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War And Petroleum Reserves
Submitted by JC Collins via Philosophy of Metrics blog,
In the interest of analytical balance, we would do well to consider the possibility of war strategies when it comes to the global stockpiling of petroleum reserves. In the years leading up to the German invasion of Poland, the world witnessed dramatic decreases in the price of oil as well as massive increases in petroleum inventories, especially as the Texas fields began to produce.
These shifts in the global oil markets ran parallel to the deflation which had begun in October, 1929, and as such, we can see the same pattern repeating today as oil prices collapse, inventories are growing, and world wide deflation is deepening.
The United States and China are both increasing their Global Strategic Petroleum Reserves, with stockpiling taking place in Cushing, Oklahoma, and in provinces throughout China. The promoted script is that America is seeking energy independence and China is taking advantage of low oil prices to increase stockpiles, as they are an energy importer.
But other countries around the world are stockpiling oil and petroleum products as well, from the construction of massive storage tanks in Nigeria, to hundreds of oil tanker ships full of crude floating of coastlines. Crude and petroleum product stockpiles are increasing to record levels.
Here are just a few links to increasing stockpile articles:
http://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/energy_watch/oil-01262015105428....
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/01/07/heres-another-reason-for-falli...
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/where-to-store-excess-oil-at-sea/
There are numerous reasons why petroleum stockpiles are increasing.
One is the obvious opportunity to capitalize on low oil prices, and a second would have to do with the global demand decreasing while the game of production chicken continues between low cost and high cost oil producers around the world.
A third possibility, and one I’ve been reluctant to discuss, mainly because it feeds the fear hysteria which is being promoted on many other alternative sites, is the preparation for war.
For any military to wage war a large and steady supply of oil and petroleum products are required. Just some of the materials and products which are rapidly consumed in warfare are the following:
- Fuel (including synthetic as the Germans attempted in WW2)
- Lubrication (such as grease and de-greasers)
- All forms of plastic
- Rubber (used in various applications, such as tires for vehicles and planes)
- Ethanol Production
- Anti-Freezing Agents
- Acrylics
- Resins
- Nylon (for use in parachutes, etc..)
Some of the primary purposes, or usage’s of oil, are in:
- Aircraft (both fixed wing and helicopter)
- Construction Equipment
- Naval Ships
- Road Vehicles
Some of these products and items may seem painfully obvious, but defining them does help us formulate a proper approach when considering the broader implications of war preparations.
Another vital aspect of war preparation is the relationships which exist between governments and private industry. The dynamics between Nazi Germany and companies such as IG Farben, as well as vast western corporations, were important strategic partnerships which were focused on realizing the common objectives which had been determined before the outbreak of hostilities.
We have often drawn attention here to the American industrial objectives in Ukraine and Syria, in attempts to secure access to resources, but this could also be the early signs of a shift away from the proxy war formula which has been used to buffer direct warfare between Russia and the West, and towards open and direct military contact.
Assumptions are made that the flex allowed for in the global financial system can be managed by the regulations and mandates of the international banking system, as determined by the Bank for International Settlements. Even though I feel certain that this is the case, only a fool would completely discount the possibility of the fragmentation of the control framework.
With that being said, the BIS had the ability to direct the course of the WW2 while doing business with industrial and governmental interests on both sides of the conflict. All the while the banking interests enriched themselves further with gold and other assets which had been captured and transferred during the war years.
So it is with interest we consider that 33% of all GPSR, or Global Strategic Petroleum Reserves, are held by governments, and the remainder of strategic reserves are held by private industry. The same private industry that gets its funding from the international banking system.
It’s interesting to reference that the League of Nations, in the pre-war years, as Italy and Germany were building up their strategic reserves, did not include petroleum products on the economic sanctions list against those countries. And of course, the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations, was an extension of the international banking interests as represented in the Bank for International Settlements.
Whether by design or not, the lack of reduction in crude production around the world, and the growing stockpiles which isn’t slowing down, will only mean further decreases in the price of oil.
The growing deflation will obviously drive down the demand for petroleum products even further, while at the same time decreasing oil prices will continue to feed the deflationary pressure from the opposite macro position.
The emerging framework of the multilateral financial system will create large systemic pressure on the current USD based system, which the growing deflation is a product of. But could the stockpiling of petroleum products only be the strategy to account for the systemic instability as the framework shifts, or is there a broader strategy which involves preparations for war and the petroleum products which would be required to wage that war?
