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Page added on June 3, 2014
The oil mistake
Oil may be the most sought-after resource in the world, but it’s no secret that it can also be a curse. Political scientists have long observed that the oil industry concentrates power in the hands of the few. Governments that rely on oil sales, rather than taxes, are less democratic and quicker to quash dissent. According to Michael Ross, author of the “The Oil Curse,” petroleum-producing countries are 50 percent more likely to be ruled by dictators — and twice as likely to descend into civil war.
That’s because oil gives people something extra to squabble over, as we have seen recently in South Sudan, Libya, and Syria. In a new twist on an old problem, rebels in all three countries have laid claim to their nation’s oil. Instead of blowing up pipelines and destroying oil infrastructure, these rebels are trying to keep the oil flowing, so they can pocket the profits for themselves.
In Libya, separatist militia leader Ibrahim Jathran captured four of the country’s largest oil ports in a bid to establish an autonomous region called “Cyrenaica.” Since January, rebels have used shadowy connections to try to sell the oil, in defiance of the central government in Tripoli. They filled up a 37,000 ton North Korean-flagged commercial tanker, which departed for Cyprus. They would have gotten away with it had the United States not sent a Navy SEAL team in to arrest the ship.
It’s a good thing that the United States came to Libya’s rescue. But we are partly to blame for the fix that Libya is in. In 2011, before the ousting of longtime dictator Moammar Khadafy, the US Treasury Department gave the green light for rebels to take over oil installations and sell the oil as a way to weaken Khadafy’s grip on power.
The same thing is happening in Syria. In an attempt to dislodge President Bashar Assad, the Office of Foreign Asset Control eased the embargo on Syrian oil, as long as oil sales benefited the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces or its supporters rather than the Syrian government.
The move was aimed at encouraging rebels to take over oil installations and deprive Assad of much-needed revenue and fuel for his tanks.
Sure enough, Kurdish fighters, who have long sought greater autonomy, took control of key oil fields in their region “in order to protect and distribute these natural resources fairly.” The Free Syrian army also captured oil fields further south.
But once you open the door to the idea of rebels with guns claiming a country’s oil, a free-for-all over oil ensues. Instead of strengthening the rebel groups, the oil is dividing them as they fight each other over the spoils.
“It’s a big issue,” said Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer and senior associate with the Soufan Group, an intelligence and security company. “Those militias would probably get along a lot better if they weren’t trying to split a finite resource.”
To make matters worse, extremist groups are getting in on the act. The Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and the al-Nusra Front have also claimed some oil installations. Black market oil is a great way for terrorist groups to raise money undetected. Evidence suggests they are making money by selling the oil back to the Assad regime.
“Al-Nusra is fighting in the north, because that’s where the oil is,” Skinner told me. “If they really wanted to destroy the country, they’d blow up the oil fields. But they are not, because they want to sell the oil.”
Rebels in South Sudan have also laid claim to their country’s oil, just three years after the country won its independence from the north. Rebel leader Riek Machar spent two decades fighting against the north, because it took oil from the south and gave little in return. But now Machar is fighting his own former allies in the south. “This is our oil,” he told The New York Times in April. Luckily, the United States isn’t encouraging Machar. We have no dog in this fight. Last week, US officials drafted a resolution that would allow United Nations peacekeepers to protect South Sudan’s oil installations.
Protecting the oil from guys with guns is a far better policy than encouraging guys with guns to take the oil. By doing so in Syria and Libya, US officials may have unwittingly prolonged those terrible conflicts.
47 Comments on "The oil mistake"
J-Gav on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 6:47 am
Unfortunately, they not only “prolonged those terrible conflicts,” they helped spread them to other parts of the region (southern Algeria, northern Mali, Niger …).
noobtube on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 9:20 am
The United States stealing African oil again.
That story never gets old.
As I’ve said before, if there is hell on Earth for Africans, Americans have certainly created it for them.
I guess that makes Americans the devil, as far as Africans are concerned.
