Re: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics
Luc, On the nail, especially when you think that Bush ordered plans for the Iraq invasion before 9/11. The only thing that was missing was a good excuse and Osama only became the perfect alibi. The jury is still out on the success of the venture and my opinion is that it is not going to be that easy as they envisioned in the first place. This despite the fact that Iraq is a nation that consists to 80% of women, children an old men. The result of the US inspired wars with Iran and the Kuweit debacle. Despite dangling bait, as participating in oil exploration, in front of countries like France and Germany, the "coalition of the willing" is small and with only token from other countries than US and UK. Regarding Osama, it has been no confirmed sightings of him since the offensive in the Afghan mountains more than a year ago. Regardless of if he is alive or not, he do fulfill the Emmanuel Goldstein role you described. It does not take much of analyses to see that "Al Queda" is a very questionable organization and that it do not perform as the singular force that US want us to belive in. Orwell's 1984 is here, even if it is a few years delayed. Hakan At 12:54 PM 9/24/2004, you wrote: Osama is to the NWO what Emmanuel Goldstein of Orwell's 1984 was; nothing more than a fictional focal point to which all terrors are attributed, a common "enemy" used to instill perpetual fear in the minds of people who otherwise might take the time to actually think and that would inevitably result in the truth coming out and the gig would be up. All so-called "Al Queda" cells and people associated with it have turned out to be intellingence black ops and those charged as being complicit have ALL had their cases fall apart. Who benefits from all this terror? Who gets what they want ? It certainly is not the Arabs/Palestinians, so who actually did it? Who gets the $ ? Who gets the bombs? Who gets to grab land that doesn't belong to them ? That is who wins and who did it, IMHO :) Luc - Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:41 AM Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics > you are so pathetically ignorant, it borders on the suspicion of having > matriculated from a public school. > - Original Message - > From: "bmolloy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2004 7:48 PM > Subject: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics > > > Hi all, > A new thread for consideration: fossil fuel use is fuelling our > politics. Up until now we've been eating the rabbits. But what happens when > the rabbits get a gun? Pitt takes a look at the question. > Bob. > > > > When the Rabbits Get a Gun > > > By William Rivers Pitt > From: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091504A.shtml > t r u t h o u t | Perspective > Wednesday 15 September 2004 > *** > > This is the comforting fiction: Osama bin Laden is a monster who sprang > whole from the fetid mire. He had no childhood, no influences, no education, > no experiences to form his view of the world. He did not exist, and then he > did, a vessel into which the universe poured the essence of evil. It is a > simple, straightforward story of a man who hates freedom and kills for the > pure joy of feeling innocent blood drip from his fingers. > > This is the fairy tale by which children are put to bed at night. As > frightening and terrifying as bin Laden may be, it is a comfort to imagine > him as having been chiseled from the dust. The fiction of his existence, > absent of detail, makes him unique, a singular entity not to be replicated. > Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary only when the actual context of his life > is made clear, where he is from, what he has seen, and why those things > motivated him to do what he does. > > Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is > not unique, not singular, not an invention of the universe. He becomes truly > scary when the realization comes that there are millions of people who have > seen what he has seen, who feel what he feels, and why. He becomes truly > scary when the realization comes that he is a creation of the last fifty > years of American foreign and economic policy, and that he has an army > behind him created by the same influences. Simply, Osama bin Laden becomes > truly scary when the realization comes that he can be, and has been, and > continues to be, replicated. > > Osama bin Laden, after being educated at Oxford University, learned how to > kill effectively while working as an agent of American Cold War policy in > Afghanistan. He was a helpful American ally throughout the 1980s as a > ruthless and
[Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics
Hi James, In fact I did. I also graduated from a top university and then did postgraduate work at another. Then switched careers to the world of journalism and eventually publishing. But what has that got to do with the price of eggs, or indeed with the opinions expressed by William Rivers Pitt? Please enlighten me. Bob. - Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 9:41 PM Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics > you are so pathetically ignorant, it borders on the suspicion of having > matriculated from a public school. > - Original Message - > From: "bmolloy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2004 7:48 PM > Subject: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics > > > Hi all, > A new thread for consideration: fossil fuel use is fuelling our > politics. Up until now we've been eating the rabbits. But what happens when > the rabbits get a gun? Pitt takes a look at the question. > Bob. > > > > When the Rabbits Get a Gun > > > By William Rivers Pitt > From: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091504A.shtml > t r u t h o u t | Perspective > Wednesday 15 September 