The collapse of the Baltic Dry Index, and other economic metrics, could be the first manifestations of a reallocation of products and resources as they are sucked towards the front lines of a war that has not yet overtly started.
It is still my contention that the multilateral architecture will emerge and be implemented without a larger war involving the global players, such as America, China, and Russia. That is not to say that there aren’t any geopolitical and socioeconomic advantages to be obtained by the Bank for International Settlements by allowing and funding another expanded war. But let us hope that the massive stockpiling of crude and petroleum products, along with global deflation, and a collapse of consumer demand, does not mean the approaching rumbles of war and all the horrors it will pertain.
If a larger war does breakout, whether in Eastern Europe or the Middle East, perhaps even the South Pacific, expect the opening months to be savage and intense as powers rush to secure alternative petroleum sources before their own reserves are depleted.
As it stands right now, all major powers have developed Joint Strategic Petroleum Reserves in their regions of the world. This would suggest a balance in availability of petroleum products in the opening months of the war.
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Canada is desperarely trying to unload its reserves, guess we're not going to war.
Don't worry, there is more war spreading as we speak. Turkey has decided to occupy some of its former Ottoman territory in Northern Syria it would appear:
02.21 BREAKING NEWS: Confirmation That Turkish Tanks and F-16’s Attacked ISIS in SyriaBoy all this war talk is exciting, bombs away. Send my dumbshit Libby friends to the front lines to make Putin accept gay marriage.
World War 3 cometh.
The purpose of war is to destroy money and the things it buys. As a bonus, there is little to no government to tell the business of war what it can and can not do. It makes some people rich, and it makes other people dead.
"The purpose of war .... is to kill people .... and break things !" A US Marine RIP
They hate Greece for its freedom.
does canada have a military? or do they hide behind the US? the truth hurts, canucks
there's plenty of points in history where americans weren't even in the fight while canadians were carry the load, just because we aren't now owned lock stock and barrel by the MIC doesn't make us skirt hiders, just a little smarter than you is all
Ah thats telling 'em Boo Boo. Now wheres that picnic basket...
When America goes to War with China - Russia will strike without warning - Dumitru Dudumen.
The author forgot one key product, fertilizer. Without oil derived fertilizer our modern farms would all fail and starvation would ensue.
There is an interesting oil refinery owned by Carl Icahn Enterprises that does do that (in Kansas.). Overwhelmingly most fertilzer is produced with dirt cheap natural gas though...not oil.
Also...the key remains oil refining not oil. The Nazi's ran their tanks on gasoline not diesel fuel.
In short....stockpiling oil is just plain dumb and signifies nothing.
You have that backwards. Germans used diesel, so their tanks wouldn't catch on fire.
AMERICANS used gasoline in their Shermans, leading the British to give the Shermans the unfortunate nickname "Easy Eight", after a brand of lighter.
I was living in Washington,DC when it came out in the press that the Canadian Embassy in Teheran,Iran had helped some of the US hostages from the US embassy hide in the Canadian embassy and later were given Canadian passports to leave Iran. I saw Canadian flags everywhere!
How many of the hostages were CIA?
hey Moron: The Canadian Princess Patricia regiment is the ONLY foreign military contigent ever to receive a US presidential commendation; from President Truman.
This happened in the Korean war where all allied forces had retreated from Seoul but the Princess Patrica soldiers did not. They kept Seoul by calling an airstrike right on themsleves (they hid under anything they could)which killed about 5,000 North Koreans/Chinese but killed only a handful of Canucks.
Presient Truman wrote them a commendation on the spot and the allies came back into Seoul.
A friend of mine, a 83 year old mineral prospector now, was in the battle and lost a hand.
Fuck off, you ignorant prick.
Oh Canada...glorious and free... because the U.S. stands on guard for thee
.No question Canada is saving billions because of U.S. military.
Truman...?
What have you done for me lately, you ungrateful canuck?
Ay?
Gosh bless Canada.. the truth hurts... But it shall set you free.
Am i required to write this in French as well?
So i was in Montreal last summer....Cop pulls me over.. Starts talking to me in French...i say sorry officer.. I'm here visiting from the states... Don't speak le French... So he says in a thick French accent as he's looking at my Florida driver's license... "It saye 'ere yu 'ave to make drive wit da glasses"
To which i reply, "but officer, i have contacts"
And he snaps back with, "I don't care who yu know!"
