How to Win Friends and Influence People

Wonder if Russia &/or China a going to move troops to Iran.

Larry,

because of the bumbling/fumbling fools known as the bush cabal/neocons/israeli looney likudists, the mideast could very well see a new alliance emerge — turkey/syria/iran/russia. all the bushies know how to do is screw up every-tang they touch. and if somebody is a strategic partner (i.e. turkey) the bushies then try and shove it to them minus the vaseline. they have set back our nation’s nat.sec. back to the ice ages. guess we better get our fur coats ready for a long cold spell for the u.s. to try and recover from the age of bush-cheney. harrumph.

Told you we worked with the Russian Navy to both sides of Iraq. Our soldiers, their naval people scouting offshore/onshore alongside…

More than likely the deal is that for Lukoil bids(Cheney, Kraft, etc.) we allow Russia to take the slice of nuclear pie in the market.

Putin then can keep dibs on the Iranian neighbors as they come along. It also is a tremendous b!tch slap to Bushco. in light of the plans to try and make Europe into a missile defense shield, from RUmmy’s perspective.
All of it to see that we keep the petrol market focused on a narrow tap westward. Vlad gets to cut into the profit going eastward for China’s growing appetite as well, as do our domestic interests. The big money can agree to this.

Plus he’s still playing the entry into Israeli markets regarding Southern Lebanon(both sides of the fence).

Putin’s already shown that he can turn it on a dime, which is one tenth the value of a dollar, which isn’t much to brag on at this time in light of world currency comparisons…

The Missile Defense Shield is Rumsfeld’s baby, somehow it may still come into play, as a form of extortion racket.

The same way Vlad has played all parties to this point. EU energy markets, triangulation of both Israel and Iran, and the upper tier ranks of China and the USA across strategic lines.

If our Russian expert Condi can find an interpreter to understand Putin when he speaks Russian, maybe we can try to save face on some kind of deal and recast this as our plan.

It’s probably what HC would do when she gets to call the shots. Make the best of a bad situation. See also NAFTA?

If we normalize Iran and accelerate contacts, we can keep the dibs, get inside Vlad’s approach step while his foot is in the door, and then regain some influence strategically. If done in the right way it also helps us make appearances of aiding China’s move to the region, while still having our own sets of eyes there to see to what depth it can develop.

But there’s a bunch of oil barons who want otherwise. The big hat from Texas hides a small brain on the commander in chief. He wouldn’t even have that hat without the backing of oil men. Let’s roll over for Vlad so oil prices can climb higher. High enough to justify the venture capitol needed to start the new Lukoil fields in the Persian Gulf and Caspian!

Juszt in case you missed, the party of the religious right has gotten around to starting a reopublican renaissance.

They’ll get to soon as they finish Inquisition tortures, casting out demons, and burning withces for the religous right they side with…

The Renaissance was opposed by the conservatives and churches of its day… http://republicanrenaissance.blogspot.com/2007/11/great-reads.html

Paul the Apostate is trying to disguise his campaign as a return to Liberation Theology.

Like his so named predecessor, he carries baggage of authoritarian nature.

Paul steered the Church back towards a stern position on many items. The baggage of prior belief and bias, the notions of a contractor/mercenary, set to steer liberation back, to a charted path and a position predating the flowering of early Christianity…

This is simply a return to the narrow position. Highly partisan. A static state of the traditional stance. Unless you change the actual theological position it isn’t going to register. This is only a little slice of the pie, a slice of a slice as it were considering you are talking about Republicans.

It’s a new millennium and things move fast. Going back to the horse and buggy isn’t going to get it.

Paul’s old baggage will weigh him down like an anchor. Sad to say he may still be the best of the GOP bunch and his position on Iraq may actually save the party from further blood loss.

Now if he can only explain how the Bush tax cuts for the richest percentile, which removed the war being paid for, should still exist.

Once you get past Iraq it’s pretty obvious he’s part of the problem still. He has some different ideas(odd that you can say traditional stances are ‘different’ today) and no way to pay for them. A vote for Ron Paul is another nail on the dollar’s coffin.

Teddy Roosevelt he is not. Ike was the last great Republican as well.

These new guys, or even the rank and file old guard, aren’t even fit to stand in their shadows.
-Mr.M

Amb.Wilson’s great prior thread here,
my comments steered this way as well. Iran is unique to its region in terms of being a demand sided model for new markets, with a supply of what is needed.

Iran and China are new buddies on the world after bellicose Bush language forced Western isolation into play. Now they’re ready to act across the regions, the doorway to the Mediterranean and all of the Mideast’s energy taps that go there have emotional and active support from countries we side against on Israel’s behalf.

What Bush says about it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans any more. Congress is running on borrowed money too. Stop shadowboxing and learn from the real pros. Move aside and the let the big dogs eat. China and Russia are hungry.

Here’s one reason why Putin still plays both sides of the fence for Israel:

U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan

By Amiram Cohen

The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa. The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem.