2004 > *** > > This is the comforting fiction: Osama bin Laden is a monster who sprang > whole from the fetid mire. He had no childhood, no influences, no education, > no experiences to form his view of the world. He did not exist, and then he > did, a vessel into which the universe poured the essence of evil. It is a > simple, straightforward story of a man who hates freedom and kills for the > pure joy of feeling innocent blood drip from his fingers. > > This is the fairy tale by which children are put to bed at night. As > frightening and terrifying as bin Laden may be, it is a comfort to imagine > him as having been chiseled from the dust. The fiction of his existence, > absent of detail, makes him unique, a singular entity not to be replicated. > Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary only when the actual context of his life > is made clear, where he is from, what he has seen, and why those things > motivated him to do what he does. > > Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is > not unique, not singular, not an invention of the universe. He becomes truly > scary when the realization comes that there are millions of people who have > seen what he has seen, who feel what he feels, and why. He becomes truly > scary when the realization comes that he is a creation of the last fifty > years of American foreign and economic policy, and that he has an army > behind him created by the same influences. Simply, Osama bin Laden becomes > truly scary when the realization comes that he can be, and has been, and > continues to be, replicated. > > Osama bin Laden, after being educated at Oxford University, learned how to > kill effectively while working as an agent of American Cold War policy in > Afghanistan. He was a helpful American ally throughout the 1980s as a > ruthless and wealthy warrior against the Soviet Union. It was the desire of > the American government to deliver to the Soviets their own Vietnam, to > arrange a hopeless military situation which would demoralize the Soviet > military and bleed that nation dry. > > Osama bin Laden played the part of the Viet Cong, and he was good at it. > With the help of the American government, he was able to create an army of > true believers in Afghanistan. Our government believed that if one bin Laden > was good, a hundred would be better, and a thousand better again, in the > fight against the Soviets. So strong was this group America helped to create > that it became known as 'The Base.' Translated into the local dialect, 'The > Base' is known as al Qaeda. > > Osama bin Laden learned something else besides the art of killing while he > was working as an ally of the United States. He learned that given enough > time, enough money, enough violence, enough perseverance, and enough fellow > warriors, a superpower can be brought to its knees and erased from the book > of history. > > Bin Laden was at the center of one of the most important events of the 20th > century: The fall of the Soviet Union. Political pundits like to credit > Reagan and the senior Bush for the collapse of that regime, but out in front > of them, in the mountains of Afghanistan, was Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, > the sharp end of our sword, who did their job very well. Today, the United > States faces this group and its leader, armed with their well-learned and > America-taught lessons: How to kill massively and how to annihilate a > superpower. > > Osama bin L
RE: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics
James, The ability to think above and beyond both public and private conditioning is a step toward maturity. Current television (media) conditioning surpasses any traditional schooling for cloning robots out of social units. Creative imagination has value. Try reading James Joyce Finnegan's Wake to see beyond the words. It's not something taught in public school. Peggy -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 3:41 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics you are so pathetically ignorant, it borders on the suspicion of having matriculated from a public school. - Original Message - From: "bmolloy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2004 7:48 PM Subject: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics Hi all, A new thread for consideration: fossil fuel use is fuelling our politics. Up until now we've been eating the rabbits. But what happens when the rabbits get a gun? Pitt takes a look at the question. Bob. When the Rabbits Get a Gun By William Rivers Pitt From: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091504A.shtml t r u t h o u t | Perspective Wednesday 15 September 2004 *** This is the comforting fiction: Osama bin Laden is a monster who sprang whole from the fetid mire. He had no childhood, no influences, no education, no experiences to form his view of the world. He did not exist, and then he did, a vessel into which the universe poured the essence of evil. It is a simple, straightforward story of a man who hates freedom and kills for the pure joy of feeling innocent blood drip from his fingers. This is the fairy tale by which children are put to bed at night. As frightening and terrifying as bin Laden may be, it is a comfort to imagine him as having been chiseled from the dust. The fiction of his existence, absent of detail, makes him unique, a singular entity not to be replicated. Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary only when the actual context of his life is made clear, where he is from, what he has seen, and why those things motivated him to do what he does. Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is not unique, not singular, not an invention of the universe. He becomes truly scary when the realization comes that there are millions of people who have seen what he has seen, who feel what he feels, and why. He becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is a creation of the last fifty years of American foreign and economic policy, and that he has an army behind him created by the same influences. Simply, Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he can be, and has been, and continues to be, replicated. Osama bin Laden, after being educated at Oxford University, learned how to kill effectively while working as an agent of American Cold War policy in Afghanistan. He was a helpful American ally throughout the 1980s as a ruthless and wealthy warrior against the Soviet Union. It was the desire of the American government to deliver to the Soviets their own Vietnam, to arrange a hopeless military situation which would demoralize the Soviet military and bleed that nation dry. Osama bin Laden played the part of the Viet Cong, and he was good at it. With the help of the American government, he was able to create an army of true believers in Afghanistan. Our government believed that if one bin Laden was good, a hundred would be better, and a thousand better again, in the fight against the Soviets. So strong was this group America helped to create that it became known as 'The Base.' Translated into the local dialect, 'The Base' is known as al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden learned something else besides the art of killing while he was working as an ally of the United States. He learned that given enough time, enough money, enough violence, enough perseverance, and enough fellow warriors, a superpower can be brought to its knees and erased from the book of history. Bin Laden was at the center of one of the most important events of the 20th century: The fall of the Soviet Union. Political pundits like to credit Reagan and the senior Bush for the collapse of that regime, but out in front of them, in the mountains of Afghanistan, was Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, the sharp end of our sword, who did their job very well. Today, the United States faces this group and its leader, armed with their well-learned and America-taught lessons: How to kill massively and how to annihilate a superpower. Osama bin Laden learned a few other things before he became the monster under our collective bed. When Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein began to make his move against Kuwait, bin Laden was outraged. Hussein was a despised name on the lips of bin Laden and his followers
Re: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics
Osama is to the NWO what Emmanuel Goldstein of Orwell's 1984 was; nothing more than a fictional focal point to which all terrors are attributed, a common "enemy" used to instill perpetual fear in the minds of people who otherwise might take the time to actually think and that would inevitably result in the truth coming out and the gig would be up. All so-called "Al Queda" cells and people associated with it have turned out to be intellingence black ops and those charged as being complicit have ALL had their cases fall apart. Who benefits from all this terror? Who gets what they want ? It certainly is not the Arabs/Palestinians, so who actually did it? Who gets the $ ? Who gets the bombs? Who gets to grab land that doesn't belong to them ? That is who wins and who did it, IMHO :) Luc - Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:41 AM Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics > you are so pathetically ignorant, it borders on the suspicion of having > matriculated from a public school. > - Original Message - > From: "bmolloy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2004 7:48 PM > Subject: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics > > > Hi all, > A new thread for consideration: fossil fuel use is fuelling our > politics. Up until now we've been eating the rabbits. But what happens when > the rabbits get a gun? Pitt takes a look at the question. > Bob. > > > > When the Rabbits Get a Gun > > > By William Rivers Pitt > From: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091504A.shtml > t r u t h o u t | Perspective > Wednesday 15 September 2004 > *** > > This is the comforting fiction: Osama bin Laden is a monster who sprang > whole from the fetid mire. He had no childhood, no influences, no education, > no experiences to form his view of the world. He did not exist, and then he > did, a vessel into which the universe poured the essence of evil. It is a > simple, straightforward story of a man who hates freedom and kills for the > pure joy of feeling innocent blood drip from his fingers. > > This is the fairy tale by which children are put to bed at night. As > frightening and terrifying as bin Laden may be, it is a comfort to imagine > him as having been chiseled from the dust. The fiction of his existence, > absent of detail, makes him unique, a singular entity not to be replicated. > Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary only when the actual context of his life > is made clear, where he is from, what he has seen, and why those things > motivated him to do what he does. > > Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is > not unique, not singular, not an invention of the universe. He becomes truly > scary when the realization comes that there are millions of people who have > seen what he has seen, who feel what he feels, and why. He becomes truly > scary when the realization comes that he is a creation of the last fifty > years of American foreign and economic policy, and that he has an army > behind him created by the same influences. Simply, Osama bin Laden becomes > truly scary when the realization comes that he can be, and has been, and > continues to be, replicated. > > Osama bin Laden, after being educated at Oxford University, learned how to > kill effectively while working as an agent of American Cold War policy in > Afghanistan. He