The "Demonization" of Muslims and the Battle for Oil
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. .
The Just War theory upholds war as a "humanitarian operation". It serves to camouflage the real objectives of the
military operation, while providing a moral and principled image to the invaders. In its contemporary version, it calls
for military intervention on ethical and moral grounds against "rogue states" and "Islamic terrorists", which are
threatening the Homeland.
Possessing a "just cause" for waging war is central to the Bush administration's justification for invading and
occupying both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Taught in US military academies, a modern-day version of the "Just War" theory has been embodied into US military
doctrine. The "war on terrorism" and the notion of "preemption" are predicated on the right to "self defense." They
define "when it is permissible to wage war": jus ad bellum.
Jus ad bellum serves to build a consensus within the Armed Forces command structures. It also serves to convince the
troops that the enemy is "evil" and that they are fighting for a "just cause". More generally, the Just War theory in
its modern day version is an integral part of war propaganda and media disinformation, applied to gain public support
for a war agenda.
The Battle for Oil. Demonization of the Enemy
War builds a humanitarian agenda. Throughout history, vilification of the enemy has been applied time and again. The
Crusades consisted in demonizing the Turks as infidels and heretics, with a view to justifying military action.
Demonization serves geopolitical and economic objectives. Likewise, the campaign against "Islamic terrorism" (which is
supported covertly by US intelligence) supports the conquest of oil wealth. The term "Islamo-fascism," serves to degrade
the policies, institutions, values and social fabric of Muslim countries, while also upholding the tenets of "Western
democracy" and the "free market" as the only alternative for these countries.
The US led war in the broader Middle East Central Asian region consists in gaining control over more than sixty percent
of the world's reserves of oil and natural gas. The Anglo-American oil giants also seek to gain control over oil and gas
pipeline routes out of the region. (See table and maps below).
Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Yemen, Libya, Nigeria,
Algeria, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, possess between 66.2 and 75.9 percent of total oil
reserves, depending on the source and methodology of the estimate. (See table below).
In contrast, the United States of America has barely 2 percent of total oil reserves. Western countries including its
major oil producers ( Canada, the US, Norway, the UK, Denmark and Australia) control approximately 4 percent of total
oil reserves. (In the alternative estimate of the Oil and Gas Journal which includes Canada's oil sands, this percentage
would be of the the order of 16.5%. See table below).
The largest share of the World's oil reserves lies in a region extending (North) from the tip of Yemen to the Caspian
sea basin and (East) from the Eastern Mediterranean coastline to the Persian Gulf. This broader Middle East- Central
Asian region, which is the theater of the US-led "war on terrorism" encompasses according to the estimates of World Oil,
more than sixty percent of the World's oil reserves. (See table below).
Iraq has five times more oil than the United States.
Muslim countries possess at least 16 times more oil than the Western countries.
The major non-Muslim oil reserve countries are Venezuela, Russia, Mexico, China and Brazil. (See table)
Demonization is applied to an enemy, which possesses three quarters of the world's oil reserves. "Axis of evil", "rogue
States", "failed nations", "Islamic terrorists": demonization and vilification are the ideological pillars of America's
"war on terror". They serve as a casus belli for waging the battle for oil.
The Battle for Oil requires the demonization of those who possess the oil. The enemy is characterized as evil, with a
view to justifying military action including the mass killing of civilians. The Middle East Central Asian region is
heavily militarized. (See map). The oil fields are encircled: NATO war ships stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean (as
part of a UN "peace keeping" operation), US Carrier Strike Groups and Destroyer Squadrons in the Persian Gulf and the
Arabian deployed as part of the "war on terrorism".
The ultimate objective, combining military action, covert intelligence operations and war propaganda, is to break down
the national fabric and transform sovereign countries into open economic territories, where natural resources can be
plundered and confiscated under "free market" supervision. This control also extends to strategic oil and gas pipeline
corridors (e.g. Afghanistan).
