OPEC And EU Meetings Mull Over Collapsing US Power

November 18, 2007

Elaine Meinel Supkis

OPEC ends meeting with Iran and Venezuela hogging the world stage and embarrassing Saudi Arabia badly. The US and Europe, despite the UN finding Iran is not violating any treaties, want to attack Iran for supposedly violating treaties. And so the guys in glass houses continue to throw rocks. Meanwhile, the British Foreign Minister makes an astonishing speech about letting Russia into the EU! How funny is that? Time to talk about Europe's penchant for imperial powers.

Although the IAEA found Iran truthful about its nuclear history, pressure from the U.S. for more sanctions continues.

But according to an article on the BBC, the unity of the UN Security Council is wearing thin and the international front against Iran could split, with veto-wielding UN members Russia and China becoming increasingly unwilling to take significant steps against the Islamic Republic.

According to the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog, Iran had made important steps towards explaining its past activities, including an admission that it went onto the black market to acquire uranium enrichment technology.

As usual, the news that Iran let international inspectors in and they found nothing wrong, has been twisted into a pretzel where the US could claim we have the right to attack them like we just attacked Syria, without declaring war or any just cause. The new form of disarmament which the US and Europe had abused when they unilaterally disarmed Iraq and then attacked, knowing full well, Iraq was helpless.

The West has been hyper-arming itself while demanding disarmament for small nations which either Europe or the US have menaced in the past. The UN, after disarming Iraq, did not punish the US for shoving inspectors aside and rushing in, killing a million people and destroying the country. 3 million refugees, too. Ever since not one WMD was found after this disgraceful invasion, the clock has been ticking. What we are seeing now is pure, raw power. This is being applied with violence and cruelty that is astonishing considering that the US preens itself as being the leader of the 'Free World.'

Indeed, one of the biggest fictions in history is how the Western European empires like to pretend they are freeing people even as they have practiced some of the cruelest forms of slavery. Throughout European history starting with Ancient Greece, the taint of slavery and the need to raid and loot, haunts us. This weekend's news is filled with all sorts of strange stuff that harks back to old battled and positively Medieval desires.

The biggest flash point for global rather than local conflicts is in the Middle East. This has been a flash point in history for a long, long, very long time. The many religious as well as political fissures that criss cross the region intersect with valuable resources as well as vital passages for trade. For the last 6,000 years, empires and kings bent their bows and threw spears in order to control this region. Even when the Romans conquered the entire Mediterranean basin areas, they couldn't penetrate much past Palestine and to the bitter end, were unable to defeat the Persians. Vast swaths of both Persia and the disintegrating Roman empire fell swiftly to the whirlwind Islamic fighters. This split the European continent from Africa and Central Asia.

The reverberations of this still ring today. The ancient battles between Sunni and Shia are as fresh today as a newly opened tomb in Egypt, the flowers and mummies perfectly preserved. Right on top of the Americans and Europeans trying to disarm Iran so they can invade with impunity is OPEC. They just had their 3rd meeting in 35 years. Obviously, things there are coming to a head. The power of OPEC is very small. It is a consortium or rather a very loose confederation that sets oil allocations so they can control the oil markets only everyone cheats their own system. The Saudis, the worst offenders. For political reasons, they increased or decreased production over the years. Often, it was to beat down the value of oil so the US could do thing in return like suppress Muslim discontent or fight the Shi'ites. The Saudis vacillate between utter greed and fear of all the people that surround them including their own subjects.

The recent story of the Shia girl who was gang-raped by the Saudi Sunnis is typical of that nightmarish state. She was sentenced to prison and a beating. When she appealed for justice in the media, they doubled her punishment and sentenced her lawyer to 500 lashes, a near-death sentence. Despite this, the propaganda in the West continues to be 'Saudi Arabia is moderate.' The Saudis have panicked in the past and pumped more and more oil, flooding the markets, to pay their bills they run up. They spend money like there is no tomorrow just like their mercenary army of protectors, the USA and England.