The Prime Minister’s Office, which views the pipeline to Haifa as a “bonus” the U.S. could give to Israel in return for its unequivocal support for the American-led campaign in Iraq, had asked the Americans for the official telegram.

The new pipeline would take oil from the Kirkuk area, where some 40 percent of Iraqi oil is produced, and transport it via Mosul, and then across Jordan to Israel. The U.S. telegram included a request for a cost estimate for repairing the Mosul-Haifa pipeline that was in use prior to 1948. During the War of Independence, the Iraqis stopped the flow of oil to Haifa and the pipeline fell into disrepair over the years.

The National Infrastructure Ministry has recently conducted research indicating that construction of a 42-inch diameter pipeline between Kirkuk and Haifa would cost about $400,000 per kilometer. The old Mosul-Haifa pipeline was only 8 inches in diameter.

National Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzky said yesterday that the port of Haifa is an attractive destination for Iraqi oil and that he plans to discuss this matter with the U.S. secretary of energy during his planned visit to Washington next month. Paritzky added that the plan depends on Jordan’s consent and that Jordan would receive a transit fee for allowing the oil to piped through its territory. The minister noted, however, that “due to pan-Arab concerns, it will be hard for the Jordanians to agree to the flow of Iraqi oil via Jordan and Israel.”

Sources in Jerusalem confirmed yesterday that the Americans are looking into the possibility of laying a new pipeline via Jordan and Israel. (There is also a pipeline running via Syria that has not been used in some three decades.)

Iraqi oil is now being transported via Turkey to a small Mediterranean port near the Syrian border. The transit fee collected by Turkey is an important source of revenue for the country. This line has been damaged by sabotage twice in recent weeks and is presently out of service.

In response to rumors about the possible Kirkuk-Mosul-Haifa pipeline, Turkey has warned Israel that it would regard this development as a serious blow to Turkish-Israeli relations.

Sources in Jerusalem suggest that the American hints about the alternative pipeline are part of an attempt to apply pressure on Turkey.

Iraq is one of the world’s largest oil producers, with the potential of reaching about 2.5 million barrels a day. Oil exports were halted after the Gulf War in 1991 and then were allowed again on a limited basis (1.5 million barrels per day) to finance the import of food and medicines. Iraq is currently exporting several hundred thousand barrels of oil per day.

During his visit to Washington in about two weeks, Paritzky also plans to discuss the possibility of U.S. and international assistance for joint Israeli-Palestinian projects in the areas of energy and infrastructure, natural gas, desalination and electricity.”

Regional engagement. Redevelop ties between banking and infrastructure across international lines. This, so as to create a sense of shared interests, so that states find ways to work to a common security for the region, which creates strategic benefit.

Larry I’m glad you posted this. Every so often I go and google/news the words ‘asia’ and ‘pipeline’ together. An amazing amount of results come up. Lot’s of contracts and deals being made; many involving Russia.

Overall, it looks as though Russia is on track to becoming the head of the octopus in terms of energy market traffic in the region.

They’re kicking our butts in the Caspian Sea energy market because unlike the U.S., they deal with the most attractive proposals. Other players in the area prefer this to the U.S. big stick approach.

If you cannot convince the Russians with threats win with greed. Millions of people drowning in our need to access oil. SIcko

on cspans washington Journal talking about to discuss the “retroactive immunity” for telecoms.

Here are questions that I sent in.

Mr. Klein,

1. I have read that the allegedly “illegal” wiretapping and data mining program started long before 9/11? What do you know about this?

2. I have also read that there are several Israeli based telecom companies that were involved with the wiretapping and data mining program and that these systems may have been infiltrated by other nations. What do you know about this?

3. Why did QWest say no and AT&T said yes to this program?

Kathleen

http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp?Cat=Series&Code=WJE&ShowVidNum=9&Rot_Cat_CD=WJ&Rot_HT=206&Rot_WD=&ShowVidDays=100&ShowVidDesc=&ArchiveDays=30

Christy Hardin Smith over at Firedoglake has a great piece up about this issue
esc=&ArchiveDays=30

Send in your questions to c-span

Playing the “greedlock” card.

So are those the same southern Iraqi oil fields that Kuwait was allegedly illegally taping into in the early 90′s?

Who is in charge of the Iraqi oil ministry? Is that Chalabi?

I am remembering something Greg Palast said at a talk in D.C. just after the invasion “the Bush administration did not pre-emptively invade Iraq to turn on the oil in Iraq but to turn off the spigot”
Anybody agree?

Under the Iaea Iran has every right to enrich uranium up to a certain level. Right? And according to Elbaradei there is no indication that they are enriching beyond the level permitted. Is my understanding correct?

Mr. Murder, there were several articles about the Iraq to Haifa oil pipeline, in 2003.

Here are a few
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=332835&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listS
cr=Y

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,940250,00.html

Lots of people dying and suffering between the oil pipelines.

