuela of course fits
perfectly into that scenario; oil or no oil. </p>
<p>This ideology was the essence of the Cold War all
over the world.</p>
<p>The secret to understanding US foreign policy is that
there is no secret. Principally, one must come to the
realization that the United States strives to dominate
the world. Once one understands that, much of the
apparent confusion, contradiction, and ambiguity
surrounding Washington's policies fades away. To
express this striving for dominance numerically, one
can consider that since the end of World War Two the
United States has: </p>
<ul>
<li> Endeavored to overthrow more than 50 foreign
governments, most of which were
democratically-elected.</li>
<li>Grossly interfered in democratic elections in at
least 30 countries.</li>
<li>Waged war/military action, either directly or in
conjunction with a proxy army, in some 30 countries.</li>
<li>Attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign
leaders.</li>
<li>Dropped bombs on the people of some 30 countries.</li>
<li>Suppressed dozens of populist/nationalist
movements in every corner of the world. <sup><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer86.html#note-10"
target="_blank">10</a></sup></li>
</ul>
<p>The United States institutional war machine has long
been, and remains, on automatic pilot.</p>
</div>
</div>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Peace-discuss mailing list<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net">Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss"
target="_blank">http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss</a><br>
<br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
</div>
<pre wrap="">
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net">Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss">http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>