"No question Canada is saving billions because of U.S. military"
That's a military and a financial strategy. Why pay Billions and Billions for our military when we know full well that the US would not allow anyone to attack Canada. The US would have no choice. The last thing they want, especially in the past, was to have an enemy parked right next door along the worlds longest undefended and for that part mostly undefendable border. And if we were ever worried about the US attacking us, well, there's not much we could ever do about it anyways even if we spent our entire budget on the military.
So, you graciously pay to defend us while in return to show our gratitude to you we give you Justin Bieber.
That Canada Arm on the Space Station is pretty cool actually.
It can only grab a hockey puck, though.
Justin Bieber? Talking about farting in an elevator!
The only country Canada needs to be defended from is the USA.
Canda is so small population wise, GDP wise, it could never muster the military strength to stand up to the US military so why in the world would it want to have a large military budget?
The US, assumedly, needs a large military budget in order to attempt to control the world and to make their MIC controllers happy.
How was the 'feel-up' when you came back to the USSA? Get a reach around?
I bet it's worse now than the last time I was up there, pre-9/11.
stoker: Most of us Canadians don't like French Canadians either: so?
And it,'eh', not,' Ay'.
you actually think canada is not under the total control of the US?
@oudinot
Dying so that your lords and masters can prosper and they or their offspring can live to send your offspring or relatives to die in a future war. Yup.
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. . . Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem."
—Howard Zinn
http://www.seesharppress.com/warquotes.html
Think WWI and the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC) & Ref: Article 22 of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference.
Ref: http://countrystudies.us/iraq/19.htm (short and accurate read)
Mosul is the crown jewel belonging to Turkey! Lot's of lame excuses, but belonged to Turkey. Note: Pasha Envers was the idiot general that secretly got the Ottoman's with four others to fight for the central axis which Ataturk was totally against. It was done in total secret from the Ottoman people or political elite.
Aleppo was the Ottoman Empire's third largest city behind Constantinople and Cairo. Note the geography.
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosul
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo
Churchill's mother was jewish. Ya`Think...
found it.
muckity.com
Think Ninevah.
Before WW1, Cairo was to all intents and purposes part of the British Empire. The Turks had lost control of Egypt many decades if not centuries earlier.
The Kings of Egypt were descendents of Muhammad Ali Pasha - an Albanian. He went to war against the Ottomans(Turks) and occupied Greece and Cyprus until the Ottomonas capitulated.
when alexanded d great died, several of his greek generals raced across his empire, wit their forces, grabbing parts for them selves. i forget most of them but Egypt was one, and yea had been greek for a fair while since.
The big Egyptian cities like Alexandria and Cairo were full of Western residents, Italian, Greeks, French, etc. that was true until the early 1950s and new order under Nasser, when all of the foreigners were expelled.
Egypt under British protectorate -- 1878-1956 (Nasser's Suez stolen from the Rothschild's, British and French 'Bank of England'?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Egypt_under_the_British
and what the League of Nations at the Paris treaty did to the Ottoman's was beyond the pale (far worse than Weimar Germany?). 'Classical Ambiguity', cultivating the end game[?] of an ever expanding deflating[?] globe?
Ref: http://www.mideastweb.org/mandate.htm (Article #22 and the biggy Article #25)
and this regarding Cyprus: http://kypros.org/Cyprus/history.html
another British colonial protectorate!!!
ThinK? Where are all the 19th and 20th centruies superpowers today in 'Fuck-the-EU', today? They were all the world's police with colonial armies that brought them into bankruptcy!
Hitler's mom was Jewish too...hmmmm
Is that not the same "holy shrine" that Erdogan was caught on tape saying that Turkey should blow up to give themselves a pretext to invade Syria?
don't you mean
Nuland was caught on tape telling Erdogan etc. etc?
China has increased its reserves. China manufactures much of the US material to make weapons. What countries in the World can still make weapons without the cooperation of China ? Russia !
This Venezuelan coup ought to be fun.
Boston Globe: Obama’s too tough on Muslims!
http://tinyurl.com/q3waoe9
"Canada is desperarely trying to unload its reserves, guess we're not going to war."
I take it you mean the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve.
Cheap oil makes war prep MOAR affoardable.
It is telling that the Japs did not bomb the oil fields in Hawaii. No fuel no modern warfare.
Yep their pearl harbor attack ``failed`` because of this, if they had, it wouldn't have been the same game
While not exactly having to do with oil depots, on the US side, many or most of the ships that were in PH at the time had already been designated to be scuttled or overhauled while the newer stuff was out to sea.
