[Peace-discuss] Olean N.Y. Times Herald- Dr. Stephen Pelletiere

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

War talk is all about oil, says former CIA analyst 
 
 
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6877706&BRD=386&PAG=461&dept_id=4449

25&rfi=8
 
 
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