It’s funny that the whole worldwide system of demonic, sexually degenerate, depraved control, is based on Middle East Oil and South African resources. Without those two areas, Europe and the United States disappear.
When they are finally destroyed (with the end of cheap oil), there should be celebrations all over the Southern Hemisphere and Middle East to celebrate the end of the terror and tyranny spread by these American devils.
GregT on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 9:23 am
“”Ten years from now, twenty years from now, you will see: oil will bring us ruin … Oil is the Devil’s excrement.”
—Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo–
prominent Venezuelan diplomat, politician and lawyer primarily responsible for the inception and creation of OPEC.
GregT on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 9:29 am
Geez noob,
I wonder what Africans would brutally slaughter each other for, if not for oil?
Northwest Resident on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 9:35 am
Human tribes have been fighting and killing each other to gain control over vital resources since before written history. Nothing has changed. The fighting and killing continues, but the battlefield has gone global and the methods of killing have become much more efficient.
noob — Besides yourself being a sexual degenerate and a depraved piece of human garbage, you are flat our wrong with almost everything you post. In your deluded and confused mind, Africa was a peaceful heaven on earth before Europeans (and much later Americans) came. The truth is so completely different. I admit, it is annoying to see constant reminders of just how fucked up a human being can become with every insane rant you post.
bobinget on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 9:55 am
Africans (early man) have been waring with each other since beginnings of time. Emigration out of Africa, over 300,000 years ago into Europe continues to this day. So called Western Civilization improved weaponry, brought us fine arts, agriculture and i-Phones but has yet to suppress primal instincts of our common African ancestors.
Example: from Wikipedia,
<<>>
After a million dead, Nigeria’s population recovered in record time. Despite an AIDS pandemic, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa.
noobtube on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 10:28 am
Americans hijacked a Libyan oil tanker.
But, oh no, Americans are not vicious, lawless, criminals. Americans are better than everyone else so the law doesn’t apply to them (typical psychopathic attitude).
Hmmm… I wonder who invented AIDS?
Where did the first test case of AIDS occur? Uh, wasn’t that in the United States, in St. Louis, Missouri (isn’t that Monsanto world headquarters, what a coincidence).
So, how did it get to Africa? Wasn’t it these sexual degenerates from the United States, working under the guise of aid (interesting choice of words) and helping Africans, and the Peace Corps, spreading “forced vaccinations” into Africa as a means of biological warfare? And, where is AIDS most prevalent? All the areas where the deranged American filth went is where you have the highest rates of AIDS.
And, as you admit, the African population is still going strong, despite the American demons.
Americans are masters of the brutal slaughter, the mass murder, and the genocidal madness. Africans had tribal warfare confined to competing armed parties. They weren’t murdering women and children and the defenseless, like the Americans are so fond of doing.
In fact, once the Europeans and Americans touched the African peoples with their degenerate religions, sexual perversion, murderous hatred, and rampant greed, African societies still have not recovered. You have these depraved foreign scumbags in Nigeria stealing their oil, in the Congo stealing their cobalt, in South Africa stealing their gold, platinum, and diamonds, in Libya and the Sudan, stealing oil once again.
Americans are vicious, hate-filled, monsters on this planet. They are the demons moving to and fro spreading death and destruction everywhere they go.
Americans are the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and I fear, in their derangement, may destroy the world in one final nuclear holocaust, rather than collapse in shame.
GregT on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 10:58 am
“Americans are vicious, hate-filled, monsters on this planet.”
Plenty of Americans posting here noob, and the only person posting vicious, hate filled, monstrous accusations, is you.
As pointed out to you before, there are just as many good and bad people in every single nation on this planet. Your blatant discrimination, prejudice, and unwarranted hatred, do little more than expose your ignorance and stupidity. You are doing absolutely nothing to help the situation noob, you are a very big part of the problem.
