Palast -- Mission was Indeed Accomplished

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Palast -- Mission was Indeed Accomplished

Postby professorpan » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:19 pm

Palast makes some excellent points. One thing he doesn't touch on is the Bush cult's overarching goal of perpetual war (the "Long War" against Islam) and its determination to balkanize Iraq (in direct contrast to its talk of wanting to avoid civil war).<br><br>So, yes, the mission was accomplished. A fait accompli. <br><br>But as far as the oil economics goes, it's spot-on.<br><br>__<br><br>Bush Didn't Bungle Iraq, You Fools<br>THE MISSION WAS INDEED ACCCOMPLISHED<br>by Greg Palast<br>for The Guardian<br><br>20 March 2006 <br><br>Get off it. All the carping, belly-aching and complaining about George Bush's incompetence in Iraq, from both the Left and now the Right, is just dead wrong. <br><br>On the third anniversary of the tanks rolling over Iraq's border, most of the 59 million Homer Simpsons who voted for Bush are beginning to doubt if his mission was accomplished. <br><br>But don't kid yourself -- Bush and his co-conspirator, Dick Cheney, accomplished exactly what they set out to do. In case you've forgotten what their real mission was, let me remind you of White House spokesman Ari Fleisher's original announcement, three years ago, launching of what he called, <br><br> "Operation<br> Iraqi<br> Liberation." <br><br>O.I.L. How droll of them, how cute. Then, Karl Rove made the giggling boys in the White House change it to "OIF" -- Operation Iraqi Freedom. But the 101st Airborne wasn't sent to Basra to get its hands on Iraq's OIF. <br><br>"It's about oil," Robert Ebel told me. Who is Ebel? Formerly the CIA's top oil analyst, he was sent by the Pentagon, about a month before the invasion, to a secret confab in London with Saddam's former oil minister to finalize the plans for "liberating" Iraq's oil industry. In London, Bush's emissary Ebel also instructed Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, the man the Pentagon would choose as post-OIF oil minister for Iraq, on the correct method of disposing Iraq's crude. <br><br>And what did the USA want Iraq to do with Iraq's oil? The answer will surprise many of you: and it is uglier, more twisted, devilish and devious than anything imagined by the most conspiracy-addicted blogger. The answer can be found in a 323-page plan for Iraq's oil secretly drafted by the State Department. Our team got a hold of a copy; how, doesn't matter. The key thing is what's inside this thick Bush diktat: a directive to Iraqis to maintain a state oil company that will "enhance its relationship with OPEC." <br><br>Enhance its relationship with OPEC??? How strange: the government of the United States ordering Iraq to support the very OPEC oil cartel which is strangling our nation with outrageously high prices for crude. <br><br>Specifically, the system ordered up by the Bush cabal would keep a lid on Iraq's oil production -- limiting Iraq's oil pumping to the tight quota set by Saudi Arabia and the OPEC cartel. <br><br>There you have it. Yes, Bush went in for the oil -- not to get MORE of Iraq's oil, but to prevent Iraq producing TOO MUCH of it. <br><br>You must keep in mind who paid for George's ranch and Dick's bunker: Big Oil. And Big Oil -- and their buck-buddies, the Saudis -- don't make money from pumping more oil, but from pumping LESS of it. The lower the supply, the higher the price. <br><br>It's Economics 101. The oil industry is run by a cartel, OPEC, and what economists call an "oligopoly" -- a tiny handful of operators who make more money when there's less oil, not more of it. So, every time the "insurgents" blow up a pipeline in Basra, every time Mad Mahmoud in Tehran threatens to cut supply, the price of oil leaps. And Dick and George just LOVE it. <br><br>Dick and George didn't want more oil from Iraq, they wanted less. I know some of you, no matter what I write, insist that our President and his Veep are on the hunt for more crude so you can cheaply fill your family Hummer; that somehow, these two oil-patch babies are concerned that the price of gas in the USA is bumping up to $3 a gallon. <br><br>No so, gentle souls. Three bucks a gallon in the States (and a quid a litre in Britain) means colossal profits for Big Oil, and that makes Dick's ticker go pitty-pat with joy. The top oily-gopolists, the five largest oil companies, pulled in $113 billion in profit in 2005 -- compared to a piddly $34 billion in 2002 before Operation Iraqi Liberation. In other words, it's been a good war for Big Oil. <br><br>As per Plan Bush, Bahr Al-Ulum became Iraq's occupation oil minister; the conquered nation "enhanced its relationship with OPEC;" and the price of oil, from Clinton peace-time to Bush war-time, shot up 317%. <br><br>In other words, on the third anniversary of invasion, we can say the attack and occupation is, indeed, a Mission Accomplished. However, it wasn't America's mission, nor the Iraqis'. It was an Mission Accomplished for OPEC and Big Oil. <br><br>********** <br>On June 6, Penguin Dutton will release GREG PALAST'S NEW BOOK, "ARMED MADHOUSE: DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES OF THE CLASS WAR." Order it today -- and view his investigative reports for Harper's Magazine and BBC television's Newsnight -- at www.GregPalast.com. <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Palast -- Mission was Indeed Accomplished