Over the years, the Saudis have entangled themselves within the US/UK empire's economic systems. For example, they are the chief owners of Citigroup. This thing is going rapidly bankrupt. The investment can vanish and they are very much afraid of sending the US and Britain into an economic tailspin. But they can no longer influence oil prices by simply turning on the taps! This is because they are rapidly approaching the Hubbert Oil Peak. On top of this, things are falling apart there. The huge oil fire on one of their lines barely makes the news. Nor do other insurrections that aim to cut the flow of oil.

So, this third meeting was in Saudi Arabia. But instead of dominating it, the king was on the defensive. Iran has an ally, Venezuela. And both want oil prices to be as high as possible! And both are basically at war with the US. This is mostly an economic war. The US is using its powers as the world's biggest nuclear power and empire to crush both but both have a very potent weapon: the more the US threatens them and cuts trade, the higher the price of oil. And the more the US/UK economies are hammered by this. On top of this, there is a currency war raging and it is everywhere. As the global banking system goes into meltdown, the internal affairs of OPEC diverge.

Saudi Arabia had to pretend they were not pushing for war with Iran while secretly doing exactly that. Iran retaliated with bringing up the entire issue of the dollar as a reserve currency. Speaking to the outer levels of the Arab world, the Iranians forced the Saudis to declare allegiance to the Crusaders invading Islamic lands. We think that, since the despotic and cruel dictators ruling much of the oil pumping nations rebuffed Iran, they won.

This ignores the bigger audience. Namely, the people in the streets. The US and England expect the cruel rulers of these terrible places to ignore their people and suppress them. But as the dollar dies, this becomes harder and harder to do. The OPEC ministers know that the US desires to bankrupt Iran and Venezuela and this means they, in turn, can try to do this to the US. The US is very, very unpopular in the Arab world and so everyone is walking a very sharp tightrope and the game is to see who will fall off first. The US is increasingly agitated about this because our war talk is making oil cost more and more and the dollar dropping more and more. We cannot do this for another 2 years or oil will be at $200 a gallon and the US economy, in the toilet.

OPEC SUMMIT OPEC leaders stress link between peace, oil prices

Leaders of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries stressed the importance of world peace for the stability of oil prices, according to a final summit statement obtained by AFP on Sunday.

'We insist on the importance of world peace to guarantee investments in the energy sector and the stability of the market,' said an Arabic copy of the statement translated by AFP.

This is Saudi Arabia's surrender. Contrary to what the Washington Post says, there is a direct connection between wars and oil prices. So this is a slap at the US. Of course, the neo-cons in the US intent on attacking Iran will say, they are disarming Iran so there will be peace. Of course, the history of disarmament used to be all about diplomacy and treaties. Not threats and then invasions. The US and Saudi Arabia conspired to invade Iraq after disarming Saddam. No sane nation will allow them to do this again. So Iran now has the upper hand and will use this joint statement to talk about the huge flotillas of foreign ships and armies working on behalf of the corrupt and cruel Saudis threatening all Shi'ites as well as everyone outside of the ruling elites.

OPEC members consider converting cash reserves into non-dollar currency

“They get our oil and give us a worthless piece of paper,” Ahmadinejad told reporters after the close of the summit in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. He blamed U.S. President George W. Bush’s policies for the decline of the dollar and its negative effect on other countries.

“All participating leaders showed an interest in changing their hard currency reserves to a credible hard currency,” Ahmadinejad said. “Some said producing countries should designate a single hard currency aside from the U.S. dollar ... to form the basis of our oil trade.”

The Saudis barely beat off the Iranian/Venezuelan proposals to drop the dollar as the basis for pricing oil but they won over enough support to set up a study committee that will consider alternatives. The US hopes to pressure everyone into continuing this farce and keep the dollar a the global imperial currency even as we debase it ruthlessly. But with the possibility of the Federal Reserve dropping interest rates looming in the near future, this is increasingly impossible.

Over all this looms some very real powers who are now playing hardball with the US. First, there is Russia. Putin, unlike Bush, is immensely popular with the masses due to his management of Russian resources, especially energy products. Russia isn't part of OPEC but then, OPEC can't last long if the go counter to Russia's wishes. And Russia doesn't mind rising oil prices and a dying dollar. We declared economic war on Russia when Putin came into power. So here we are: the troika of Russia, Iran and Venezuela have replaced the Axis of Evil of Iran, Iraq and North Korea. An imaginary axis has been replaced by a very real joint organization which has one end in mind: the crushing of US imperial power. And not by arms.

