How oil has lubricated the Mideast problem

The following article is not "news". In fact, it has been stated often before, though usually glossed over in the mainstream media. One highly recommended book that illustrates the complexities of dealing with the issues and players in the Mideast and the Muslim world is Steve Coll's Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001.

From Afghanistan to Iraq: Connecting the Dots with Oil

By Richard W. Behan, AlterNet. Posted February 5, 2007.

An in-depth look at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the events leading up to them, and the players who made them possible.

In the Caspian Basin and beneath the deserts of Iraq, as many as 783 billion barrels of oil are waiting to be pumped. Anyone controlling that much oil stands a good chance of breaking OPEC's stranglehold overnight, and any nation seeking to dominate the world would have to go after it.

The long-held suspicions about George Bush's wars are well-placed. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were not prompted by the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. They were not waged to spread democracy in the Middle East or enhance security at home. They were conceived and planned in secret long before September 11, 2001 and they were undertaken to control petroleum resources.

The "global war on terror" began as a fraud and a smokescreen and remains so today, a product of the Bush Administration's deliberate and successful distortion of public perception. The fragmented accounts in the mainstream media reflect this warping of reality, but another more accurate version of recent history is available in contemporary books and the vast information pool of the Internet. When told start to finish, the story becomes clear, the dots easier to connect.

The article is here.