Perhaps that doesn't mean so much, as, I believe, the prime objective of the attack was to sink ships in the shallow harbor and essentially take the harbor out of commission for a period of time (which, discarding semantic debate, could be argued was the same STYLE of objective as taking out fuel depots would have been).
They forgot to bomb the sub bases too.
"Another minor oversight."
Plus they never convoyed up for resupply.
Then Charles Lindnurgh showed up....
It's also telling that Japanese encryption was deciphered allowing the US to prepare for Midway, but the code was cracked before Pearl Harbor.
The German uboat strategy?
The allied bombing of Europe?
The first US aircraft carrier that gets sunk will prompt a non-conventional response from DC. Any war between global superpowers will go nuclear within the first couple of days.
If an aircraft carrier gets sunk there will be crying and finger pointing, but no nukes. Nukes make a real fucking mess and it is hard to make any money when everyone's skin is falling off.
With the weaklings in power? You're probably right...
Thing is, anyone plotting to sink an aircraft carrier will just not sink ONE aircraft carrier... they will do another massive pearl harbor style attack on strategic US assets... probably with tactical nukes.
EMP's (strategic)
Hence the perpetual metallic cloud cover overhead. Dual in purpose I think.
Because nukes have NEVER been used in the past.
when you are the only country with nukes the only civil thing to do is to use them against your opponent to save lives. but when both counties at war have thousands of nukes each the only civil thing to do is not use them to save lives.
Long skin cream ?
Did you wet yourself ?
You know, I can't exactly put my finger on the boundary that must be crossed before the ICBMs start flying, but in a war between Russia and the US, either economic collapse hits one nation so hard that it cannot keep on fighting, or they fly. Say goodbye to electricity if that happens, troll fucker.
In August/September 2013 the US was about to start attacking Syria.
However it is rumored, that the Russians told the Americans that one of their carriers would be taken out
I remember that moment between Putin and Obama very well.
At that time I said "Putin threatened Obama with "TIT FOR TAT," without getting too specific.
Have no fear, moar refinery worker strikes are here.
This time a strike is set for the Motiva refinery, the largest one in the world.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/02/21/steelworkers-strike-expands-to-port-a...
Leftists love war .... on so many levels .... government always grows .... they talk peace and weakness .... hoping to provoke the war they lust for .... in their evil loins !
And "rightists" just start the fucking wars that they lust for in their evil loins. And government always "shrinks." Just small enough to fit into your bedroom. Go fuck yourself.
It's a false paradigm because both the "lefties" and "righties" are statists, and it is the statists that start wars.
That is not 100% true Mot...and you know it! There are RINO's that fit that bill, and many are left leaning, moderates...a true conservative is for limited, small central govt, just like libertarians.
el vaquero, I dunno, if you look back through our history, the BIG wars were started under leftists, just saying...
WWI Wilson
WWII FDR
Vietnam JFK
Will we add Obama to the list? We shall see...
I think the blue vs red pill thing is what is keeping us fighting each other, while the oligarchs pillage!
The terms Left and Right have lost all meaning in the political sense.
I don't think this article takes into account 'current' warfare. Any war these days that lets you worry about where your oils at isn't a major war. A major war would have nukes flying everywhere. Your fucking oil, and what's made from it, isn't gona matter when the entire fucking planet is vaporized. There's no use fighting a major war with stupid crap like ground troops becuase the loser will always resort to the big toys and since that's known it's the big toys that will be used first. No worries though, Neocons have all but guaranteed victory.
Nobodies actions lead me to think that is going to happen.
Weird. I know an Andy that's a VW freak lol. You don't do the sand dunes and have curly hair do you?
No sand dunes for me. That ship got sunk in 08. I was getting ready to move to Nipomo 10 min from Pismo beach. That was my nonretierment plan. But the hair does get curly if it grows out.
That vw andy thing is wierd. I met three others and the similarities are striking.
the cosmos is not without a sense of ironic humor
NSA, lets play a game called Monte Carlo simulations. If you lose, you have to give up the SIM card hack and will receive a global class action law suit. If you win, we will reformat and hand you a piece of candy. You broke the law hacking to gain key codes without a warrant under the Consitutional law. Imagine what is going to happen next, offshore people you fucked over. I will sit back and watch. Once the water stops the colding tanks, so goes the servers. Even the backup generater only lasts for a period. The employee's you hired are exploiting everything. You hired them, bet you haven't checked. This is why we need to defund you. Get it together or be defunded.
