[Shermy]

Food for thought. Found another article saying who this fellow is:

"Ira Straus is executive director of Democracy International, in Arlington, Va., and US coordinator for the independent Committee on Eastern Europe and Russia."

[Shermy]

Ping.

[larryjohnson]

Sounds sound until the UN part.

[Fish out of Water]

Some of this sounds good but stage 4 and 5 where the UN takes control has some very negative implications for countries other than the middle east.

[MJY1288]

If this deal happens it will put an end to our need for Arab oil. Watch our Gasoline prices drop below a dollar this summer, The Arabs will try to kill the deal by making it impossible for russia to match their prices. To hell with the Arabs

[medved]

One other thing we could do which would be of huge mutual benefit: hand Kosovo back to its rightful owners BEFORE the UN starts demanding that we hand half of Florida, Texas, and California over to Mexico on the same perverted basis.

[Willie Green]

It makes Russia an ally of the West in a vital Western economic security interest.

U.S. Petroleum & Crude Oil Overview
(thousand barrels per day)

	1960	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000
U.S. Crude Oil Production	7,035	7,804	9,637	8,375	8,597	8,971	7,355	6,560	5,834
U.S. Petroleum Imports	1,815	2,468	3,419	6,056	6,909	5,067	8,018	8,835	11,093
Total	8,850	10,272	13,056	14,431	15,506	14,038	15,373	15,395	16,927
Imports as % of Total	20.5	24.0	26.2	42.0	44.6	36.1	52.2	57.4	65.5

Since the Arab Oil Embargo (almost 30 years ago), U.S. dependence on imported oil has risen from 25% to over 65%.

The REAL U.S. National Security interest is to REDUCE this dependence on imported oil.

The alternate sources of energy available that are most capable of providing the vast quantity necessary to achieve this are nuclear and clean-coal electric power generation.

Construction of modern, efficient, electricly-powered mass-transportation systems in our nation's most densely populated regions and urban areas would further reduce our petroleum consumption, thus enhancing our national security.

[MJY1288]

"A UN energy agency could work closely with IEA to set overall management guidelines; a fair rent could be paid to the host states for use of their land."

This guy who wrote this must of started on some serious drugs when he wrote #4 and #5. Why in hell would we want the U.N. involved or have any regulatory powers? A good article until 4 & 5

[Tokhtamish]

Interesting that aside from an article grousing about how Russia was selling out to the West, I have seen nothing in Arab News about all the Russo-American deal making that is obviously forming an alliance against them. They must be sh*tting bricks !

And this is leaving out all the massive mineral wealth yet unexploited in Russia. The entry of Russia into the world economy on a massive scale could trigger one hell of a demand boom.

Funny how history and historical projection never take into account folly. That nations will from time to time do ridiculously stupid things. Saudi Arabia funding terrorism against both the US and Russia at the same time cannot be exceeded in terms of the purest folly.

I see a day, maybe ten years from now, when the Saudis are once again eating camel dung and the Twin Towers rise high and proud.

[nightdriver]

"....it undoes their nationalization of oil, placing the oil and gas fields under global ownership and authority."

Uh-oh! Look out for this!

[A Navy Vet]

Phases 4&5 aside, this put a BIG smile on my face...:o]

[Spar]

Great game set and match. In the end Russia fended off the wolves unleashed during the Clinton years long enough for them to deal with the West on more or less an equal footing. Too late for ex-Yugoslavia and Chechnya but like in most games, you can expect a foul or two.

[Spar]

In the article psoted titled Russia Is Finished this poster just a few months before 9/11 wrote the following:

I could have read this about Russia written in every century by writeres with delusions of granduer from the dominant power of that century. French, British, German, American, it is all the same.

I wonder is the writer angry that the Russians have rejected Western guardianship? Is Russia a super-power? No not anymore, but it will always be a power, occupying the center of the world and in control of those resources. If the Russians could have survived Napoleon, the last few Czars the Nazis and communisim and done well under them imagine what will happen once they recover? As for this comment: "the Russians are likely to face a long, slow, relatively peaceful decline into obscurity—a process that is well under way."? No nation that has the natural wealth and ability to make nuclear tipped ICBMs will ever be obscure. It may be that the Europeans needing that oil and gas even more from Russia, start to even champion her since she is to big for Europe to digest.

some advise to the Russians, empire is not its cracked up to be. Sit back and export natural resources, drink vodka and get fat. When the West needs you to save it again from themselves they know where you are.

97 Posted on 04/24/2001 17:42:05 PDT by Pericles

Who was that masked man???

[denydenydeny]

the end of global oil injustice.

The problem with the scenario sketched out here is that nearly all the "injustices" ever recognized by the UN are related to the "inequitable distribution of wealth" that has been "perpetuated" by the "selfish" Western countries who refuse to "contribute" their "fair share" of their wealth to the "greater good."

I have never seen, even once, an acknowledgement in any UN or NGO forum of how utterly destructive the open racketeering of OPEC has been to the world's poorer economies. Had OPEC consisted of American corporations rather than national monopolies they would all have gone to jail.

I can't see the UN acting against OPEC at any time for any reason. If it can't be blamed on America/Israel/the West, than the UN has no patience for it.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks Shermy.

Wouldn't it be ironical that the 9/11 mass murders financed by the Opecker Princes and the thugs that control Iran/Iraq may turn out to be the critical event that turned off the oil spigot from the Opecker Countries.

Here in N. Kali we have seen the miracle of miracles. There has been a significant reduction 4 to 8 cents per gallon on gasoline in the days just before Memorial Day.

Those in the know, say that if we have no other terrorist actions or Opecker tricks, we will see more reductions in the price of oil before 4 July. Then stablization if not more lowering after 4 July.

Hopefully in 10 years, Opec will be just a disgusting footnote in our history, and Opec will be in the ashheap of bad things.