Spreading hatred is an act of pure evil.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 11:01 am
noobster said – Where did the first test case of AIDS occur? Uh, wasn’t that in the United States, in St. Louis, Missouri (isn’t that Monsanto world headquarters, what a coincidence).
Well Noob you were close try San Francisco. They both start with an S I understand your mistake.
Northwest Resident on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 11:31 am
noob is clearly insane. Trying to reason with him/her/it is a waste of time. noob isn’t here to discuss or to engage in reason/logic, just to vent venomous hate and lunatic rants.
Plantagenet on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 11:58 am
Norweigians continued to act like Norweigians after they got oil. Scots continued to act like Scots. Mexicans didn’t change—Texans didn’t change—Canadians didn’t change.
Similarly, people in African or middle eastern countries don’t change when they get oil.
noobtube on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 12:05 pm
The United States and Americans are insane.
They cannot understand the real world, in their insane asylum, which is why they carefully craft these delusions to believe and spread through their ridiculous religions, myth-making Hollywood, corrupt government, sports distractions, idiot box (TV), clueless schools, and ever-present advertising.
America – The Land Where The Idiot is King.
Americans are proud of adapting to this insane system of resource depletion, consumerism, car culture, VIOLENT hatred of others, celebrity-obsessed, youth-fixated, gun-love, this childish obsession with owning everything (mine mine mine, me me me), and fear that “they” are going to take your stuff.
Americans are basically selfish assholes.
Northwest Resident on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 12:33 pm
noobtube — You just described yourself. You are projecting all of your own insane traits onto imaginary Americans. Get back on your meds, or just take a leap from a tall building — yes, you CAN fly noobtube — give it a try!
noobtube on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 1:08 pm
Americans can’t handle words without wanting to hurt someone, if it doesn’t agree with their insane, genocidal beliefs.
Americans are the most violent group of scumbags known in this planet’s history.
Americans are nothing but violent, brutal, terroristic, tyrannical, psychopathic maniacs bent on world domination (or is that more accurately, world destruction)?
The Earth just can’t take them anymore.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 1:14 pm
Geeze Noob, Chill out your annoying.
Guthrum on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 2:42 pm
People, people, people! Stop feeding this troll. He’ll go away – back under his bridge to eat billygoats. Then we can go on with discussions more worthy of thinking humans….
GregT on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 2:46 pm
Hmmm,
Americans blah blah blah blah blah.
America blah blah blah blah blah.
Americans blah blah blah blah blah.
America blah blah blah blah blah.
Anyone else see a pattern here?
Classic personality disorder. Many are untreatable. Unfortunately noob, there isn’t much that any of us here can likely do to help you.
Find a professional in your area. If you manage to get past your own sense of self importance, and accept responsibility for your own life, there might be hope for you.
If not, you will be left to wallow in your own misery, anger, and hatred. That seems to me to be very counterproductive, and a complete waste of your life.
noobtube on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 2:57 pm
Unfortunately, Americans have never helped anyone who wasn’t American/European.
Truism… beware any American who says…
“I’m American, and I’m here to help.”
You are inviting the devil in your midst and your lands will be made into a living hell.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 3:02 pm
Noob, the first step is recognizing you have a problem. Then you can begin the long journey to mental health.
noobtube on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 3:24 pm
In that world, mental health means becoming an American idiot… the enemy of all things good and natural in this world.
Northwest Resident on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 3:50 pm
Noob Tube is internet slang used in first person shooter games to refer to the attachment of an under slung grenade launcher to assault rifles. By pressing the designated button, a player can switch from the assault rifle’s standard fire mode to the grenade launcher’s explosive ordinance. Because it is relatively easy to kill another player with the grenade launcher (as opposed to standard fire mode which requires accuracy) and the attachment’s tube-like shape, “Noob Tube” has become associated with newbie players who opt for grenade launch mode.
The moral of the story: Our local American-hating madman has chosen an appropriate moniker. He is here to kill, to inflict damage, to launch “grenades” of hatred, vile, bitterness and lunatic idiocy.