Iran has right to peaceful nuclear energy use: China

China believes Iran has the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy but supports nuclear non-proliferation efforts, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said here Wednesday.

Beijing also hoped for a "positive outcome" from dialogue between Iran, Europe and the International Atomic Energy Agency on talks over the Iranian nuclear issue, Yang said.

The foreign minister arrived in Kabul from Tehran where he held talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Iran's controversial nuclear drive.

Yet another shot across the prow of the USS Even Keel. The complex international game is full of hazards for the US which are utterly ignored. The US cannot demand China do things while at the same time doing things our own way. The entire point of diplomacy is to balance power with persuasion. The US and Europe have used up vast seas of influence, fruitlessly demanding China do things for us all.

Both Russia and China have been playing this balancing game with the US and Europe. And this game has been mostly going in their own direction. Namely, time itself is on their side, not ours. We are in a hurry to force events along and this is dangerous since it is reckless. And can trigger a global confrontation we will lose. As it is, we are already losing the economic battles.

Lavrov confirms Russia's Dec. 12 moratorium on CFE Treaty

November 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign minister confirmed on Thursday that the country will impose a moratorium on application of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty on December 12.

"We will not exercise our right to withdraw from the CFE treaty," Sergei Lavrov said after a meeting with his Finnish counterpart. "But we will temporarily suspend our participation in this treaty, effective December 12," he said.

The State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, voted on November 7 in favor of President Vladimir Putin's bill to impose a unilateral moratorium on the CFE Treaty.

The modified version of the arms control treaty, which Western countries consider a cornerstone of European security, was signed on November 19, 1999 by all NATO countries except Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia.

The US, under Bush, has unilaterally cancelled important arms control treaties. We are now talking about militarizing space. We want to increase our nuclear attack arsenal. We are pouring huge sums into military systems designed to attack Russia and China. Our rulers openly agitate for WWIII and should be arrested. But the vast US media supports this. So Russia is now signaling to us, this is a fatal course. Even as the growing European 4th Reich is sneaking in offensive weapon systems aimed at Russia, both they and the US are running propaganda campaigns designed to justify all this.

And this is a losing battle! We can't afford this and certainly Europe can't. Their last two major wars nearly destroyed all of Europe and if they provoke the Russians, nothing will be left, not even ruins. This has to stop and they should be talking about their own actions at the UN. But they are not any more than the US accepts blame for war crimes.

EU 'should expand beyond Europe'

Foreign Secretary David Miliband has suggested the European Union should work towards including Russia, Middle Eastern and North African countries.

*snip*In his first major speech on the UK's relationship with Europe, he said the EU would not become a "superpower" but should be a "role model" for the world.

It could be a "model power of regional co-operation" dedicated to free trade, the environment and tackling extremism.
*snip*
Mr Miliband said that speech had been "haunted by demons - a European superstate bringing in socialism by the back door".

But he said: "The truth is that the EU has enlarged, remodelled and opened up. It is not and is not going to become a superstate. But neither is it destined to become a superpower."

And History sits on her throne and throws back her head wreathed with snakes and laughs. HAHAHA. So the rapidly growing EU system is not going to be a superpower? I'm sure Russia is no longer worried about this. Watching them being hammered by Asians playing a fierce currency war shows the limitations of the EU as a power. The EU is an appendage of the American military alliance. Like the Warsaw Pact nations when part of the Soviet empire, they trail after the US and say 'Yes, Master' at appropriate times.

Now we see the British officer suggesting the EU double or rather, quadruple in size by joining Russia? HAHAHA. This will really go down well with Washington, DC! Russia would dearly love to be part of the EU but with voting powers equal to Russia's military and energy production capacity. Namely, Russia will replace Germany and France as the controlling power within the EU? Of course.

THE INSTANT RUSSIA JOINS, THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL BE A SUPERPOWER.