Demonization is a PSYOP, used to sway public opinion and build a consensus in favor of war. Psychological warfare is
directly sponsored by the Pentagon and the US intelligence apparatus. It is not limited to assassinating or executing
the rulers of Muslim countries, it extends to entire populations. It also targets Muslims in Western Europe and North
America. It purports to break national consciousness and the ability to resist the invader. It denigrates Islam. It
creates social divisions. It is intended to divide national societies and ultimately trigger "civil war". While it
creates an environment which facilitates the outright appropriation of the countries' resources, at the same time, it
potentially backlashes, creates a new national consciousness, develops inter-ethnic solidarity, brings people together
in confronting the invaders.
It is worth noting that the triggering of sectarian divisions and "civil wars" is contemplated in the process of
redrawing of the map of the Middle East, where countries are slated to be broken up and transformed into territories.
The map of the New Middle East, although not official, has been used by the US National War Academy. It was recently
published in the Armed Forces Journal (June 2006). In this map, nation states are broken up, international borders are
redefined along sectarian-ethnic lines, broadly in accordance with the interests of the Anglo-American oil giants (See
Map below). The map has also been used in a training program at NATO's Defense College for senior military officers.
MAP OF THE NEW MIDDLE EAST
Note: The above map was prepared by Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Peters. It was published in the Armed Forces Journal in
June 2006, Peters is a retired colonel of the U.S. National War Academy. (Map Copyright Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Peters
2006).
Click for big version
The Oil Lies in Muslim Lands
The oil lies in Muslim lands. Vilification of the enemy is part and parcel of Eurasia energy geopolitics. It is a direct
function of the geographic distribution of the World's oil and gas reserves. If the oil were in countries occupied
predominantly by Buddhists or Hindus, one would expect that US foreign policy would be directed against Buddhists and
Hindus, who would also be the object of vilification..
In the Middle East war theater, Iran and Syria, which are part of the "axis of evil", are the next targets according to
official US statements.
US sponsored "civil wars" have also been conducted in several other strategic oil and gas regions including Nigeria, the
Sudan, Colombia, Somalia, Yemen, Angola, not to mention Chechnya and several republics of the former Soviet Union.
Ongoing US sponsored "civil wars", which often include the channelling of covert support to paramilitary groups, have
been triggered in the Darfur region of Sudan as well as in Somalia, Darfur possesses extensive oil reserves. In Somalia,
lucrative concessions have already been granted to four Anglo-American oil giants.
"According to documents obtained by The Times, nearly two-thirds of Somalia was allocated to the American oil giants
Conoco, Amoco [now part of BP], Chevron and Phillips in the final years before Somalia's pro-U.S. President Mohamed Siad
Barre was overthrown and the nation plunged into chaos in January, 1991. Industry sources said the companies holding the
rights to the most promising concessions are hoping that the Bush Administration's decision to send U.S. troops to
safeguard aid shipments to Somalia will also help protect their multimillion-dollar investments there." (America's
Interests in Somalia, Global Research, 2002)
Globalization and the Conquest of the World's Energy Resources
The collective demonization of Muslims, including the vilification of Islam, applied Worldwide, constitutes at the
ideological level, an instrument of conquest of the World's energy resources. It is part of the broader economic,
political mechanisms underlying the New World Order.
***********
Oil Reserves by Country
(Proven reserves in billions of barrels)
Rank
Country
Percent of World Reserves
World Oil, December 2004
Percent of World Reserves
Oil & Gas Journal, January 2006
1.
Saudi Arabia
24.2
262.1
20.6
266.8
2.
Canada*
0.4
4.7
13.8
178.8
3.
Iran
12.1
130.8
10.3
132.5
4.
Iraq
10.6
115.0
8.9
115.0
5.
Kuwait
9.2
99.7
7.9
101.5
6.
United Arab Emirates
6.5
69.9
7.6
97.8
7.
Venezuela*
4.8
52.4
6.1
79.7
8.
Russia
6.2
67.1
4.6
60.0
9.
