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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>"to obvious to articulate" reminds me of that
poster popular in the 70's </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>depicting an obvious problem.</FONT></DIV>
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style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=galliher@illinois.edu href="mailto:galliher@illinois.edu">C. G.
Estabrook</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=jbw292002@gmail.com
href="mailto:jbw292002@gmail.com">John W.</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=mkbrussel@comcast.net
href="mailto:mkbrussel@comcast.net">Brussel Morton K.</A> ; <A
title=peace-discuss@anti-war.net
href="mailto:peace-discuss@anti-war.net">Peace Discuss</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, October 08, 2010 11:45
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Peace-discuss] Comment re.
"South of the Border"</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>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 href="mailto:mkbrussel@comcast.net"
moz-do-not-send="true">mkbrussel@comcast.net</A>></SPAN> wrote:</DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_quote><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>
<DIV style="WORD-WRAP: break-word">From Bill Blum:
<DIV><A href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer86.html" target=_blank
moz-do-not-send="true">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
href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer86.html#note-9" target=_blank
moz-do-not-send="true">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>Grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries.
<LI>Waged war/military action, either directly or in conjunction with a
proxy army, in some 30 countries.
<LI>Attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders.
<LI>Dropped bombs on the people of some 30 countries.
<LI>Suppressed dozens of populist/nationalist movements in every corner
of the world. <SUP><A
href="http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer86.html#note-10" target=_blank
moz-do-not-send="true">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
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