But for Russia, not themselves. If they try to use Russia as a tool, this will fail. This is because power grows out of the barrel of the gun. On top of this, the need to expand to Turkey and beyond is part of the inner logic of all systems that need to grow in order to thrive. As the euro's problems mount, the lure of fixing this by expansion grows. Just like the US, going bankrupt from stupid wars, expands wars in a futile rage to fix this by bringing a violent peace and surrender.

This would be a "version of the European Free Trade Association that could gradually bring the countries of the Mahgreb, the Middle East and Eastern Europe in line with the single market, not as an alternative to membership, but potentially as a step towards it".

And the EU should extend military support to places like Darfur, he argued, to help solve problems of unwanted migration.
*snip*
"It's frankly embarrassing that when European nations - with almost two million men and women under arms - are only able, at a stretch, to deploy around 100,000 at any one time," he said.

"European countries have around 1,200 transport helicopters, yet only 35 are deployed in Afghanistan. And EU member states haven't provided any helicopters in Darfur despite the desperate need there."

First, Europe has ridden in the US Chariot of Firepower for 60 years. They have gotten cheap and lazy. Also note the comment about Darfur. The worry is about immigrants from Africa! Not mercy or aid but to stop immigration. Now this is a funny use of imperial powers. I recall the past and so does the goddess of History. We both remember that most of the black populations of North and South America were kidnapped from Africa and put in chains, beaten, raped and forced to work for free for CENTURIES. The Europeans became very rich off of all this. To this day, not one nation that trafficked in or abused African slaves have paid reparations.

Today, Europe is troubled by Africans coming over just like they used to sail all over the planet, colonizing other countries including Africa, of course. Britain is one of the countries most guilty of this. The feeling I get is, Europe isn't expanding because they love their neighbors, they are doing this frantically because they want power. Raw power like they had a mere 100 years ago.

Dump the Dollar, China State TV Tells Viewers

A state news program, quoting unnamed "wealth management experts," told residents with dollar accounts on the mainland to convert their holdings into yuan or a range of other foreign currencies, including the pound and the euro.

The prospect of ordinary Chinese ditching the dollar should be less alarming than reports that have roiled global markets of Beijing diversifying its official foreign exchange reserves.

And this news is very funny indeed. In the US, the media and the rulers are yelling at us to not buy gold but to trust them. They also are lying to us about inflation. The US has been pushing China very hard about currency values and this comes along! HAHAHA again. The US has the most inept negotiators on earth. China growled just 4 months ago, we should not attack them frontally on the issue of currency values or play war games aimed at encouraging Taiwanese rebellions against China. Of course, the US has ignored this just like Europe. Both, accustomed to using raw power and tremendous violence, accustomed to violating everyone's sovereignty, etc, have ignored these warnings.

So here we are: OPEC is fighting over whether to dump the dollar. Russia wants Europe to be part of Russia again, the US and Europe picked a fight with China they are doomed to lose and Europe wants to dominate the world? Queer, indeed.

Dinosaurs hit with double whammy 65 mln years ago

The Age of Dinosaurs ended roughly 65 million years ago with the K-T or Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, which killed off all dinosaurs except those that became birds, as well as roughly half of all species on the planet. The prime suspect is an asteroid or comet impact, which left a vast crater at Chicxulub on the coast of Mexico.

Another leading culprit is a series of colossal volcanic eruptions that occurred between 63 million to 67 million years ago. These created the gigantic Deccan Traps lava beds in India, whose original extent may have covered as much as 580,000 square miles (1.5 million square kilometers), or more than twice the area of Texas.

Europe and the US are political dinosaurs who will get a one-two punch from currency battles and high fuel costs. We can go extinct just as easily. Especially if we try the WWIII option.

For the edification of our readers, here is a very old map drawn up by an Islamic cartographer nearly 1,000 years ago.

Europe still dreams of the Roman Empire. They hope to dominate the Mediterranean Sea basin, all the way up to central Russia like in Byzantia, and fight the Persians just like in olden times. This vast empire will, of course, be modern and have voting and such. But it won't have either cultural or economic unity at all. Just like the US formed a union but then, within it, the states outbid each other all the time, so it s with the EU. They are not an empire but a collection of states that want to have imperial power without while no power over themselves within.

