[deMolay]

This is a question I have been asking myself since last year. And I have been looking for supporting real evidence. If the Powers That Be, knew we were hitting the wall in respect to oil. The lifeblood of modern civilization. Did they somehow manipulate the global economy to slow the effects of Peak Oil? Maybe I am in Tinfoil country with the question. But just wanted to hear other opinions and especially evidence if it exists.

[Jotapay]

If I was TPTB, that's what I would have done.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', 'T')his is a question I have been asking myself since last year. And I have been looking for supporting real evidence. If the Powers That Be, knew we were hitting the wall in respect to oil. The lifeblood of modern civilization. Did they somehow manipulate the global economy to slow the effects of Peak Oil? Maybe I am in Tinfoil country with the question. But just wanted to hear other opinions and especially evidence if it exists.

[deMolay]

How could it be done? Was it all just a perfect storm. How would it be accomplished?

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', 'H')ow could it be done? Was it all just a perfect storm. How would it be accomplished?

[Ludi]

It's the Reptilian Overlords.

[RedStateGreen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', 'T')his is a question I have been asking myself since last year. And I have been looking for supporting real evidence. If the Powers That Be, knew we were hitting the wall in respect to oil. The lifeblood of modern civilization. Did they somehow manipulate the global economy to slow the effects of Peak Oil? Maybe I am in Tinfoil country with the question. But just wanted to hear other opinions and especially evidence if it exists.

[RedStateGreen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', 'H')ow could it be done? Was it all just a perfect storm. How would it be accomplished?

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', ' ')Did they somehow manipulate the global economy to slow the effects of Peak Oil?

[TheDude]

They're reptiles, you don't expect streamlined planning from them necessarily. I mean, most of their day is spent flicking their tongues out to catch flys.

Well-written articulation of the economic crash to avert peak oil theory: The Automatic Earth : Debt Rattle, October 9 2008

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')here’s something I first wrote about years ago, and have left alone most of the time since. It exposes me to conspiracy theory claims, and that just takes away from more serious issues. Today, I’ll revive it. I don’t really care much what anybody says, never have, I simply figured it’s more productive to talk about things that can actually help people. And I have, as many will confirm.

But today the New York Times comes with a comprehensive overview of Alan Greenspan’s tenure at the Fed. So here goes.

When Marion King Hubbert introduced his Peak Oil theory for the US and the world (he didn’t name it that) in 1956, the general assumption is that it was dismissed across the board, that none of the folks in charge paid much attention.

My assumption is that they did. I think they jumped on it like a bunch of pouncing tigers, because if Hubbert was right, power itself would be at stake. And power needs to look ahead, power needs to be pro-active, it can’t afford to just react to events. Power also doesn’t rhyme with visibility, so we’re not talking about the presidents et al you see, they are mere hand puppets.

If Hubbert was right 50 years ago, the wizards behind the curtain reasoned, American society would be a whole new and different game. If oil supplies were sure to go down year after year at a certain point, the whole society would change, and not just a little bit.

So, in 1987, Alaln Greenspan was brought in, with the clear and defined task to liquidate and gut the American society and economy. See, that’s where people think I’ve lost it. And I understand. All I have to defend myself with is that, so far, I have been right about economic developments as long as I’ve written about them. All of them.

I am not an economics proffessor, like Roubini, but I have consistently said the same things he has. And so has Stoneleigh. Neither of us think it’s all that hard. If you throw a boulder down a mountain slope, you kind of know that it won’t end up where it started.

If you look at things from that point of view, everything falls into place. The low interest rates, the TV appearances by Greenspan and W. cheerleading subprime mortgage loans, and the encouragement of the $1 quadrillion derivatives market. Greenspan knew, and he knew all along.

At any point, any day, in the past 20 years, he could have intervened. Not only did he not do so, he kept on pushing for more of the same. This is the guy who had more access to more data than anyone else on the planet. Honest mistake? Give me a break. No, he saw it all develop as it did, and he made it unfold.

The US is a society that cannot but fail if external energy sources dwindle. And that is why we see financial markets fail today, with 100’s of millions of people left in their wake with "debts no honest man could pay".

There are no unfortunate coincidences anywhere to be seen.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'I')t's the Reptilian Overlords.