Libya
3.2
33.6
3.0
39.1
10.
Nigeria
3.4
36.6
2.7
35.9
11.
United States
2.0
21.4
1.7
21.4
12.
China
1.4
15.4
1.4
18.3
13.
Qatar
1.8
20
1.2
15.2
14.
Mexico
1.4
14.8
1.0
12.9
15.
Algeria
1.4
15.3
0.9
11.4
16.
Brazil
1.0
11.2
0.9
11.2
17.
Kazakhstan
0.8
9.0
0.7
9.0
18.
Norway
0.9
9.9
0.6
7.7
19.
Azerbaijan
0.6
7.0
0.5
7.0
20.
India
0.5
4.9
0.4
5.8
21
Oman
0.4.
4.8
0.4
5.5
22
Angola
0.8.
9.0
0.4
5.4
23
Ecuador
0.5
5.5
0.4
4.6
24
Indonesia
0.5
5.3
0.3
4.3
25
UK
0.4
3.9
0.3
4.0
26
Yemen
0.3
3.0
0.3
4.0
27
Egypt
0.3
3.6
0.3
3.7
28
Malaysia
0.3
3.0
0.2
3.0
29
Gabon
0.2
2.2
0.2
2.5
30
Syria
0.2
2.3
0.2
2.5
31
Argentina
0.2
2.3
0.2
2.3
32
Equatorial Guinea
0.2
1,8
0.0
0.0
32
Colombia
0.1
1.5
0.1
1.5
33
Vietnam
0.1
1,3
0.6
34
Chad
0.0
0.0
0.1
1.5
35
Australia
0.3
3.6
0.1
1.4
36
Brunei
0.1
1.1
0.1
1.4
37
Denmark
0.1
1.3
0.1
1.3
38
Peru
0.1
0.9
0.1
1.0
Total Muslim Countries**
75.9
822.1
66.2
855.6
Total Western World (EU, North America, Australia)
4.1
44.8
16.5 213.3 Other Countries 20.6 214.9 17.3 223.6 World Total 100.0 1,081.8 100.0 1,292.5
Source: EIO: Energy Information Administration (Scroll down for explanatory notes on the table)
Click for big version
© Map by Eric Waddell, Global Research, 2003.
For details on the Campaign against the pipeline see
Click for big version
Image Source – Wikipedia
NOTES PERTAINING TO THE TABLE ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF OIL RESERVES
Indicated are the world's main oil reserve countries. Countries with less than 0.1 % of total reserves are not
indicated.
The Oil and Gas Journal figures indicated above are based on proven oil reserves including the bituminous oil fields
(oil sands or tar sands). The World Oil figures indicate oil reserves without the tar sands. The difference between the
two sets of figures largely pertains to the position of Canada and Venezuela. The tar-sands are considered by some
experts as not recoverable with present technology and prices, although this issue is the object of heated debate.
Muslim countries are indicated in bold. Percentages are rounded up to first decimal.
*Canada appears according to this estimate as the Second Country in terms of the size of proven reserves, due to the
size of its bituminous oil fields. The Oil & Gas Journal's oil reserve estimate above for Canada includes 4.7 billion barrels of conventional crude oil and
condensate reserves and 174.1 billion barrels of oil sands reserves.
In other recognized estimates, where the oil sands are not accounted for, Canada's reserves are much lower (in billions
of barrels):
BP Statistical Review 16.802
Oil & Gas Journal 178.792
World Oil 4.700
BP notes that "the figure for Canadian oil reserves includes an official estimate of Canadian oil sands "under active
development"." BP says of its data sources for oil reserves that "the estimates in this table have been compiled using a
combination of primary official sources, third-party data from the OPEC Secretariat, World Oil, Oil & Gas Journal and an independent estimate of Russian reserves based on information in the public domain.
World Oil's Canadian oil reserve estimate "does not include 174 billion bbl [barrels] of oil sands reserves."
*************
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© Copyright Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2007