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Monday, March 14, 2005
Connecting the Power
For those of you who wish to see the chart that accompanies the Mar. 14, 2005 Western Standard cover story "The Scandal Spills North" (posted on the main page today) here it is.
Posted by westernstandard on March 14, 2005 in Western Standard | Permalink
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» Can't Tell the Players Without A Program from Gods of the Copybook Headings
The Western Standard has this useful flow chart to help you understand who really governs Canada. [Read More]
Tracked on 2005-03-14 1:06:49 PM
» The Libranos: Connections from small dead animals
Program Advisory: The following graphic may be disturbing to the naive, career Liberals and the Canadian left. For those who may find this material offensive, it is advised that you put fingers in ears and repeat out loud: "Halliburton...I... [Read More]
Tracked on 2005-03-14 4:19:46 PM
» The Libranos: Connections from small dead animals
Program Advisory: The following graphic may be disturbing to the naive, career Liberals and the Canadian left. For those who may find this material offensive, it is advised that you put fingers in ears and repeat out loud: "Halliburton...I... [Read More]
Tracked on 2005-03-14 5:03:20 PM
» The Libranos: Connections from small dead animals
Program Advisory: The following graphic may be disturbing to the naive, career Liberals and the Canadian left. For those who may find this material offensive, it is advised that you put fingers in ears and repeat out loud: "Halliburton...I... [Read More]
Tracked on 2005-03-14 5:32:05 PM
» The Libranos: Connections from small dead animals
Program Advisory: The following graphic may be disturbing to the naive, career Liberals and the Canadian left. For those who may find this material offensive, it is advised that you put fingers in ears and repeat out loud: "Halliburton...I... [Read More]
Tracked on 2005-03-14 5:38:25 PM
» The Libranos: Connections from small dead animals
Program Advisory: The following graphic may be disturbing to the naive, career Liberals and the Canadian left. For those who may find this material offensive, it is advised that you put fingers in ears and repeat out loud: "Halliburton...I can't... [Read More]
Tracked on 2005-03-15 8:15:52 AM
Comments
Thompson's allegations, that it was all about oil for the French and Russians, but only about WMD for the Americans, is absurd. Powell in Feb. 2001 announced that Iraq was not a threat. Cheney in his VFW speech in August 2002 stated, "...seated atop ten percent of the world's oil reserves, Saddam Hussein could then be expected to seek domination of the entire Middle East, take control of a great portion of the world's energy supplies..." clearly outlining the U.S. motivation. Oil for Food was an Anglo/American strategy to keep French/Russian concerns from dominating the Iraqi development market. The Yanks knew what was going on but turned a blind eye because it ensured sanctions would remain. The deal worked for TFE only if the sanctions were lifted and the Yanks and the Brits were not going to let that happen.
Posted by: DJ | 2005-03-14 12:15:53 PM
The United Nations system: Principal Organs.
http://www.un.org/aboutun/chart.html
Gray's Anatomy to follow.....
Posted by: maz2 | 2005-03-14 12:32:19 PM
DJ: And why would they not allow that to happen? Because Saddam would use the money to arm with WMD and purchase greater influence, anti-Western (American and British) influence.
You should make a distinction here between the governments and the companies because the interests are not always the same. One of the reasons that TotalFina Elf was hesitant about entering into an agreement with Saddam was that they feared the French government would bow to international pressue and turn on them, leaving them liable for breach of contract with Saddam.
Some American oil companies obviously wanted to get involved, but they were forbidden by US law. (Exxon was lobbying to have sanctions lifted.) US lawmakers were worried about WMD because of Saddam's footsie with the UN and weapons inspectors. The French government (on the UN security counsel) appeared to be less worried and was more willing to grant concessions to Saddam. So they appeared to be supporting French oil interests. The Americans were not supporting American oil interests, otherwise they would have bowed to Exxon.
Your statement "but only about WMD for the Americans, is absurd" is true, but that's what you said, not Thompson. He didn't use the word "only." He was ranking the priorities. The Americans were primarily worried about where the oil money went--if it was going to be used against them, then they were against it.
Posted by: Kevin Steel | 2005-03-14 1:04:59 PM
Thanks for the chart, mazz. Can't seem to locate the Commission on the Private Sector and Development, chaired by Paul Martin. This page
http://www.undp.org/cpsd/commission.html
contains another Power Corp connection to the UN besides Martin and Strong. (I had to cut so much out of the cover story that by the end of it, I came to believe only about a quarter of it had been told and I knew less than half.)