Any attempt to engage the noobtube will result in yet another “hate grenade” being launched at you.
noobtube: Proof that there are some really severely disturbed people in this world.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 4:22 pm
Ha, thanks N/R, for keeping me updated on the web slang. I didn’t know sock puppet either. Noob is a coward. True men engage in dialogue as equals. He hides behind his web shield and hurls insults like poop bombs.
J-Gav on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 5:06 pm
This will be my last comment on Noob (unless he decides to strike up some sort of real dialog with me or other posters here).
I don’t intend to use it to hurl more epithets at him – that job has already been done pretty thoroughly by others here.
He doesn’t seem like your run-of-the-mill troll somehow. He’s actually capable of beginning an analysis which could be interesting if he followed up on it. But he doesn’t – it always ends up turning into a hate-mail message. Sounds like an ‘angry young man’ who could use some psychological assistance.
Having suffered PTSD myself, I’m well aware that is sometimes necessary and helpful. If any balance or nuance is lacking in his posts, I imagine there may be something traumatic behind it and can sympathize to a certain extent if that is the case. If he continues in his present vein of non-enquiry however, I suggest that he would best be ignored.
Harquebus on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 5:55 pm
I am Australian and have to admit not having any respect for the U.S. either. They care about nothing but themselves.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 6:19 pm
Harquster, back at you. I have not seen anything about Australia that lights my fire with respect and admiration. Australia is just as bad as the Americans you despise. There really are few if any countries I admire or respect in the world today. Maybe Tibet (should be a country) or Costa Rica but on the whole I find the rest of the countries of the world on a par with any nasty criminal organizations. I can only find admiration and respect on the level of so many smaller organizations that represent the higher values found in the human spirit. I get so tiered of folks here American bashing and not looking at themselves. You all are no better. In many cases worse in your own idiosyncratic ways. So Mate piss on you.
GregT on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 6:38 pm
I’ve yet to meet an arrogant Aussie female, but I have met some extremely obnoxious Aussie males. Probably explains why so many Australian women marry Canadian men.
Harquebus on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 7:07 pm
Lack of respect is not the same as despising. I don’t hate or love the U.S.
If you want international respect, earn it.
Goodonya GregT. You really know how to make friends in the usual U.S. style. ATTACK!
GregT on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 7:25 pm
Harq,
I’m Canadian, and three of my best friends married Aussie gals. All three of the girls say the same thing. I also happen to have some very good friends down under.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 7:36 pm
Harquster, not my problem, talk to the DC mafia.
peterjames on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 7:55 pm
Harq, I am Australian too, and believe Australians have an absolute desire to destroy the earth, far more than most countries on the earth. Majority of power generation by coal burning, willingness to destroy great barrier reef to allow resource transport to other countries. Gee, we even currently have an application before UNESCO to take away heritage listing for Tasmanian forests. And crude oil use, on par per capita, with the US. We are also heavily reliant on exporting over 500 million tonnes of iron ore & 350 million tonnes of coal to Asia each year. You need to look in the mirror and see if you can find any respect for Australians.
Harquebus on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 7:58 pm
Fair nuff. I will also admit that, Australia can not fry the planet on its own. We must export millions of tons of coal to China to accomplish this monumental task.
HARM on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 8:04 pm
I’m an American, and though I’m frequently ashamed of the way my government and its plutocratically appointed representatives act, I certainly don’t hate my country or the many decent people around me that are as powerless and disenfranchised as I am. The key to maintaining your sanity I think is to recognize that concentrated power in all forms corrupts –always. Also good to try one’s best to resist stereotyping by nationality, race, sex or creed, however difficult it may be.
