[Peace-discuss] Olean N.Y. Times Herald- Dr. Stephen Pelletiere
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Mon Feb 3 07:49:57 CST 2003
War talk is all about oil, says former CIA analyst
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By MIKE TRASK , The Times Herald 01/30/2003
ST. BONAVENTURE — Using words such as “naked power grab” and “imperialism,”
a Middle East expert criticized President Bush’s showdown with Iraq as merely
being about controlling world oil prices during a lecture Wednesday evening
at St. Bonaventure University.
“The war is about oil,” said Dr. Stephen Pelletiere during his lecture, “The
Persian Gulf on the Brink,” in the John J. Murphy Professional Building’s
Dresser Auditorium.
More than 120 students, faculty and community members attended.
Dr. Pelletiere was a senior professor of National Security Affairs at the
U.S. Army War College for 13 years and also served for six years as the CIA’s
senior political analyst monitoring the bloody Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
Dr. Pelletiere discussed for two hours many reasons why he believes the Bush
administration wants to attack Iraq, but he focused primarily on the oil
issue.
He said he doesn’t believe the U.S. government wants to own the oil, it
simply wants to control the amount of oil on the world market in order to
control the price. Iraq possesses vast oil reserves which have been
underutilized since the Persian Gulf War more than a decade ago.
Dr. Pelletiere also suggested that U.S. industries which are financially
connected to the military have been seeking a “threat to promote” since the
demise of the Soviet Union. In order for this industry to continue to make
money it must push the notion that countries such as Iraq represent a threat
to the U.S., its interests and its people.
In any case, Dr. Pelletiere doesn’t believe the U.S. has made a compelling
enough case to justify military action against Iraq. He believes Secretary of
State Colin Powell will not fare well when he attempts to present the Bush
administration’s case to the United Nations next week. Without greater world
commitment to the cause, the U.S. could be forced to attack Iraq virtually
alone.
“I hope you realize you are living through what will be the greatest
post-World War II crisis we have seen,” Dr. Pelletiere said. “United States
society will be changed by what occurs in the next week.”
He insisted that Iraq has been disarmed and does not serve as any real
threat, calling the notion “incomprehensible” because the country has not
recovered from the Gulf War. If Iraq is arming itself, he suggested, it is to
protect itself regionally.
Meanwhile, he predicted that war with Iraq would be over quickly.
“The war has to be over in 45 days. After 45 days the stock market gets
nervous,” he said.
More than 25 people from the audience asked questions and no one challenged
Dr. Pelletiere’s assessments or opinions. His verbal jabs at U.S. policies
and actions were met with slight laughter from the crowd.
When asked by an audience member about Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s history
of human rights violations, Dr. Pelletiere answered, “That’s how things are
in the Middle East.”
A St. Bonaventure student questioned what the general public could do to
prevent war with Iraq.
“The best thing you can do is to realize the media is your worst enemy,” Dr.
Pelletiere said.
The lecture was hosted by the SBU Visiting Scholars Program, the Department
of Political Science, the Center for Non-Violence and the Olean Area
Coalition for Peace and Justice.
A second lecture, “American Soldiers in Iraq: The New Warfare,” featuring
Dr. Doug Rokke, will be held at 7 p.m. today in the Dresser Auditorium.
Meanwhile, the Olean Area Coalition for Peace and Justice will meet Feb. 3 at
7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Olean.
©The Times Herald, Olean, N.Y. 2003
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