You see the inclusion of the beautiful and mysterious (to me) Anne Lauvergeon from France, Chairman of the Executive Board, Areva Group, President and CEO, Cogema, marketing nuclear power technology to China
http://www.cctv.com/program/e_dialogue/20041020/101514.shtml). She is also on the board of Suez, a Pargesa subsidiary which is itself a subsidiary of Power Corporation.
http://www.suez.com/documents/english/docderef2003en/SUEZ_RA2003_chap6-7_EN.pdf
and was on the board of TotalFina Elf in 2001.
The reason I call Lauvergeon mysterious is that I find bios of her everywhere and they all mention she started in business in Canada--in iron and steel--but nowhere does it name the companies she worked for here. If anyone can answer that, I would be grateful because I kept wondering as I searched around if she was another Desmarais protégé.
Born in 1959 (Aug. 2), her rise to corporate power seemed meteoric following her appointment as an aide to Francois Mitterrand in 1991. In 2004, Fortune magazine named her the most powerful business woman in the world.
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/information/Presscenter/0,,10042004H_MPW_europe.html
Posted by: Kevin Steel | 2005-03-14 1:53:56 PM
See "King Commie" (Mitterand) at:
http://www.godscopybook.blogs.com
Scroll down...
"He was also a seducer of women..."
C'est vrai.
Posted by: maz2 | 2005-03-14 3:17:34 PM
Kevin, Where is the evidence Exxon wanted sanctions ended. “Iraq possesses huge reserves of oil and gas – reserves I’d love Chevron to have access to,” enthused Chevron CEO Kenneth T. Derr in a 1998 speech at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, in which he pronounced his strong support for sanctions." OFF began in what, 1998? In Feb. 2001 Powell announced that Iraq was not a threat. They knew Saddam had not re-armed. If they were worried about rearmmament then why annouce to the world the success of sanctions. US and UK companies long held a three-quarter share in Iraq’s oil production, but they lost their position with the 1972 nationalization of the Iraq Petroleum Company. They were not going to roll over to the French Russians or Chinese. Bush was working on smart sanctions in May 2001 to keep the presure on Saddam but the bastard refused to crumble. The threat of WMD was not a priority until after 9/11. The problem with the whole venture is the bounty of lies.
In testimony to Congress in 1999, General Anthony C.Zinni, commander in chief of the US Central Command, testified that the Gulf Region, with its huge oil reserves, is a “vital interest” of “long standing” for the United States and that the US “must have free access to the region’s resources.”
The region has been of vital interest ever since the Royal Navy converted from coal to oil. In light of the findings regarding OFF it appears Saddam would sell oil to the highest bidder. It was simply a matter of show me the money. However for the UK/US it was a Pascalian wager. And the odds were just too long.
Posted by: DJ | 2005-03-14 3:26:48 PM
"Bringing the Best of the Private Sector to Development"
La Conference de Montreal(2004)
http://www.web.irdc.ca/es/ev-59435-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
Bombardier, TotalElf, & etc.
Posted by: maz2 | 2005-03-14 3:32:05 PM
"Kevin, Where is the evidence Exxon wanted sanctions ended."
DJ: World Oil, July, 2000
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3159/is_7_221/ai_63791203
"ExxonMobil is attempting to influence U.S. sanctions policy that prevents American companies from doing business with countries penalized by Washington. Lance Johnson, an ExxonMobil vice president, said that his company anticipates a day when it will be able to compete with foreign companies in countries such as sanctions-bound Iran, Iraq and Libya. Johnson's argument was motivated by TotalFina Elf's Patrick Rambaud, who suggested that the sanctions were keeping Iraq from increasing its production capacity in a manner that could hamper economic growth. TotalFina Elf is one of the companies expected to play a key role in rebuilding and developing the Iraqi oil industry when sanctions are repealed."
Posted by: Kevin Steel | 2005-03-14 3:43:03 PM
Nice chart. Big government, crony capitalists and the UN been berry, berry good to a lot of Liberals, NDP and Tories. Have fun at the next election.
Posted by: Justzumgai | 2005-03-14 7:25:08 PM
Hey DJ
Did Saddams record of physically invading every one of his neighbors make you say
Saddam was no threat?
It was pretty common knowledge he was covertly trying to go nuclear.
Posted by: richfisher | 2005-03-15 7:29:50 PM
"Whistleblower Ready To Testify"
" A former U.N. official..."
http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/42660.htm
Posted by: maz2 | 2005-03-16 6:54:02 AM
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