The leadership might bicker and fume at North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un, but it’s a smokescreen. By warring with North Korea, there is no takeaway as grand a prize as winning a mother lode of black gold—Oil. The real prize is Iran. The oil surplus in the Middle East remains the highest in regional crude oil, and that increased further in 2016. And it might be noteworthy that the world oil demand grew by 1.7%, which was less than 2015 when oil prices fell dramatically and the increased demand was only 2.2%. The United States, though, continues to be the world’s largest consumer of oil. And this is no small fact. Based on current data, there is an indication that China is on the ascent in oil consumption, but for the time being, this nation is years away from achieving the U.S consumption rate.
The current leadership wants to win, and winning can be measured by controlling the world’s oil supply. The nation with the fourth largest oil reserve is Iran, which is eclipsed by Venezuela, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. Following Iran, the nations with the next largest oil reserves are Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, and Libya. The United States ranks tenth in oil reserves, but just barely, and competes with Nigeria from year-to-year for the number ten slot. The current leadership has reared its large head and seems to be pointing its tentacles in the direction of Iran.
It is no coincidence that our major military actions in the last twenty years have taken place in the Middle East. There is grave certainty that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan caused great instability and massive suffering for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as for the people of Syria, Lebanon and Iran. Yet it is important to note that in the World Oil Review 2016, oil reserves increased slightly mainly due to the contribution of additional reserves from Iraq. The notion of waging a war to win oil should be further examined in light of the current leadership—those who are in power, both the seen, the highly visible loutish, lying POTUS and his flunkies, to the unseen—those masterful power brokers who grin cannily from behind their well-funded lobbyists, political candidates, think tanks, foundations, charitable organizations and sophisticated academic programs. I’m talking about the creature with a very large head and too many tentacles to count—Kochtopus.
For billionaires who disdain the spotlight and claim to want to remain behind the scenes, the Koch brothers have been doing a very good job of getting media notoriety. Not a day passes, when the news media doesn’t mention the Koch brothers’ handiwork. Last week, The Boston Globe reported that the founder and director of Wellesley College’s controversial Freedom Project was asked to step down after an outcry from its college alumnae. The Freedom project is a program backed by the Charles Koch Foundation. Wellesley alumnae expressed alarm that Charles Koch was exerting influence on its campus. And in the latest shake-up at the Department of Veterans Affairs, a strong case was made asserting that David Shulkin, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, was ousted because he didn’t see eye-to-eye with the POTUS’ desire for a change in Veterans Health Care Benefits. The real issue boils down to the influence being exerted by the Concerned Veterans for America who are lobbying for the privatization of health care benefits for Veterans. The Concerned Veterans for America has a name so great that you might think it really advocates for Veterans. But it is worth mentioning that the Concerned Veterans for America, a self-styled advocacy group, is being funded by the Koch brothers, and like all things emanating from Kochtopus, names are deceiving, and intentionally created to mislead the American people. The real name of Concerned Veterans for America should be Make Veterans Pay for Their Own Damn Healthcare.
Boys & Oil
by Patricia Vaccarino