Washington post reported in February 2005
The Bush administration has been flying surveillance drones over Iran for nearly a year to seek evidence of nuclear weapons programs and detect weaknesses in air defenses, according to three U.S. officials with detailed knowledge of the secret effort.
And yes, it is about oil, but that is not the only reason.
Check Oil, Geopolitics, and the Coming War with Iran By Michael T. Klare
As the United States gears up for an attack on Iran, one thing is certain: the Bush administration will never mention oil as a reason for going to war.[…]
More important, any serious assessment of Iran’s strategic importance to the United States should focus on its role in the global energy equation.
More important, any serious assessment of Iran’s strategic importance to the United States should focus on its role in the global energy equation.
more…
When talking about oil’s importance in American strategic thinking about Iran, it is important to go beyond the obvious question of Iran’s potential role in satisfying our country’s future energy requirements. Because Iran occupies a strategic location on the north side of the Persian Gulf, it is in a position to threaten oil fields in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates, which together possess more than half of the world’s known oil reserves. Iran also sits athwart the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which, daily, 40% of the world’s oil exports pass. In addition, Iran is becoming a major supplier of oil and natural gas to China, India, and Japan, thereby giving Tehran additional clout in world affairs. It is these geopolitical dimensions of energy, as much as Iran’s potential to export significant quantities of oil to the United States, that undoubtedly govern the administration’s strategic calculations.
I don’t have much deep analysis of this article to offer, it is written with great clarity. It occured to me that this ‘story’ is not much in the news and I am deeply worried that the Bush Administration is keeping the population busy with trivia all the while planning an ‘explosion’ in the Middle East. They are not going to give the public the long preamble they gave the invasion of Iraq and there will be no time for the opposition to this war to mobilize and be effective.
Booman,
I could not edit my poll, <Bush’s>
Clicked save, didn’t work.
Clicked update, didn’t work.
Thanks.
Unfortunately, even I cannot edit a poll. So always be careful to check before you post them.
Nice diary, BTW.
Thanks for the tip, will be more careful in future.
Here’s some cryptic analysis from a lazy FP geek-
The U.S. appears, for some reason, to have decided to protect its geopolitical Interests in Southwest and Central Asia by adopting a strategy that paralells that of Russia in the Great Game of the 19th Century.
The Caspian and Black Seas and Transoxania are key logistical choke points in the extraction of Central Asian resources and provide a military staging ground for attacks into SW Asia. (History can illustrate this- Hittites, Scyths, Huns, Turks, Mongols and Societs came into the Caucuses and Iran from the North and East, only Alexander and the British have done it from the South and West.)
We took Iraq out of order because the opportunity was there, but we’re trying to patch the break in our lines by going after Iran first rather than the softer targets of either Syria or the Gulf. Soon we will have a land route connecting our bases in Central Asia with the Indian Ocean- and Asia will be ours (at least in a Kiplingesque world). That’s why I think that the surprise “popular revolt” in Kyrgyzistan was probably supported by interests contrary to the U.S. China anyone? Will it be China or India to take up the old role of the British Empire?
Yes, if United States hegemony is always the goal, the plan makes sense. If the plan is calculated by sociopaths with no regard for human life, it makes sense.
I guess it was because I was working on my taxes, but the line, “calculated by sociopaths with no regard for human life,” just seemed too funny.
But Bushco is easy to figure, as you say, just ask yourself- What Would a Sociopath Do?
I guess it is redundant, “sociopaths” would be enough.
Will the Sociopath-in-Chief have to go to Congress for permission to kill Iranians or does he have carte blanche already?
until the Michael Jackson trial ends.
Check out this diary on Kos on the same subject.
(That’s if there is anyone here, helloooo)
http://tinyurl.com/6j3pa
Upcoming War with Iran?
by jillian
[Subscribe]
Mon Apr 11th, 2005 at 17:32:03 PDT
An interesting post up at Mother Jones by Michael T. Klare (professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College/author of Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America’s Growing Dependency on Imported Oil
(clipped/snipped version)