Have to love all the High school, undergraduate, and internship positions. September 1, 2016, new enrollment begins.
https://www.nsa.gov/careers/opportunities_4_u/students/index.shtml
Japan warred against US because America denied heap oil to Japan. France warred gainst Germany (WW I) to regain prime coal supplies in Alsace and Lorraine.
When the last salt cavern gets filled to the top with crude, and there are no moar to be filled and demand becomes the same number as consumption, well... wasn't somebody talking about $15 a barrel oil?
Won't that cause earthquakes?
Earthquakes wiil be moar fun than what's waiting for us around the corner:
In today's modern world, there's a great chance that subs (all of em, including SLBMs carriers) are not invisible anymore to the great powers...
Interesting article :
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsub/articles/20150218.aspx
Well, except for that Russian sub that spent three weeks sailing around the Gulf of Mexico completely undetected by all US monitoring methods.
I read that page and i don't think it's very likely. It looks like a webpage for students. A lot of vague verbiage and speculation.
I recall an article like this about 15 years ago where the front of the sub was redesigned for this reason. if the sub drifts slowly with the currents there is no trace wake trace.
Fiscal Year 2016 Budget. Using find, type National Security in search. 21 finds.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2016/assets/budget.pdf
The one man made climate change argument I will allow myself is global thermonuclear war.
How ever glassing an area has minimal effect on deep oil in situ.
In fact it may aid recovery by fracturing deep rock bound layers.
It's been tried. Didn't work out too well.
http://www.coloradoindependent.com/32409/rio-blanco-and-garfield-counties-a-tale-of-two-nuclear-gas-blasts
Naw, Germany didnit invade Poland. It was a bunch of Pro-German rebel seperatists.
I thought the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
Back then.. MSM considered kamikaze pilots as suicide tactics intead of a terrorist treat. The power of words used during a Central Banking crisis.
/LOL
That is a very interesting question regarding the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor, lots of US college students would answer Yes if asked that question!
The Germans did invade western Poland and the USSR invaded eastern Poland at the same time. The "West" declared war on Germany because of their invasion but the USSR bacme loyal Allies. The Approved Narrative of WW II and its lead-up represents the greatest ever historical fraud.
the US entered the war late to give the germans and japanese time to wear down england and russia. US bankers saw an opportunity to let the two military and economic powerhouses of england and germany wipe each out so the US could step to the front as the only superpower. england's empire crumbled during WW2. The US lend/lease program gave england and russia just enough to keep them in the fight as they were getting worn down by germany, but germany wore itself out first. Once the germans realized they could never invade england (due to US technical and intelligence support) germany made the fateful decision to attack russia. Once it was clear the german army was destroyd in russia and germany had not chance of winning the US invaded europe. If you think russia and the US were loyal allies you should read further. Stalin knew he was being played for a sucker but he had no choice to take what US aide he could. As soon as germany surrendered the US and russia were facing war between themselves, as Patton wanted to continue the war and immediately attack russia. With the US having its new nuclear capability it would have won, but the US population would not support it.
it is not the same. it is far, far worse. what is never mentioned in discussions about the depression is during the entire time of the depression deflation caused by lack of demand was irritated by huge leaps in production in all sorts of goods formerly only produced locally. in many ways the depression was the marker for the usa economy to become a national market in an industrialized, urban economy. on its own, a new equilibrium would have been established to reflect the new economy with or without war.
today, there is nothing except the iphone 20 to look forward to. the supply chain is built out internationally. industrial production has rendered labor useless as automation and robots(computers) have created huge overcapacity of labor around the world. what is going to give as it must? humans and productivity are the possible variables. a coupla billion people should do it.
Ahem, somebody has been conducting WW3 analysis based on WW2 history books, old trade interactions and technology, and not getting up to speed on reality 76 years later ;-)
Stockpiling of petroleum and heavy oils is so 1939, next they will be asking the Americans to join poor Little Britain in the fight against the advancing Neo-Nazi Russians, by employing their 'immense' manufacturing capabilities and 'huge' natural resources. Pictures of production lines of P-51s will grace the cinema screens, with women, dutifully screwing the fuses onto row upon row of artillery shells. Footage of merchant navy vessels being packed with grain and raw materials in New York, for the 'war effort' and to 'save Europe', after all, "our President has the Nobel Prize for Peace", whereas Putitler erm, doesn't!
“No, we should be OK, nothing has changed since then; we are the exceptional, indispensible ones; ‘we the people’ always prevail - look at our squadrons of F-35s; Putitler is of course expressing his 'latent aggression' as a Paranoid Schizophrenic - playing with his wooden MIGs; his slave cyborgs are subhuman, and can be crushed with our Javelins and A-10s!”
