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Reshaping The World

Bombing Afghanistan AKA Infinite Justice/Enduring Freedom begins 7th October

'New World Order' is the name given to this current phase of history where the world is governed in the interests of the corporations. It's also know as 'neo-liberalism' and is the consequence of the development of the same suppression rules used in colonialism, as well as the now institutionalisd economic empirialism of the World Bank/IMF/WTO. Stripping a country of its assets by privatisation or squeezing a country financially is one ways of keeping control, bombing it or having a war is another way of 'reshaping' the new world order.

100 days after the US and UK began its military campaign against Al-Qa'ida and Taliban targets in Afghanistan, the media adopted the attitude that the war is over. No matter that at least 4,000 had been murdered or that some 400,000 were displaced - either made refugees or their towns too dangerous to return to because of looters etc - the media found it unworthy of being top of their news agenda. However the US air force still continued a heavy, daily bombardment in the area around Zawar. As happened in Iraq and Colombia, the attack continues but the media attention has waned.

Demonstrating that the "war on terrorism" is a global action, 650 US troops have recently been sent to the Philippines to combat guerrillas, as well as intentions being aired of spreading the 'war' to Somalia. Iraq, still suffering the embargo, appears not to be so much of a military target, though there are movements of troops there.

It's true: this is another world war, but one that has been waging for long time. A war for capitalism, for hegemony. A multinationals' war for control of markets and resources.

President Bush, whose family is well connected to oil and energy companies, has called for an international crusade against terrorists who, he says, hate Americans simply because they are "the brightest beacon of freedom". Bush's rhetoric about fighting for justice and democracy is masking a less noble struggle for control of an estimated $5 trillion of oil and gas resources from the Caspian Basin.

One of the material results of the elder Bush's Desert Storm campaign in 1991, as well as guaranteeing the control of Kuwait's oil, was to secure access to the huge Rumaila oil field of southern Iraq. This area came under U$ control by expanding the boundaries of Kuwait after the war. American and British oil companies are heavily invested in Kuwait since being a British protectorate. Kuwait doubled its pre-war oil output as a result.

The Trepca mine complex in Kosovo, one of the richest mines in Europe, was seized last year by front companies for George Soros and Bernard Kouchner, two members of the New World Order gang who devastated Serbia. A similar geopolitical strategy to control the valuable mineral resources of the Caspian Basin underlies the planned aggression against Afghanistan, a Central Asian nation that occupies a strategic position sandwiched between the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Central Asia has enormous quantities of undeveloped oil resources including vast amounts of natural gas, waiting to be exploited. The former Soviet republics Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are the two major gas producers in Central Asia. A memorandum of understanding has been signed to build a 900-mile natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan, but the ongoing civil war and absence of a stable government in Afghanistan have delayed the project. India, Iran, Russia and lsrael also have interests in the project. Afghanistan remains fundamental in the control of the area, as it was in the past when Russia and England competed for control of it.

Amoco, British Petroleum, Chevron, Exxon, Mobil, UNOCAL and Enrol before its collapse, are all engaged in a multi-billion dollar frenzy to extract the reserves of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. All these companies are based in the countries leading the 'war for peace'. And an array of former cabinet members from the elder Bush administration have been actively involved in negotiations on behalf of the oil companies with these republics: James Baker, Brent Scowcroft, John Sununu and... Dick Cheney, now vice president of America. www.BRISTLE.org.uk

War: What Is It Good For? Business.

War may well be a waste of resources but it's a brilliant profit maker for those who manufacture weapons and military equipment. Taking in consideration that the US, the UK (See SchNEWS 357) and all the other European governments that support wars are the main arms dealers, and a war such as Afghanistan is the best way to display their products. It's also a great way of getting rid of surplus stock - better to use than dump eh.

The U$ is spending $589,000 every minute on military - during the war and since (yes visit http://www.cdi.org/msc/clock.html). This is $850 million a day. Most of those expenses will be covered in a supplemental request that the Pentagon will forward to Congress later this year.

Meanwhile, spending on systems that have actually proved useful in Afghanistan is lagging far behind expenditures for costly pet projects favoured by the White House, key members of Congress, military bureaucrats and major weapons contractors.

Just when everybody thought that the militarist madness that had been developed in the Cold War was over, Bush - with backing by Blair - has come up with the idea that there were still enemies out there that we needed protection from. September 11 is now being used to justify this paranoia and so in December the Son of the Star Wars ballistic missile program received a $2.5 billion increase from the US Congress. BRISTLE