Energizing new wars (oil wars)

[donsu]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Asian_Economy/GE18Dk01.html



From Washington to New Delhi, Caracas to Moscow and Beijing, national leaders and corporate executives are stepping up their efforts to gain control over major sources of oil and natural gas as the global struggle for energy intensifies. Never has the competitive pursuit of untapped oil and gas reserves been so acute, and never has so much money as well as diplomatic and military muscle been deployed in the contest to win control over major foreign stockpiles of energy. To an unprecedented degree, a government's success or failure in these endeavors is being treated as headline news, and provoking public outcry when a rival power is seen as benefiting unfairly from a particular transaction. With the officials of numerous governments coming under mounting pressure to satisfy the needs of their individual countries - at whatever cost - the battle for energy can only become more inflamed in the years ahead.

-snip-

Highlighting the degree to which energy issues have come to overshadow more traditional security concerns, both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley emphasized the importance of boosting world oil output in their comments on the meeting. "Obviously, with states like China, India and others coming on line, there is concern about demand and supply," Rice observed. "And these issues have to be addressed."

-snip-

The competition for hydrocarbon supplies will be particularly intense. According to the Department of Energy, oil consumption by the developing world will increase by 96% between 2001 and 2025, while consumption of natural gas will rise by 103%. For China and India, the rate of growth is even more dramatic: China's oil consumption is projected to jump by 156% over this period and India's by 152%. The struggle these countries, and other developing powerhouses like South Korea and Brazil, face in obtaining additional oil and gas for their growing economies will naturally pit them against the older industrialized countries in the competitive pursuit of energy. As suggested by Rice, "With the states like China, India, and others coming on line, there is concern about demand and supply."

-snip-

Secretary of State Rice, however, offered the most telling observations after the April 25 meeting. The problems arising from insufficient supply to meet rising world oil demand, she said, "have to be addressed, not by jawboning, but by having a strategic plan for dealing with the problem." Anyone familiar with the Bush administration lexicon cannot help but be troubled by this call for a "strategic plan" to obtain additional energy, redolent as it is of the administration's bellicose, pre-emptive strategy for dealing with terrorism, "rogue states," and weapons of mass destruction. Just exactly what Rice means is not yet entirely clear, but it certainly suggests that energy issues will be paramount in US foreign and military policy in the Bush second term.
-snip-
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the article ends with this sad paragraph:

Indeed, once a problem like energy security has been tagged as a matter of national security, it passes from the realm of economics and statecraft into that of military policy. Then, the generals and strategists get into the act and begin their ceaseless planning for endless "contingencies" and "emergencies". In such an environment, small incidents evolve into crises, and crises into wars. Expect a hot couple of decades ahead.


looks like a lot more people are going to die for oil

[Double T]

1. A Lot Of People Will Die Over Oil Reserves But...........

.....what will those left standing do when all the oil is gone???? I wonder what would happen if all the billions of dollars that went into fighting wars went into developing alternate, renewable energy sources. It might just put an end to or stop future wars from occurring.

[donsu]

2. yes, we are letting greedy criminals kill our country and the earth

it's time for the people of the earth to stand and fight to save our planet

[Protagoras]

3. For the people to fight they'll have to give up

a lot of their material luxuries. It will take the people in industrial countries enmass deciding to give up SUVs and BigMacs...when we can live without our DVDs and our manicured lawns...then we'll make some progress.

But as long as we prefer to take the easier route and shop at Wal Mart etc...we're going to keep digging that hole deeper and deeper.

This is our future...draining away one gallon at a time.

[AndyTiedye]

4. That's What President Gore Would Have Done

That's why the robber barons and fundies stole the election from him.