[ZombieMalthus]

Answer: No

[Carlhole]

The use of mortgage-backed securities along with a loose monetary policy certainly seems to have been a way to lasso the financial systems of every other country. They cannot break from from their commitment to the dollar system.

It was only by the US being able to borrow so massively from the Chinese and others, that Bush was able to push US forces into Iraq & Afghanistan. The cost of these ventures has helped to break the bank.

It's a fait accompli.

Colin Campbell, excerpt from his book, 'Oil Crisis'

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '.')..It also probably did not take long to figure out the control of foreign oil required control of the Middle East and possibly the Caspian if that should develop his hopes at the time suggested. However a glance at the atlas showed the latter to be a difficult landlocked place, meaning that getting the oil out would call for special attention. A Balkan export route had already been secured through the Kosovo war, but it was evident that a closer presence was desirable. Further study of the atlas identified Afghanistan is a key strategic importance, especially as it had already played a role in undermining the Soviet regime, as discussed in Chapter 4.

The next challenge was to determine how to secure domestic political support for new foreign war, as it was recognized the general public would have little stomach for it was galvanized into action by some extreme event. It was soon evident that a strong pretext move was needed, indeed a very strong one to reach everyone's TV screen. A further advantage was identified in the people perceiving themselves to be threatened would be disposed to rally to their government with a sense of loyalty, which in turn would allow to strengthen its grip on the country and improve its chances of reelection, as indeed has proved to be the case.

The Double Simulation

So, we may conclude that it was decided to put in hand a bold plan of action. It took courage to do so, they were evidently up to the occasion, deciding to implement it on September 11, 2001. The details of the operation remain obscure, but the many curious features of the event can hardly be denied or easily explained. They include:
$this->bbcode_list('1')

The normal defenses being shut down for that day for a simulated hijacking.

The rapid identification as hijackers of a group of Egyptians and Saudis, who had been given minimal flying training at a school in Florida, being supervised by intelligence minders in their apartment building.

Four airliners were reported as being hijacked, having exceptionally low passenger lists.

Two of the airliners were filmed striking prominent buildings in New York, which exploded in what struck some analysts as a controlled demolitions, the steel from the sites being later exported to China as scrap, preventing forensic analysis. The death toll was held to a minimum by timing the incident to occur before most people arrived at work, some being alerted to the last minute by the Odigo messaging service not to go to their offices that day. Some senior executives also found themselves attending a charity event at an airbase.

The Pentagon was depicted as another target. One explosion occurred leaving a small hole in ground level without trace of a crashed airliner.

The passport of one of the alleged hijackers was found in the New York rubble, despite the strength of the explosion.

An Israeli film crew was in position on the roof of an adjoining building to film the event.

The maneuvers undertaken by the air craft would test the skills of an experienced pilot, being fired beyond those having no more than brief training in light aircraft, suggesting that the aircraft may have been flown by remote control.

Within seconds of the event, a sinister figure in an Afghan cave had been identified as the ringleader of a global organization, now named Al Qaeda, threatening the United States. He looks the part in his beard and outlandish robes, making excellent TV imagery. He was easily controlled having been previously on the CIA payroll. Various videos and messages from him declaring a holy Muslim war were broadcast. Knowing full well where he was, may have made it easy to plan an unsuccessful search.

Finally, the vice president took that dates be out of sight, evidently having taken command from some control bunker, while the president found himself reading to children at a school in Florida, even sing no surprise when an aide burst in to inform him of the incident.

The operation was pulled off immaculately despite a few difficulties that were experienced when the intelligence services both at home and abroad got wind of what was afoot, leading to many subsequent claims that the government had failed to take proper note of the reported threats.For good measure, a brief anthrax scare followed to bring home to every individual fear that they were personally threatened. A universal sense of fear was a critical part of the strategy.

Before long, the B-52s had been armed and sent into action. Images of the new sinister enemy in the form of Afghan tribesmen with their roads, beards and headdresses, astride donkeys with a musket across their backs, were soon broadcast around the world. Within a few weeks, it was all over. The Taliban government fell to be replaced by a puppet regime, led by Hamid Karzai. He was a Western-oriented men, who had previously been a consultant to Union Oil of California. The action now was depicted as having a moral objective. Afghan women appeared before the cameras to explain how they have been oppressed by the previous regime, which had denied them education or the opportunity to find careers as dentists, teachers or shop assistants.