peterjames on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 8:09 pm
No country on its own can fry the planet, thats exactly why we are frying the planet.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 8:24 pm
The problem in the US is the entrenched 1%ers. They use all tools available to control the US and by extension through the politicians the world. I am deeply ashamed of what has become of the US at this level. This control mechanism is mainly located between the beltway of DC and its tentacles extend out from there. If our founding fathers could see us now! You can read quotes from Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Lincoln and then look around and see what they were talking about. We are there and it is now. Tyranny is now in control. Harm, I am with you on the mainstreeters here in America. For all the bad press Americans get for being overweight, obnoxious, dumb, violent, and arrogant there are many great people in this country. Many simple good hearted people. Many people struggling to make it and they will still make an effort to help others. This country is gone at the top but it is not yet gone at the bottom. The top is destroying the bottom insidiously through the MSM, food chain, consumerism, debt cycle and warped entertainment. Yet, the bottom will hold. I think the best thing that can happen to this country at this point is a full blown crisis. When this crisis hits we will see attitudes changes. Unfortunately this crisis will be ugly, painful, and a new paradigm of endless decent. There will be no revolution to something better but anything is better than now. We are spiritually dead. A crisis will ignite our better spiritual elements. We will again feel alive because currently we are walking dead.
GregT on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 8:31 pm
“The key to maintaining your sanity I think is to recognize that concentrated power in all forms corrupts –always. Also good to try one’s best to resist stereotyping by nationality, race, sex or creed, however difficult it may be.”
I’m with Harm on this one.
Makati1 on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 8:34 pm
Amazing how some stoop to name calling now because they cannot come up with an intelligent rebuttal and are frustrated.
We all have a different view of the world based on our own experiences and knowledge. That mine might not agree with yours is not my fault nor does it prove that I am wrong. t only proves that I see it from a different angle. No two people who witness an auto accident will have the same story, even though they were both there at the time.
That ‘patriotism’ now gets in the way of clear thinking is obvious. After all, they don’t call TV shows and commercials “programming” for nothing. Most Westerners are programmed from a very young age and don’t even realize it. Thousands of hours before they even get into grade school. That is one advantage of the 3rd world. Fewer TVs and less “programming”. But, then, some on here have a twisted view of the third world, again provided by their personal programmer TV, not current experience.
Northwest Resident on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 9:09 pm
Davy — There is no question but that the world elites have hijacked American government — military and all – to serve their purposes. Those purposes, of course, are absolute domination and self-enrichment — consolidation of untold power. America started out with a magnificent dream of what a nation could be, but instead, like all countries with anything worth having, they were all eventually pulled into the dark realm. The majority of Americans have been victimized just like so many others in the world. We’ve been given “things” but forced to work our asses off like slaves, always on the brink of financial disaster. We have seen our children sent off to fight and die in wars that benefit only the elites, and we’ve been lied to repeatedly. We’ve been fed pure shit through the many fast food restaurants, lured into video game and TV addiction. It is amazing how thoroughly manipulated the American and all populations of the world are.
GregT on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 9:34 pm
Indoctrination starts in kindergarten, school curriculums are controlled by government bodies. Schools are not allowed to teach opposing views. I found this out very quickly after living with a Russian girl for many years. Russian exceptionalism is on par with American exceptionalism. She believed that capitalism was bad, just as Americans are taught that communism is bad. The truth is somewhere in between.
Harquebus on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 10:44 pm
There is only one race, the human race.
In Australia, this comment only invites jokes about the Melbourne Cup. Only when it hurts will people realize our situation which, is a pity because, it may already be too late.
Good luck to you all. We are on the same side after all.
Norm on Wed, 4th Jun 2014 2:15 am
NOOB TUBE FOR PRESIDENT !!!
VOTE NOOB TUBE !!!!
And his running mate, Vice President Kunstler !!! If elected, they will clean up America by pushing out all the fat stupid lazy entitlement mentality pig slobs, and send them all to Mexico !!
MKohnen on Wed, 4th Jun 2014 2:20 am
Canadians, Americans, Australians, Chinese, Russians, ….
I hate to admit it, but I’ve become like my old hippie, whale lovin’, tree huggin’ sister. I’ve developed a rather intense dislike for all human kind, regardless of ethnicity or religion. I think I completely agree with Smith’s assessment of the human race in The Matrix (if you don’t know it, watch the movie (the first one).)