was a helpful American ally throughout the 1980s as a > ruthless and wealthy warrior against the Soviet Union. It was the desire of > the American government to deliver to the Soviets their own Vietnam, to > arrange a hopeless military situation which would demoralize the Soviet > military and bleed that nation dry. > > Osama bin Laden played the part of the Viet Cong, and he was good at it. > With the help of the American government, he was able to create an army of > true believers in Afghanistan. Our government believed that if one bin Laden > was good, a hundred would be better, and a thousand better again, in the > fight against the Soviets. So strong was this group America helped to create > that it became known as 'The Base.' Translated into the local dialect, 'The > Base' is known as al Qaeda. > > Osama bin Laden learned something else besides the art of killing while he > was working as an ally of the United States. He learned that given enough > time, enough money, enough violence, enough perseverance, and enough fellow > warriors, a superpower can be brought to its knees and erased from the book > of history. > > Bin Laden was at the center of one of the most important events of the 20th > centur
Re: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics
bmolloy wrote: He didn't. He posted an article by William Rivers Pitt, and Pitt wrote this. Please be more careful in attributing quotes. Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is not unique, not singular, not an invention of the universe. He becomes truly scary when the realization comes that there are millions of people who have seen what he has seen, who feel what he feels, and why. He becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is a creation of the last fifty years of American foreign and economic policy, and that he has an army behind him created by the same influences. Simply, Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he can be, and has been, and continues to be, replicated. And this, as articulated by Barnett, is exactly why we need to shrink the non-integrated Gap by connecting them to the world economy via globalization. Although the Osama Bin Laden's of this world will still exist post economic integration, in my view they cease to be super-empowered actors and become the crazy tinfoil hat wearing guy on corner once the rank and file populace of those countries have at least the hope and potential for economic prosperity and stability. In my view, the average 19 year old does not become a radical extremist when he or she has a meaningful future ahead of him or herself. The remaining sociopaths and ideologs then become a law enforcement/mental health problem, not a military one. Ho-hum John. Ho-hum Barnett too. In probably the most comprehensive study to date, "Scorecard on Globalization 1980-2000", Mark Weisbrot, Dean Baker and other researchers at the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that economic growth and rates of improvement in life expectancy, child mortality, education levels and literacy all declined in the era of global corporatization (1980-2000) compared to 1960-1980. Millions of people who could have escaped a lifetime of poverty under the former rules of market economics under democratic limits were unable to do so under the new rules of global corporate governance. "For economic growth and almost all of the other indicators, the last 20 years have shown a very clear decline in progress as compared with the previous two decades... The poorest group went from a per capita GDP growth rate of 1.9 percent annually in 1960-80, to a *decline* of 0.5 percent per year (1980-2000). By almost every measure, the progress achieved in the two decades of globalization has been considerably less than the progress in the period from 1960 to 1980", especially in the low and middle-income countries. http://www.cepr.net/globalization/scorecard_on_globalization.htm The Scorecard on Globalization 1980-2000 - Twenty Years of Diminished Progress By Mark Weisbrot, Dean Baker, Egor Kraev and Judy Chen July 11, 2001 Economic growth is projected as the road to overcome global poverty. With economic growth of $100 the rich 20% of the world population pocket $83 and the poorest 20% get $1.40. Global economic growth is therefore a highly inefficient way to help the global poor. Actually most of the poorest 20% don't gain anything, they lose, or lose heavily, or just starve to death, along with their children. That's why they breed more - more births raises the chances that some might survive. http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/8835 The Way Ahead Nobel Prize Winner Joseph Stiglitz holds joint professorships at Columbia University's Economics Department, the School of International and Public Affairs, and the Business School. His forthcoming book, The Roaring Nineties: A New History of the World's Most Prosperous Decade, will be published by W.W. Norton & Co. in October. The following excerpt is from Globalization and Its Discontents, by Joseph E. Stiglitz, published by W.W. Norton & Co. in 2002. "Today, globalization is being challenged around the world. There is discontent with globalization, and rightfully so. Globalization can be a force for good: the globalization of ideas about democracy and of civil society have changed the way people think, while global political movements have led to debt relief and the treaty on land mines. "Globalization has helped hundreds of millions of people attain higher standards of living, beyond what they, or most economists, thought imaginable but a short while ago. The globalization of the economy has benefited countries that took advantage of it by seeking new markets for their exports and by welcoming foreign investment. Even so, the countries that have benefited the most have been those that took charge of their own destiny and recognized the role government can play in development rather than relying on the notion of a self-regulated market that would fix its own problems. "But for millions of people globalization has not worked. Many have actually been made worse off, as they have seen their jobs destroye
