The "Demonization" of Muslims and the Battle for Oil

[Octafish]

Some light, not crude, reading:

The "Demonization" of Muslims and the Battle for Oil

by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, January 4, 2007

Throughout history, "wars of religion" have served to obscure the economic and strategic interests behind the conquest and invasion of foreign lands. "Wars of religion" were invariably fought with a view to securing control over trading routes and natural resources.

The Crusades extending from the 11th to the 14th Century are often presented by historians as "a continuous series of military-religious expeditions made by European Christians in the hope of wresting the Holy Land from the infidel Turks." The objective of the Crusades, however, had little to do with religion. The Crusades largely consisted, through military action, in challenging the dominion of the Muslim merchant societies, which controlled the Eastern trade routes.

The "Just War" supported the Crusades. War was waged with the support of the Catholic Church, acting as an instrument of religious propaganda and indoctrination, which was used in the enlistment throughout Europe of thousands of peasants, serfs and urban vagabonds.

America's Crusade in Central Asia and the Middle East

In the eyes of public opinion, possessing a "just cause" for waging war is central. A war is said to be Just if it is waged on moral, religious or ethical grounds.

America's Crusade in Central Asia and the Middle East is no exception. The "war on terrorism" purports to defend the American Homeland and protect the "civilized world". It is upheld as a "war of religion", a "clash of civilizations", when in fact the main objective of this war is to secure control and corporate ownership over the region's extensive oil wealth, while also imposing under the helm of the IMF and the World Bank (now under the leadership of Paul Wolfowitz), the privatization of State enterprises and the transfer of the countries' economic assets into the hands of foreign capital.

CONTINUED...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20070104&articleId=4347

No wonder Big Oil's toads lied America into war.

Hey, Congress! Put down the pipeline and wake the heck up!

[msongs]

1. thank god no muslim has ever conducted a war to promote islam in any way eh?

the ONLY true religion demonized again...by members of the other ONLY true religons?

who would a thunk it eh?

Msongs
www.msongs.com

[Igel]

3. Precisely.

They invaded the Balkans and Spain for the oil.

Lots of olives grow there, don't you know.

And the devshirme provided a ready source of teenage boys.

[Octafish]

5. It's their oil.

I don't see why we have to kill them for it.

Couldn't we just, say, buy it?

[Swamp Rat]

2. k&r

:hi:

[Octafish]

6. Love the Zino.

See: People can make money on home grown products.

[Karenina]

4. And another K&R!

:hi:

[Octafish]

7. Iran! You're next!

From the past, a history news lesson:

The Real Reasons Why Iran is the Next Target

By A. Clark
11 Oct 2004 09:42:42 AM

The Iranians are about to commit an offense far greater than Saddam Hussein's conversion to the euro for his oil exports back in the fall of 2000. In March 2005 Iran is going to start competing with New York's NYMEX and London's IPE with respect to international oil trades - using a euro-based international oil-trading mechanism. What does that mean? It means that without some sort of US intervention (likely covert, but possibly overt), the euro is going to establish a firm foothold in the international oil trade in 2005 - which given U.S. debt levels and the neoconservative desire for U.S. global domination - provides a rather problematic situation. Indeed, numerous articles have revealed Pentagon planning for operations against Iran in 2005. The publicly stated reasons will be over Iran's nuclear ambitions, but the unspoken macroeconomic issues explain the Real Reasons regarding the 2nd stage of petrodollar warfare - Iran's upcoming oil Bourse.

CONTINUED...

http://baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8214

Thanks, Karenina! Sure appreciate you caring.