RE: Palast said “…invasion…to turn off the spigot”

He not only talked about it, he wrote about it, which can be easily found at his web site.

The statement may sound overly simplistic, but since it’s the headline, it’s intended that way. You can find a Palast critic in almost any left or right venue, mainly due to his flamboyant writing style. It’s intended to rile people up.

Poly High School alumni may remember the often heard public address announcements, “Greg Palast, report to the principal’s office, now”.

However, beneath that, he does do substantial research at least as much as any journalist. Even those who disagree with his conclusions will find his documentation useful.

His economics backround is also useful. With “turn off the spigot” he’s referring to manipulation of the oil market by manipulating supply and demand. While this is a subjective conclusion, his written version addresses a number of supporting events. It’s really about economic control of Iraq’s petroleum reserves.

Yes.

Via Wiki: Rumailah Oil Field
By the time the ceasefire with Iran was signed in August 1988, Iraq was virtually bankrupt and heavily indebted to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Its vulnerability was made worse because the following year, in open defiance of OPEC quotas, Kuwait had increased its oil production by 40 percent. The collapse in oil prices had a catastrophic impact on the Iraqi economy. The Iraqi Government described it as a form of economic warfare, which it claimed was aggravated by Kuwait slant-drilling across the border into Iraq’s Rumaila oil field. Iraq requested for $1 billion in compensation for the oil stolen by Kuwait.

No, Iraqi Services Committee, 10-2007.

Yes, definitely.

And Yes. El Baradei makes these statements regularly on CNN at 7am. Too bad no one ever sees him.

I am continuing to send out that letter signed by the Plame/Wilsons, Larry Johnson and other military and intelligence officials to Senators and Congresspeople. We need to get that letter out there for all to read.

I don’t suppose bu$hbuttboy HUNT making private oil deals with the Kurds has anything to do with anything.

Great article by Justin Raimando. John Edwards willing to say the “N” word. I heard Edwards use the term “neo-con” during the last presidential debate several times
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=11867

John Edwards
Takes on the War Party
But is it too little, too late?

Could not get a clear reading on just why Joe Wilson has gotten behind Hillary Clinton so early. (while I know the Wilsons have shared that Sidney Blumenthal and Clinton got behind them. We know Hillary and Edwards both voted for the 2002 war resolution (being the media junkie that I am I was shocked after hearing expert after expert (Scott Ritter, El Baradei, General Zinni, Zbigniew Brezinski and many more quesion the validity of the intelligence and the wisdom of sucn and invasion) when both Edwards and Clinton voted for this resolution.

Edwards has come out and apologized for his very serious mistake and Hillary has repeated “if only I knew then what I know now” hogwash. Crap if a soccer mom heard expert after expert question the intelligence why not Clinton.

On top of it she has voted for the Kyl Lieberman amendment defining the Iraqi revolutionary guard as terrorist. (based on what evidence) She has given the Bush administration an unneeded permission to step it up on Iran. More recently she signed on as a co-sponsor to the Webb Amendment, requiring the Bush administration to come back through congress before they could pre-emptively strike Iran.

Hillary is triangulating herself out of my vote.

Why is Joe Wilson for Hillary?

I’ve asked Larry if he can get a copy of the transcript of Charlie Rose’s show featuring Richard Armitage and Richard Nye (Harvard prof) who’ve got a new document out on “soft” foreign policy.

Those two discussed Russia/Iran. They both believe that despite Putin’s bellicose statements — which they believe he did solely for internal Russian consumption, for popularity reasons — that the Russians went to Tehran and told the Iranians that they need to step back on developing nuclear weapons.

If Larry can get me that transcript, I’ll post exactly all that they said about Russia/Iran. They also said much more that I found of great interest, and that I believe you’d all like to read. If you want to know now, you can go to Rose’s site and watch the video — it’s the Tuesday, Nov. 6 show. IF ANY OF YOU DO go and listen, please amplify what I said — I wasn’t taking notes as I listened so would like to be sure what I said is accurate, although I am confident it is.

Beautiful, Mr M. I am sure you are right on the money!

Even the use of the abreviation Neo-con is appologist. They are fascists.

I am deeply heartened by some of the recent posts and posters. This is not because there has been too much good news but, accepting the inability to understand is the first step in denying ignorance. Those who find appeal in something can tap into it and recognise it thus. Those that can’t remain ignorant and either accept that or live in denial. The most dangerous elements of society are those who refuse to accept their inability to understand.

Although those who have the ability to understand, do understand and still defy their conscience (that which taps into things that appeal) are marginally worse but less commited.

Because [different] games are being played at many levels of society, ignorance has coagulated with information to present the messy situation we are faced with currently. Both Bush and Putin will die. Will either finish any better than some harmless local chopped down as a result of their high ambitions? I wonder what their reward will ultimately be. Even 3 score and 10 whizzes by. It is a drip in eternity

Why is Joe Wilson for Hillary?

He’s a registered Repuglican?