Re: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics
Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is not unique, not singular, not an invention of the universe. He becomes truly scary when the realization comes that there are millions of people who have seen what he has seen, who feel what he feels, and why. He becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is a creation of the last fifty years of American foreign and economic policy, and that he has an army behind him created by the same influences. Simply, Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he can be, and has been, and continues to be, replicated. And this, as articulated by Barnett, is exactly why we need to shrink the non-integrated Gap by connecting them to the world economy via globalization. Although the Osama Bin Laden's of this world will still exist post economic integration, in my view they cease to be super-empowered actors and become the crazy tinfoil hat wearing guy on corner once the rank and file populace of those countries have at least the hope and potential for economic prosperity and stability. In my view, the average 19 year old does not become a radical extremist when he or she has a meaningful future ahead of him or herself. The remaining sociopaths and ideologs then become a law enforcement/mental health problem, not a military one. ___ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
Re: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics
matriculated from a public school. - Original Message - From: "bmolloy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2004 7:48 PM Subject: [Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics Hi all, A new thread for consideration: fossil fuel use is fuelling our politics. Up until now we've been eating the rabbits. But what happens when the rabbits get a gun? Pitt takes a look at the question. Bob. When the Rabbits Get a Gun By William Rivers Pitt From: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091504A.shtml t r u t h o u t | Perspective Wednesday 15 September 2004 *** This is the comforting fiction: Osama bin Laden is a monster who sprang whole from the fetid mire. He had no childhood, no influences, no education, no experiences to form his view of the world. He did not exist, and then he did, a vessel into which the universe poured the essence of evil. It is a simple, straightforward story of a man who hates freedom and kills for the pure joy of feeling innocent blood drip from his fingers. This is the fairy tale by which children are put to bed at night. As frightening and terrifying as bin Laden may be, it is a comfort to imagine him as having been chiseled from the dust. The fiction of his existence, absent of detail, makes him unique, a singular entity not to be replicated. Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary only when the actual context of his life is made clear, where he is from, what he has seen, and why those things motivated him to do what he does. Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is not unique, not singular, not an invention of the universe. He becomes truly scary when the realization comes that there are millions of people who have seen what he has seen, who feel what he feels, and why. He becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is a creation of the last fifty years of American foreign and economic policy, and that he has an army behind him created by the same influences. Simply, Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he can be, and has been, and continues to be, replicated. Osama bin Laden, after being educated at Oxford University, learned how to kill effectively while working as an agent of American Cold War policy in Afghanistan. He was a helpful American ally throughout the 1980s as a ruthless and wealthy warrior against the Soviet Union. It was the desire of the American government to deliver to the Soviets their own Vietnam, to arrange a hopeless military situation which would demoralize the Soviet military and bleed that nation dry. Osama bin Laden played the part of the Viet Cong, and he was good at it. With the help of the American government, he was able to create an army of true believers in Afghanistan. Our government believed that if one bin Laden was good, a hundred would be better, and a thousand better again, in the fight against the Soviets. So strong was this group America helped to create that it became known as 'The Base.' Translated into the local dialect, 'The Base' is known as al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden learned something else besides the art of killing while he was working as an ally of the United States. He learned that given enough time, enough money, enough violence, enough perseverance, and enough fellow warriors, a superpower can be brought to its knees and erased from the book of history. Bin Laden was at the center of one of the most important events of the 20th century: The fall of the Soviet Union. Political pundits like to credit Reagan and the senior Bush for the collapse of that regime, but out in front of them, in the mountains of Afghanistan, was Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, the sharp end of our sword, who did their job very well. Today, the United States faces this group and its leader, armed with their well-learned and America-taught lessons: How to kill massively and how to annihilate a superpower. Osama bin Laden learned a few other things before he became the monster under our collective bed. When Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein began to make his move against Kuwait, bin Laden was outraged. Hussein was a despised name on the lips of bin Laden and his followers; here was an unbelieving heretic who spoke the words of Allah, a self-styled Socialist who pretended piety, a ruthless dictator who killed every Islamic fundamentalist he could get his hands on. Osama bin Laden went to King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, home of the holiest sites of Islam. The royal family was not to be found anywhere on bin Laden's list of friends at the time. A shrewd observer of local politics, bin Laden knew that the Saudi government enjoyed having the Palestinians living in squalor, bereft of homeland and hope, because it distracted the fundamentalists within Saudi Arabia from focusing on the inequities within their own country. With the cr
