Huh... and I thought the liberation of an oppressed people was a moral basis... silly me... and since when does a sovereign nation need global consensus? We're not living under a world socialist government.... yet.
"liberation of an oppressed people" a l´Americaine: "kill the bastards" ... "smoke ´em out of their caves"
They (Western nations) all want his oil, not just Georgie Porgy and his cronies, but they are content to let others do the dirty work to grab it. The moral issues raised and political warnings being fired off by the French, Germans, Russians are part of a unique event: the negotiations over the spoils of war before one is officially commenced.
Article 26 of the German constitution (Ban on preparing a war of aggression) (1) Activities tending and undertaken with the intent to disturb peaceful relations between nations, especially to prepare for aggressive war, are unconstitutional. They shall be made a punishable offense. (2) Weapons designed for warfare may be manufactured, transported or marketed only with the permission of the Federal Government. Details will be regulated by a Federal Law. full text at http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/germ/ggeng.html
And of course going to war is much, much easier than, say, lifting embargos and just asking for the oil.
Quote from dgabriel: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Energy in Germany German has relatively insignificant domestic energy sources and is heavily import-reliant to meet its energy needs. Coal accounted for 47% of domestic energy production in 1999, nuclear power 30%, natural gas 14%, renewable sources (including hydro) 6%, and oil 2%. However, oil accounted for 41% of consumption. Energy policy in Germany is influenced heavily by EU regulations. The EU requires privatization and competition in member countries' energy markets, and Germany has been a leader in developing competitive energy markets. Following reunification of the country in 1990, the major task of German energy policy was to merge successfully the radically different energy sectors of the East and West. West Germany had a diversified and mainly privately-owned system of energy supply with a high standard of energy efficiency and a commitment to environmental protection. In contrast, East Germany's energy sector was highly centralized, predominantly state-owned, and mainly dependent upon relatively "dirty" lignite (brown coal) as its primary fuel. To date, a great deal of progress has been made in conforming the former East Germany's energy sector to the standards of the West in the areas of privatization and environmental regulation. OIL Germany consumed about 2.8 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil in 2000, nearly all of which it imported, making Germany the third-largest oil importer in the world. German oil imports in 2000 came primarily from Russia (29%), Norway (18%), United Kingdom (13%), and the Libya (11%). German imports from Russia have remained unchanged in recent years. However, OPEC's share of German imports has decreased, while the share of North Sea oil from Norway and the United Kingdom has increased. For the first six months of 2001, preliminary estimates show Russian crude oil maintaining the same level as 2000, but imports from OPEC declining from 26% to 22% of total imports into Germany. Germany produced around 64,000 bbl/d of crude oil in 2000, of which 16,000 bbl/d came from the German North Sea. Higher world oil prices in 2000 spurred a small increase in domestic crude oil production. Veba Oel is Germany's largest upstream company, with interests in 13 countries, including Germany, and production of about 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Germany's oil consumption was essentially unchanged in 2000 as compared to 1999. With the aid of hefty federal taxes on gasoline consumption, Germany had decreased its oil consumption in recent years, with lower consumption in 1999 than in any year since unification. For instance, Germans pay about four times more for motor gasoline than Americans, despite having the most competitive retail gasoline market in Europe. German refinery throughput increased 1% in 2000, and refinery capacity utilization was at 95%. full report at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/germany.html Deutsche Ãlimporte nicht OPEC-abhängig (German crude oil imports not depending on OPEC) WIESBADEN. Der Durchschnittspreis (average price) je eingeführte (imported) Tonne Rohöl (crude oil) ist im Jahr 2001 um 9,9 Prozent gegenüber dem Vorjahr zurückgegangen. Kostete im Jahr 2000 eine Tonne importiertes Rohöl noch 227 Euro, muÃten 2001 nur noch 204 Euro bezahlt werden. Die deutschen Rohöleinfuhren (crude oil imports) gingen letztes Jahr auÃerdem um ein halbes Prozent auf 104,6 Millionen Tonnen zurück. Hauptlieferanten waren RuÃland (29,6 Millionen Tonnen), Norwegen (20,3) und GroÃbritannien (16,2). Diese drei Länder deckten 63,2 Prozent der deutschen Rohölimporte ab. Nur ein Fünftel (22,6 Millionen Tonnen/ 20,7 Prozent weniger als 2000) kam aus den OPEC-Ländern wie Libyen (9,8), Algerien (4,0) oder Saudi-Arabien (3,9). 7,1 Millionen Tonnen kamen aus Syrien, 4,3 aus Kasachstan und je 1,2 aus Dänemark und Aserbaidschan. Deutschland bezahlte im Jahr 2001 für Rohöllieferungen 21,4 Milliarden Euro, Frankreich 17,3 Milliarden und Italien 16,5 Milliarden.
I am happy that you have concluded that the war to be waged against Iraq (and it will be waged, a pretext for war will be found) is about nothing more than oil... I agree... The point, however, is that Russia and France have already signed major oil deals with Saddam... since there is no way the USA can get into bed with Saddam anymore, the USA has decided that the only way to get control of the oil is to bomb Iraq (and invalidate existing Russian and French deals, by the installation of a US-friendly puppet in a post-Saddam Iraq)... in the process of implementing this Imperialist agenda, thousands of innocent Iraqis are going to be murdered by the American military... in this light, repercussions against the USA by the Muslim world are guaranteed... it would be foolhardy not to expect innocent Americans to in turn be killed as revenge for the slaughter of innocent Iraqis by the American lust for oil control... to the naysayers, let it be known that there are many skeptics of American foreign policy out there (such as myself) who are in advance declaring "I told you so", when the next tragedy ultimately befalls the innocent American man on the streets of New York, Washington or wherever... Do not expect the victims of American adventurism to turn the other cheek... would you turn the other cheek? Times are indeed dangerous and uncertain
nice posts folks. As Kissinger said: "The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer." And it seems we have had many people in office for a long time doing both... Josh