The setback to the grand strategy came when the Kashagan and prospects off Kazakhstan, once billed as rivaling Saudi Arabia, was finally drilled with disappointing results. It soon became apparent that the Caspian would not in fact lessen dependence on Middle East oil to any significant degree. It was a setback for the small one, for Stage Two of the grand plan involving an attack on the Middle East itself had been the primary mission all along. A direct initial attack in the Middle East, with its obvious oil links, would have been widely opposed both at home and abroad, and so it was expedient to lead into it through a skirmish in remote and irrelevant Afghanistan. That campaign served its purpose by putting the country on a war footing, to which the people were not condition. Even so, some further pretexts were needed. Iraq was accordingly accused of having threatening weapons despite evidence to the contrary from the UN inspectors. It was not even necessary to pretend that the country was in any way linked to the events of September 11 as Saddam was already established a villain in the popular mind after the first Gulf War, itself being the result of an earlier strategy related to oil price as discussed in Chapter 4.

The Grand Plan, if that is what it was, might have made eminent good sense in an abstract way from the distance of Washington where academic strategists spent their days moving chess pieces around the global scene. The man in command, who appeared to have the vision or knowledge of history and geopolitics that barely reached West Texas, may have readily accepted, having been further encouraged by the notion that he was in some way divinely inspired. He may also have been influenced by other lobbies from the Arms industry wanting new business, from the financiers and investment people wanting to deflect attention from the basic weakness in the stock market and the dollar, and of course by sundry Israeli lobbyists. With a shrug of the shoulder, he may have said "if that's what it takes, folks, let's do it, but try to keep the casualties down".

[PrairieMule]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', 'H')ow could it be done? Was it all just a perfect storm. How would it be accomplished?

[r101958]

To give something of an answer to the original question; yes it is possible and there are plenty of reasons for doing so. If everyone knew that say, Ghawar (sp?) was in terminal decline then the problems we now face would seem fairly inconsequential in comparison.

Just for speculation sake.....let's say the Prez gets a call from the Saudi Prince...secure line of course...and the Saudi Prince informs the Prez that the largest oilfield in SA can no longer sustain current productivity and that production will now be declining to the tune of say 5% per year. He informs the Prez that he is divulging this information because he doesn't want the United States to think he is stiffing them on oil and he is worried about his power base in his country if this news were to become common knowledge.

The Prince tells the Prez that demand must be reduced and quickly or the world will know for find the truth in short order and that would lead to all sorts of geopolitical problems.

So, what do they come up with to cause demand to fall drastically? Furthermore, how do they do it so as to buy some much needed time and not to let everyone know that largest oil field in the world is now in decline? It may be a little tin foilish...but not entirely outside of the realm of possibility.

[mos6507]

It's already been established that speculation was a big part of the runup to $147 oil. The day of reckoning for peak oil was probably still a few years off when you remove the speculation premium.

The credit crisis was born due to a need to prevent the dot com crash from naturally bottoming out the economy. EVERYBODY wanted a safe haven to park their money after the dot com boom came crashing down. Interests rates were lowered. Regulations were loosened that opened the doors for the lenders and the CDOs. Joe public was more than happy to rush into real estate to participate in the ponzi scheme.

So we have two problems that were percolating in parallel and only loosely associated. It just so happened that the housing bubble burst first, but it was bound to burst pretty much when it did. And it started to burst some time in 2007, long before oil hit its peak at $147. It just took a while for the shockwaves to ripple up from foreclosures to the banks to the entire global credit market.

[shortonsense]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kpeavey', '
')Collapse is progressing exactly according to the script. Overpopulation is the root of it all. PO is the root of resource consumption. Economics will be the trigger for collapse, and that trigger has just been squeezed.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('la2al2tex', '
')I guess I mistated that a bit. Certainly the dot com bubble, but the economic boom of the late 1990s had a heck of a lot to do with absurdly cheap oil fueling an idea of limitless growth, and hence allowing investors to throw money at these companies.