But the logic of the system is forcing imperial powers on the European mini-states. This is why there is such a row over the Constitution that has been stalled due to voters rejecting this. I don't see the EU growing, indeed, as their economies slide down the rabbit hole due to a strong euro, even this joint venture may be doomed. Then the yuan will be the world's #1 currency, I suppose. Unless it is the ruble. That would be just too funny.

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Comments

[CEO Nutcracker]

Elaine,

Another great post. Thanks!

If you add to the "troika", China,(another dead dollar holder) you get total devastation on the economic front.

The British Foriegn Minister's, suggestion that Russia, and other oil nations, join the EU stinks, as far as I'm concerned.

The Rothschild's of Europe, spoiled by the Yeltsin years of Jewish control over Russian oil, are infuriated and want control back! Thus, the US/UK harrassment.

Of course, the exiled oil barons of Russia have enjoyed freedom and refuge in the good ole US, UK and Israel. Why would Putin go for this arrangement, joining the floundering EU?

Jumping on the Titanic at this point is a suicidal decision for any nation that has resources, I would think.

By now, nobody should trust THIS rapacious axis of evil!

[CEO Nutcracker]

Oh, the US/UK/Israel monster is the 'axis' and the EU, being it's ass end.

[D. F. Facti]

OT - Giuliani is being re-broadcast on C-SPAN kissing ass at the Federalist Society. "Who do you trust more? People or government?" He wants to give more decision- making power to the people. Oh, American is divinely empowered. "Bob" Bork's nomination process was a disgrace. Clarence Thomas' hearing was almost like bringing back the Spanish Inquisition.

And he's bitchong treatment of Janice Rogers Brown! The phoniest Aunt Tomasina...

God, what a mediocre asshole. They'll probably nominate him.

Taking private property from private citizens to enrich developers ... bad.

Taking public property from the taxpayer and giving it to developers ...priceless.

Now he's on to "under God" in the Pledge.

How the hell did he ever get eleced Mayor of NY? He's a fucking idiot! New Yorkers are supposed to be wise to jerks like Rudy.

[Carlos]

Phase 2 of NWO unfolding: The integration of Russia, Eastern bloc countries, Middle East and Africa into the EU. The US, Canada, Mexico and Central and South America in to the US. China, Japan, India, all of East and South East Asia and Australia and New Zealand into UA (United Asia). Everything else is a Greek tragedy for our entertainment and confusion.

[blues]

My personal point of view has undergone a total sea change. In some way I do not understand, the foiled Cheney impeachment drive seems to have triggered this.

I'm now into radical community crisis management, mainly due to the inevitable oil/financial crash that is soon to come. We will not be driving around much longer. We will learn to survive together, or we will simply die together. Stay tuned.

[Big hearts come later]

On Thursday, the news was "Dollar to stay anchored to China's reserves"

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ibhPYyc-ifNr4ni18X_R6ekczbuw

Makes great press huh? Was that story was for the general public of the US, while the homefront China story is "drop the buck".

[PJSV]

Elaine,

Look at this Strength Index

United States of America 363
Germany 355
France 206
Italy 203
United Kingdom 201
Japan 190
China 119
Netherlands 117
Russian Federation 64
Spain 62
Singapore 59
South Korea 59
Hong Kong 55

This economic study can be found here:
http://www.economicswebinstitute.org/essays/tradehierarchy.htm

http://www.economicswebinstitute.org/
essays/tradehierarchy.htm

I think it used old data. Anyway it's worth read it.

[PJSV]

Ok, the data is old, as I forescasted: 1998.

[Elaine Supkis]

Boy, is it old. Heh. The landscape has shifted so much in 9 years, we dug a hole through the earth to China and they are beginning to shovel it all back in again on us.

[PJSV]

Very very funny:«So here we are: the troika of Russia, Iran and Venezuela have replaced the Axis of Evil of Iran, Iraq and North Korea. An imaginary axis has been replaced by a very real joint organization which has one end in mind: the crushing of US imperial power. »

[PJSV]

It would be very interesting to make this study again with 2007 data.

[Valentino Piana]

The same study for 2003 is available here: http://www.princeton.edu/~ina/gkg/confs/piana.pdf