I wish we could stop being the worst species on the planet, and maybe if we effectively run out of oil, there’s hope of that.
GregT on Wed, 4th Jun 2014 3:20 am
“I wish we could stop being the worst species on the planet, and maybe if we effectively run out of oil, there’s hope of that.”
As long as our species remains self-centred and motivated by greed, there isn’t much ‘hope of that’. I’d like to have a more favourable view of mankind, but sadly I cannot. That doesn’t mean that there are not millions of well intentioned individuals among us, but rather that it only takes a few bad apples to spoil the whole lot.
Short of some miracle, or perhaps divine intervention, our species is destined for extinction. We are simply not capable of managing ourselves, let alone capable of being good stewards to the very thing that gives us life. The planet Earth.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Wed, 4th Jun 2014 5:20 am
MK/Greg, I am with you the sooner the better on ending BAU..(but give me 2 -3 years to finish my long term life boat(short term finished)). I am fully convinced a serious crisis is needed now. The sooner the better if we want hopes of a softer landing at reboot (if there is a reboot). My thoughts are just like on the operating table when an induced coma is needed to protect the patient. In our case it is an immediate crisis whether financial or oil that will protect us from the worst later. Energy/financial are are most likely. They are symbiotic so they will both go crisis at the same time. It will be through a crisis that we begin the long road to adaptation and mitigation of postindustrial man. It will be a crisis that will curb population growth problems of the third world and growth/development issues of the rich developed world. We must have a crisis to start reform. This system is self-organizing so it cannot be managed from the top. There is no other medicine but contraction and or collapse. It is essential this crisis event happens sooner than latter before the tipping points of our predicaments become overwhelming. If the crisis happens soon we will have to make arrangements on food, fuel, forced lifestyle changes, resilience/sustainability efforts and forced de-growth. We know climate change will do this in a few years with the all-important food variable. If the crisis happens too late the combination of an energy/financial crisis and abrupt climate induced food issues may be too great to mitigate for example but there are many other combinations. If we are going to soften the landing the pain must start soon. There may be those of you who prefer the hard landing to really clear out the bad blood but you may not have children or close family vulnerable to crisis. Let us give up on industrial man and his destructive BAU cancer and begin promoting contraction through our words and deeds. The ugliness, pain, and die off must happen let it happen sooner than later. In the following quote substitute collapse for war:
War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.
William Tecumseh Sherman
rockman on Wed, 4th Jun 2014 3:25 pm
“…and maybe if we effectively run out of oil, there’s hope of that.” You mean like before we developed oil/NG when mankind had no problem coming up with reasons to slaughter the innocent. And now with many billions on the planet and so many folks dependent upon ff supported ag to keep from starving to death and you envision a better world as ff reserves deplete? That’s a tremendous amount of faith in a dramatic shift in human nature. Unfortunately I don’t share that expectation.
Northwest Resident on Wed, 4th Jun 2014 4:05 pm
MKohnen — I know exactly the scene you’re talking about from “The Matrix”. And no truer words were ever spoken.
Humans need to evolve to become more like the bees and the ants — socially organized, each with his/her own role, and all members of the colony working together in harmony to promote the well-being of the colony as a whole. Right now, we’re every man/woman for him/herself, striving to out-do each other, with sociopaths running amok amongst us, with greed and lust for power permeating every human endeavor. Maybe a major catastrophe leading to only a small population of survivors making it through the bottleneck will lead to a more evolved species of human. One can only hope…
Perk Earl on Wed, 4th Jun 2014 4:18 pm
“People, people, people! Stop feeding this troll.”
I agree and that’s why I never respond to those type of posts. Find a quiet place inside yourself and walk by to greener pastures.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Wed, 4th Jun 2014 6:23 pm
NR, the harmony you mention is found in the traditional human unit…the tribe