"Shu shu shush now, Uncle Sam, try to keep calm; would you like me to sit with you while Nurse brings your morning medicine, a hot cuppa and your slippers?"
Strategic stockpiles may only be of use if they survive the next war. It will be short and will use only the stocks in place. These will not be replaced as refineries and storage are prime targets.
If the US is short sighted enough to think that they will be untouched like after the other wars they deserve what's coming. The Russians are not stupid. They have faced a potential first strike from the US for a long time and they have not been idle. They have a fully automated second strike system in place, no leaders left to tell it what to do? It fires and obliterates the US, mainly from submarines just off the coast, both Russian and US.
MAD is still in place, lets hope the neo-cons realise it.
Why compare anything with WW2??
Russia is big, but war with nato? Their only chance is spelled nuclear, still even using those they would fail. And even if they for some reason wouldnt they would still lose living in a nuclear winterland.. So whats the point?
But they do have a trumpf card, people like me would never ever ever risk our lives to fight for ..eh.. "our country". As white males we're being discriminated by both for gender as for race in our own countries, what is there to fight for? So if they manage to knock out all technology there wont be anything to fight with.
Since our politicians have some kind of magic neverending muslim immigrationpump, it seems maybe the russians would be our only sollution.
"..Russia is big, but war with nato? Their only chance is spelled nuclear, still even using those they would fail.."
Exchange "Russia" and "NATO" in the above sentence, and everything will fall in place.
Well said! What the hell would my kinds be fighting for should war break out? A continuation of the present where bankers gorge while our countries are over-run by the Third World and they (white boys) are discriminated against at every turn?
The big question to ask oneself is the following : what % of US GDP is linked to the MIC/NSA type activities both overtly and covertly; aka by analogy to banking sector : in official as in shadow MIC tech plays.
You would be surprised : it probably is around 30%. 'Cos that MIC sector FEEDS the growth in the shadow MIC companies : those who provide services to the MIC like the oil industry.
With a "non productive" cancerous sector that creates military products disseminating "death and destruction" in third world via asymmetric wars, it is the third pillar of the oligarchy along with finance and oil/energy and its impact on the global market is huge-- all fed on Planned obsolescene meme that feeds itself thru hi-tech R&D.
Three sectors are key to the US oligarchy that runs the world : Oil/energy, finance and MIC/intelligence tech networks.
And what is the most sickening aspect of this construct, that breeds death and destruction as we see today in a geographical belt running from Pak/afgh to Nigeria/Congo-- whose current nexus is Syrac (Libya tomorrow?)-- is that THIS IS WHERE the ECONOMIC growth is today!
Our Oligarchy economy lives off the death of the innocent to feed its bank accounts more and more; its a runaway train that needs RM and commodities to fuel its momentum.
Yes, Stefan Zweig's World of Yesterday is an awesome account about the premises of WW1 and the period leading to WW2. It has the flavour of the times towards which our Oligarchy construct leads us.
If the US military budget, which represents 40-50% of the "official" global military budget of the world, is decreased by 10%, it is equivalent to the current military spend of China and Russia together!
Thats how big the US is in terms of "official" military plays. And thats why Jeb, Hillary and Potus CANNOT let it diminish.
Only a global power shift and a financial tsunami rift could provoke that.
Lets hope that Oppenheimer's toy's legacy of mutual annihilation keeps these jack asses from avoiding frontal Bay of Pigs Cuba type confrontation.
That seems to be our only chance to avoid Armageddon once again. The fear of a Dr Strangelove syndrome.
"A third possibility, and one I’ve been reluctant to discuss, mainly because it feeds the fear hysteria which is being promoted on many other alternative sites, is the preparation for war."
I don't believe that war is being "promoted on many other alternative sites" (at least not on ZH), it's more the case that MSM are unwilling to mention it because they operate alongside their .govs and/or fear of being kicked out of bed with their .govs. Alt sites have no such relationships to fear.
The other unknown is whether the war - that I believe is coming - will be a localised proxy war between major powers (eg fought in the Ukraine or Middle East) or whether it will spread to their home territories and become a wider World War III.
To my mind the provocation of Russia is so consistent and blatant that it must lead to some kind of war. I just don't get why the Germans are going along with it.
ever heard of ost politik and the huge mineral reserves of mother russia?
Mutti, as Schroeder before her, think long term; beyond Pax Americana's current implication in Europe.