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:40 pm

Thanks professorpan<br><br>just this morning I was thinking of Palast. I hadn't read anything from in awhile. Always excellent.<br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Yes, Bush went in for the oil -- not to get MORE of Iraq's oil, but to prevent Iraq producing TOO MUCH of it.</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Palast -- Mission was Indeed Accomplished

Postby Dreams End » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:40 pm

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>There you have it. Yes, Bush went in for the oil -- not to get MORE of Iraq's oil, but to prevent Iraq producing TOO MUCH of it.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>Yes, yes, yes...freaking YES! <br><br>It's about control of supply. And Peak Oil was the justification floated as a cover. Notice how the post katrina gas prices never went down to pre-katrina levels? They pumped it so high that 2.69 was a RELIEF. They want high prices....by whatever means necessary. Doesn't necessarily rule out that we are "peaking" ultimately...but that has nothing to do with O.I.L.<br><br>In fact...I shouldn't have brought up peak...as I don't want to sidetrack this important post. So let me say that this article proves nothing either way about Peak...but does show that controlling supply in order to boost profits is the motive for the current mess. <br><br>Thanks for the post...and oh to have a look at that document.<br><br> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Palast -- Mission was Indeed Accomplished

Postby Hugh Manatee Wins » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:59 pm

Disaster economics<br>Controlling supply<br>Preventing peace<br>Rule By Tension<br>"No one could have foreseen"<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The 'incompetence' cover story</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> is inserted into today's kids and thus their parents, too, with the release of the animated movie about that loveable little monkey made famous in the book series known as 'Curious George.' <br><br>Curious George means well but gets into trouble....like Iraq, Katrina, Global Warming, on and on and on. "Hard work..."<br><br>The levels of social engineering here attack on many levels of awareness and opinion. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Somebody gets paid really well for this mind virus coming out of the Hollywood equivalent of Fort Detrick..</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=hughmanateewins>Hugh Manatee Wins</A> at: 3/20/06 3:10 pm<br></i>
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Re: Palast -- Mission was Indeed Accomplished

Postby NewKid » Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:21 pm

What is the psywar significance of the man with the yellow hat? <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Palast -- Mission was Indeed Accomplished

Postby Hugh Manatee Wins » Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:55 pm

The man in the yellow hat...pretty generic.<br><br>Other than the usual 'friendly authority figure who helps' in all the patriarchal uniform characters.<br><br>'Friendly uniforms' are a gateway to military uniforms.<br>Sports, firefighters, park rangers, doctors and nurses, etc.<br><br>Just add ammo and enemies!<br><br>This is why TV is all cop and spy dramas. To infuse a 'respect for authority' into children, the usual socialization goal.<br><br>I just looked at a 'Chicken Little' coloring book at the local drug store kiddy toy section.<br><br>Lots of focus on making Dad proud. As if kids weren't fearful and neurotic about Dad already. Or is Dad really Michael Chertoff, General Abizaid, Rudolph Guiliani,...John Negroponte? brrrrr...<br><br>The games on the shelf were, of course, Monopoly and a game based on the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.<br><br>Another coloring book for the 'family of Superheroes,' The Incredibles, had a huge Gropenfuhrer-type muscle-bound Dad and small familiy members orbiting around him but also 'fighting bad guys.'<br><br>All recruiting is into a patriarchal heirarchy, not an egalitarian one.<br>This is primal family dynamics extrapolated into civic affairs.<br><br>"Do the Right Thing But Obey."<br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Palast -- Mission was Indeed Accomplished

Postby NewKid » Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:58 pm

Fourth Base, if you're reading this, what would the good doctor have to say about this discussion? <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rollin --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/roll.gif ALT=":rollin"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Palast -- Mission was Indeed Accomplished

Postby NewKid » Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:01 pm

I liked the toys of the friendly airport security screeners who were there with the passenger being searched and wanded. <p></p><i></i>
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Re: The good doctor

Postby Hugh Manatee Wins » Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:21 pm