[Biofuel] Fossil fuels fuel the politics
Hi all, A new thread for consideration: fossil fuel use is fuelling our politics. Up until now we've been eating the rabbits. But what happens when the rabbits get a gun? Pitt takes a look at the question. Bob. When the Rabbits Get a Gun By William Rivers Pitt From: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091504A.shtml t r u t h o u t | Perspective Wednesday 15 September 2004 *** This is the comforting fiction: Osama bin Laden is a monster who sprang whole from the fetid mire. He had no childhood, no influences, no education, no experiences to form his view of the world. He did not exist, and then he did, a vessel into which the universe poured the essence of evil. It is a simple, straightforward story of a man who hates freedom and kills for the pure joy of feeling innocent blood drip from his fingers. This is the fairy tale by which children are put to bed at night. As frightening and terrifying as bin Laden may be, it is a comfort to imagine him as having been chiseled from the dust. The fiction of his existence, absent of detail, makes him unique, a singular entity not to be replicated. Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary only when the actual context of his life is made clear, where he is from, what he has seen, and why those things motivated him to do what he does. Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is not unique, not singular, not an invention of the universe. He becomes truly scary when the realization comes that there are millions of people who have seen what he has seen, who feel what he feels, and why. He becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he is a creation of the last fifty years of American foreign and economic policy, and that he has an army behind him created by the same influences. Simply, Osama bin Laden becomes truly scary when the realization comes that he can be, and has been, and continues to be, replicated. Osama bin Laden, after being educated at Oxford University, learned how to kill effectively while working as an agent of American Cold War policy in Afghanistan. He was a helpful American ally throughout the 1980s as a ruthless and wealthy warrior against the Soviet Union. It was the desire of the American government to deliver to the Soviets their own Vietnam, to arrange a hopeless military situation which would demoralize the Soviet military and bleed that nation dry. Osama bin Laden played the part of the Viet Cong, and he was good at it. With the help of the American government, he was able to create an army of true believers in Afghanistan. Our government believed that if one bin Laden was good, a hundred would be better, and a thousand better again, in the fight against the Soviets. So strong was this group America helped to create that it became known as 'The Base.' Translated into the local dialect, 'The Base' is known as al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden learned something else besides the art of killing while he was working as an ally of the United States. He learned that given enough time, enough money, enough violence, enough perseverance, and enough fellow warriors, a superpower can be brought to its knees and erased from the book of history. Bin Laden was at the center of one of the most important events of the 20th century: The fall of the Soviet Union. Political pundits like to credit Reagan and the senior Bush for the collapse of that regime, but out in front of them, in the mountains of Afghanistan, was Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, the sharp end of our sword, who did their job very well. Today, the United States faces this group and its leader, armed with their well-learned and America-taught lessons: How to kill massively and how to annihilate a superpower. Osama bin Laden learned a few other things before he became the monster under our collective bed. When Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein began to make his move against Kuwait, bin Laden was outraged. Hussein was a despised name on the lips of bin Laden and his followers; here was an unbelieving heretic who spoke the words of Allah, a self-styled Socialist who pretended piety, a ruthless dictator who killed every Islamic fundamentalist he could get his hands on. Osama bin Laden went to King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, home of the holiest sites of Islam. The royal family was not to be found anywhere on bin Laden's list of friends at the time. A shrewd observer of local politics, bin Laden knew that the Saudi government enjoyed having the Palestinians living in squalor, bereft of homeland and hope, because it distracted the fundamentalists within Saudi Arabia from focusing on the inequities within their own country. With the crooking of a single oil-rich finger, the Saudi royals could solve the Palestinian problem. Their refusal to do so fed bin Laden's rage, for in his mind, they were aiding and abetting what he saw as an intolerable Israeli apartheid. Bin Laden asked Fahd to help him resu