Germany and Imperial Russia have had a long relationship. Catherine the great was a German...golden age in russia.
German knowhow and russian steppes are an ideal combination, until Vlad wants to mount Catherine!
But that is not rational, thats hubris.
Hahaha, DSK's doppelganger is an eternal threat to progress, when Agamemnon wants Helen back !
When germany gets what it wants from russia then germany will stop going along with the west. the US has plenty of military bases in germany and these bases are there as a means of control. germany has to consider the consequences of thinking of itself first. the west will simply restart attacks on european countries as was done under operation gladio
I don't understand the bear-baiting either. It's like that strutting peacock selfie-taking POTUS we've elected thinks he's in Chicago or something and wants to play the thug. The problem is the same as when you owe the bank a billion bucks and can't pay---it becomes their problem, not yours. So Russia hasn't got nearly much to lose as the U.S. does----Russia can pick a city, let's choose Tampa/St. Pete, and blow it up. Then they can say the next ones are nyc, Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Chicago etc. if we don't play nicely. What're we going to do about it? Nothing. Would we trade NYC for Moscow? I don't think so.
"I just don't get why the Germans are going along with it."
Indeed. I raised that myself a coupla days ago. Mutti is not acting in Germany's best interests.
The next war will be different than the last 2. In fact, it has already started.
simple explanation:
Crude prices are in contango right now. When that happens, you fill up storage and sell forward. This includes tankers as floating storage if the spread gets wide enough.
WWIII is on, just early yet. Probably will go nuclear but not until one side is losing. Right now Putin is winning (kinda like Hitler at first).
I wonder how they will kill a carrier, only way I can see it is tactical nuke unless the Ruskies really can jam our electronics like in the black sea. Couple of carriers killed might stop USSA, we certainly don't have the backing of the people enough to lose many ground troops.
'I wonder how they will kill [sink] a carrier"
I guess you have never heard about the Sunburn missile;it will sink all the carriers if they come close to Chinese seas.
Do aircraft carriers come within the 100 mile range? I don't think they do except in the Persian gulf. That'll be a no go area for sure.
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;....
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
So lets see, "To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years". Now, if memory recollects, the last time CONGRESS declared war was December 8, 1941....for those that are arithmatically challenged, that was 74 years ago. Me thinks congress is still appropriating money for the Army and the Marines, no?
Where are the inditements? Do any Americans even know that their Army, Marine core and Air Force are COMPLETELY illeagal according the the constitution?
Just which parts of the constitution do Americans enforce and which parts don't they?
Is there a list of which laws are ignored and which ones aren't?
I'm scared shitless everytime I go to the states because I have READ the constitution several times and realize more than most (I suppose) that most of it is just ignored.
Tenth amendment anyone? The fourth? the second?......
What a mess. Its comin down, when I can't say, but its comin down.
Squid.
" To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years" Yes and they re-appropriate every two years. A Declaration of War is not a requirement for this appropriation of money.
Declaring War was unconstitutionlly delegated to the Executive along with most everything else that counts.
" To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;"
This militia was (unconstitutionally )redefined with the National Guard Act in the early 1900's in order to participate in Wilson's War along with the last remnants of the Republic as it was designed.
Somehow I can't vision all the little selfies that today call themselves Americans going to militia meets to practice their military skills... LOL...
The Tenth was killed (literally) with the unCivil War. Any State sovereignty remaining was removed with the ratification of the 17th and, as I said above, the elimination/replacement of the state militias with the Federal National Guard.
The 2nd is next to dead as they now have most accustomed to getting a permit to carry which effectively nullifies the last half of the amendment. The first half most americans scoff at,,, but without the first half the second half is no longer applicable so sometime in the future they will fully eliminate that.
The 4th just died a cancerous death of very few giving a shit.
The Republic is now a Democratic Oligarchy,,,, where the Oligarchy choose which candidates will run and the electorate makes their choice at the polls. DieBold is there to protect against some horrible mishap.
The ussa is now fully fascist with the complete merger of corporate and government entities. We like to call it Private Public Partnerships.
Some day in the near future they will drop the hammer... and you better not be caught "in country" at that time.
There are today Militias in almost every state, doing exactly what you said you doubted.
Individual military skills - those of an infantrymen - are easy to maintain. It is the group collective skills that are difficult, becuase they require too many resources to train. And combat-multiplying weapons systems - Artillery, Armor, Air Support, combat engineering (mobility, countermobility) are all but impossible to train in a militia context for the same reason -Resources.