Would that be the Harvard prof who takes the significance of the brain's panic alarm button/ propaganda receptor called <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>the amygdala</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> and uses it to suggest that all Arabs are naturally violent killers because they all have 'amygdala damage'?<br><br>'They are just like that. Not our fault.'<br>'Ya know, like the Balkans.'<br><br>Classic disinfo tactic: take something important to understanding and use it to instead further misunderstanding.<br><br>What's up, Doc? <p></p><i></i>
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Re: The good doctor

Postby NewKid » Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:23 pm

Yep, same doc. You should see Fourth Base's latest summary of the last few classes. <p></p><i></i>
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Hugh Manatee Wins

Postby sunny » Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:13 pm

Wow! Hugh, If you don't mind my asking, what is your professional background? I am learning a great deal about media, propaganda, memes, so forth and how it all connects- from you! <br><br>Just wanted to say thanks!<br><br><br>ps- I'm so glad I didn't let my children watch GI Joe and other crap like that. I am really proud that they are young people who can think for themselves. <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Well well well

Postby Qutb » Mon Mar 20, 2006 10:21 pm

"and oh to have a look at that document"<br><br>Oh yes. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Busted</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->. I trust Palast, but I sure would like to see it.<br><br>Nice to be proven right, isn't it? And it's been so <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>fucking obvious</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> all this time. <br><br>I remember Palast interviewed several "neo-cons", was it last year or 2004, who were opposed to the State Department's plans for Iraqi oil. Loyal to their University of Chicago free-market ideology, they had thought that they would be allowed to transform Iraq into a neo-liberal utopia where "supply and demand" would determine oil output. Oil company representatives defended the decision to keep Iraqi oil under state control and remain an OPEC member. <br><br>The neo-cons have now become the fall guys (even Francis Fukuyama, one of the architects of the "Clash of Civilizations" and original PNAC member, now blames the neo-cons for Iraq), while the big boys have taken over the show. As it was meant to be from the start. <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Hugh Manatee Wins

Postby Hugh Manatee Wins » Mon Mar 20, 2006 10:39 pm

Profession? Um...just an average American who loves his government enough to offer...constructive criticism. lol.<br><br>In the past I put way too much personal info online before realizing there was an info war goin' on. I learned there even was such a thing as info war by getting unwittingly getting sucked into it and then finding myself a target for voicing 'unconventional' opinions and facts.<br><br>So I'm less inclined to give any personality profilers an easy time of fitting me in one of their folders.<br><br>Let's just say I've experienced enough personal adversity to be motivated to read for hours a day to figure out why people do terrible things to each other. 9/11 gave me both the time from unemployment and the motivation to start looking around to see what the hell just happened. And it all leads back through history.<br>(Take a look at psychohistory.com for an interesting long view.)<br><br>It starts with abusing kids and leads to Hitler, Vietnam, and Abu Ghraib.<br><br>Glad you're enjoying the spiel, sunny. Spread all the wisdom you can far and wide. It is the right thing to do for our kids.<br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Breaking the code breaks the spell.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>"Who was that unmasked man?" lol. <p></p><i></i>
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Media

Postby professorpan » Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:30 pm

Hugh, while your commentary is interesting and provocative, I do not believe there is an overarching conspiracy orchestrating the production of children's animated films as vehicles of mind control. "Curious George" as memetic indoctrination? I don't think so.<br><br>If there is any agenda behind the producers of popular media, it's driven by money, not ideology. <br><br>And popular media mirrors culture -- it doesn't always drive it. Many of the embedded themes and memes arise from the zeitgeist, hence more militaristic films and terrorist plots post-9/11. <br><br>You're good at picking up on the underlying themes, but I think you miss the boat when it comes to reasons behind their emergence.<br><br> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Media

Postby Dreams End » Tue Mar 21, 2006 12:10 am

Fellas, fellas..<br><br>It's a floor wax AND a desert topping. There are numerous examples...going all the way back to ww2 of cooperation between hollywood and the military. Black Hawk down being one of them. <br><br>And the CIA has taken an interest in cultural work...as the "late" proldic pointed out in a thread about CIA funding of abstract art as an attempt to counter art with more literal and subversive content. (I think they just kill people now...but those were the old days.)<br><br>And no matter what anyone says...the Lone Gunmen months before 9/11 episode about an airliner being hijacked by remote control and flown into the world trade center (well, ALMOST...our heroes save the day, natch.) well, maybe it's more Levenda weirdness than direct chain of command...but it seemed like a big ole "fuck you" to me.<br><br>Advertisers test everything...they hook consumers up to all kinds of gadgets when running test commercials....things to test heart rate, to track eye movement...all kinds of stuff. And these results get published...so THEY (heh) know how to do this stuff...I'm just not so sure it's so easy to dig out the intentional propaganda from the attempts by large corporations to put out messages that support the status quo that serves them. <br><br> <p></p><i></i>
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