An M-1 tank uses 40 gallons of diesel just to start the engine and get to operating temperature.
Not exactly constitutional and probably not exactly what the founders were hoping for.
A well regulated militia lawfully regulated by the laws of a sovereign state is a bit different than a bunch of men and women playing GI Joey.
[[And combat-multiplying weapons systems - Artillery, Armor, Air Support, combat engineering (mobility, countermobility) are all but impossible to train in a militia context for the same reason"]]
Would not be a problem where a regulated state militia is concerned. This type of training would have been supplied by the Federal government as outlined in the constitution.
Most misunderstand the term regulated, and most now have no idea what a free state is while most believe you must be permitted by government to carry a weapon and most think the constitution gives them rights.
I don't pretend to know what's coming next but I do know the republic as defined by free thinking men died a long time ago.
I did not know how much fuel the M-1 Tank used though. :)
I think you didn't digest this part:
"To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;"
Neither of these require a declaration of war. The Marines are part of the Navy. The Army's budget has a two-year duration, and then must be renewed...which is why the Army always gets the bulk of the 'Draw-downs' when they come around.
They actually do follow these two powers as listed. It is the war declaration power that they have ceded to the executive...
The US does not directly gain anything from Ukraine.
INDIRECTLY, by handling Europe's desire for diversified energy sources - which requires pipelines transiting the Black Sea Basin - the US gets to stay at the head of the European class. For the US government this is about power, not resources. It is simply trying to retain power over Europe that it will lose if Europe handles its own security affairs.
And it is critical to understand that as Europeans are culturally diverse, and hence given to internal squabbling, this outsourcing of security affairs to the Americans is what has allowed Europe to avoid the military adventurism within and without Europe, that has plagued the continent for all of recorded history.
It is also worth noting that this is also the cause of much of the US's military adventurism over the 1990's. They were largely acting as proxies for European interests. Certainly that is the case in the former Yugoslavia. Because you can't create a "United States of Europe" while a conflict like that is going on in the back yard... not to mention the more direct energy security issues.
So, there are three possible outcomes to this: 1) The US succeeds in securing energy diversity for Europe and continues to be the premier political influence in Europe through the handling of Europe's security concerns. 2) The Americans fail, the EU takes over the security role from Americans, resulting in a massive loss of American influence, and implying future friction between the EU and the US - whether or not the EU succeeds in gaining energy diversity. 3) The Americans fail to gain energ diversity and lose influence while the EU also fails, and is subsequently rejected leading to the fracturing of the EU.
Only one of these outcomes will be good for those who want a Russian dominated Europe.
except
The US is now in the Destabilization and Terror business, so yes it is gaining something.http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150222/1018595847.html
Germany just cancelled its sale of armoured vehicles to Lithuania.
I should have titled your article "War and Pete."
The crude oil in a country's reserves still has to be transported to refineries unless the equipment it operates runs on raw crude.
The vast storage reserves and the refineries that make jet fuel are stationary can not be moved to safer locations. And I'm sure that everybody knows where they all are.
The first salvo from out attacker will not be aimed at population centers or the White House and the Capitol, but at all of our costal refineries (by submarine) and strategic reserves (by supersonic missile).
That will be a day blacker than the one when Obama was elected.
If the goal was a quick victory then yes. But does that look like what we are seeing?
No.
What I think we are seeing is that the US Military, is looking out 30, 40 years and sees that it's ability to be the dominate force in the world is threatened by the amount of oil under American control then.
So in an Orwellian sense, the Pentagon has gone to war with capitalism, the predominant consumer of oil. Thus we saw a most unlikely bubble expand at the beginning of this century causing "The Little Recovery That Couldn't." The printing of untold trillions of dollars which were pronounced kosher by every Central bank, all bankers, and Joe Six Pack.
What we are seeing today as the price of a barrels oil plummets and the Fed continues to print money for the banks to loan to American producers is the wholesale hijacking of the oil in other countries.
As in the story of the lad who sold his cow for a handful of beans. Beans freshly printed by The Federal Reserve System of the US.
Good answer. Thanks.
A war of attrition is what bankers love most.
I think that if a nuclear war occurs, it will come without any warning. It won't begin like WWI with shouting and yelling. It will simply be a first strike by one side or the other. And then, of course the attacked side's response.
All this talk about a nuclear war is just that. Talk.
As a child when I didn't get the hot fudge sundae I demanded, I used to threaten to hold my breath till I was dead.
But I really didn't mean it.