Part A2 - Articles by Dave on the Internet

Part B:  Dave's Writings

1. The Cause of 911 and the 'True Reasons' Bush Invaded Afghan and Iraq: Bush Lies, Contrived Wars, and Why Muslims, and Other Victims of Our Empire, Hate Our Government 

Preamble: The first version of this essay was issued on Sep. 14, 2001 about 9-11, and evolved to include the ‘True Reasons’ Bush invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Events and information exposed since 9-11 confirm all the conclusions herein, and thus their validity. KEY issues are that: a. 9-11 had nothing to do with Saddam, but was ‘used’ by Bush as an excuse to invade Iraq (see True Reasons below), b. Invading Afghanistan was to build an oil/gas pipeline (the same reason the Russians invaded) and and c. The government story about planning and execution of 9-11 (and the ‘crashes??’ at the Pentagon - American  flight 77-, and in PA - United flight 93), is full of voids and lies. There is much work needed to get the true story, and possible complicity of the Bush-Cheney gang, the towers owner Larry Silverstein (a good friend of Israel's senior politician Ben Netanyahu), and  Israel’s black-ops group Mossad. Silverstein had long-owned Bldg 7, but bought the Twin Towers with a $14 mill. down payment only six weeks before 911. Both needed costly removal of asbestos, were money-losers due to high vacancies, and Silverstein paid  for special insurance protection from destruction by 'terror attacks'. He collected $4.5 billions! Was this a plan ending in the staged 911 event? Perhaps it was inspired by the bombing in a tower basement in 1993. As an engineer, I am trained to analyze the interaction of forces, and with

 input from other architects and engineers (see more at; www.ae911truth.org),

 I am certain there is no way the twin towers and Bldg 7 fell into their footprint at free-fall speed without controlled demolition installed in advance! The elevator and building maintenance crews had 24 hour access to all of the buildings, so had ample opportunity to plant explosives. How else could the explosions be so uniform, and blow outward simultaneously on all four sides, for each floor? 'Cave-ins' are messy, and not uniform. The towers were built as a ‘tube’ structure supported by an exterior shell of vertical I-beams, most of which were probably severed by 'Nano Thermite' explosives into about 30 ft. pieces as each floor fell; some even blew across the street. Without such cutting, the beams would have remained sticking up, some drooping sideways, like a splayed corn shock. Molten steel was seen pouring out of the building at high floor levels. Spherical (about 0.1 in. diameter) 'nanospheres' of steel were found in the dust on the ground on all sides of the building. Pools of molten metal were seen in the basement. First-responders heard multiple explosion just before the collapse. 'Pancaking’ of a few floors would not produce the horizontal forces, or a 'slicing' effect, to sever these huge vertical beams that formed the exterior structure (and the inner columns supporting the elevators), and there wasn't enough vertical force  and energy  involved to continue 'pancaking' for more than a few floors, if any. The NIST report ignores all of this info, which suggests a cover-up! You can't ignore physics to preserve the story supported by your political bias or personal preference! The same lack of logic and evidence casts doubt on the alleged crash of an airliner(American 77) into the Pentagon. The damage there is consistent with a ground-fired missile (large hole through an inner concrete wall, which a soft-nosed airplane could not make, and there was no airliner debris, engines, or seats, etc.). The debris of United Flight 93 was scattered over such a wide area, it suggests the plane was blown-up in the sky. There are many other facts about the Towers and crashes, too numerous to mention here.

It is hugely important that we learn the truth about 9-11 because it is the trigger that let our government start the WOT and our invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and various domestic programs (Patriot Act, FISA, TSA, etc.) that violate our right and perpetuate the fear needed to tolerate the abuse. All of these government actions were based on fraud (just as most of our wars are; see essay B-2 below, 'Wars and the Lies that Start Them'), and should be ended promptly.

A) Why Muslims Hate Our Government: I’m all for finding and stopping the bombers and other maniacs that use violence to vent their rage, but feel equally as strong that we must examine why these thugs target us. The press, TV, and their 'experts' are overlooking (or avoiding) the core causes of why most Muslims in the Mid East (and elsewhere) hate us. The two key causes are; a) our worldwide meddling foreign policy (especially in the Mid East), and b) our extreme support of Israel (financial, military, and political). Osama made it clear in his letter of Nov-04 (suppressed by Bush) that his reasons to attack the US were; a) US troops and bases on Saudi soil, b) US biased support of Israel (see B-2 below), and c) the sanctions and bombings of Iraq since 1991 (see www.fff.org, key word ‘cruel’, 2-part essay). Bush twisted that into ‘they hate our way of life, etc.’ No one mentions our propping of oppressive regimes such as; 1. The US lacky Shah of Iran  (installed after the CIA overthrew the democratically elected Pres. Mossadegh in 1953, who nationalized, i.e., stole from UK and US, the Iranian oil industry), 2. Saudi Kings; a deal struck by FDR with Ibn Saud in Feb.,1945, after the Yalta Conference, on the cruiser USS Quincy in the Suez canal’s Bitter Lake, where Saud promised to sell oil only in US$, in exchange for U.S. protection of his monarchy from revolt, 3. Marcos in Philippines, and 4. Somoza and various others in Latin America, etc.).  It may be a coincidence, but on Sep. 11, 2001 the pals of Osama bin Laden were to be sentenced in New York for the 1998 bombings of 2 US embassies in Africa. 

There are other reasons people dislike us. Many people, of many countries and religions, view the US exuberant lifestyle and free-enterprise ‘capitalist’ system as improper and immoral. For Muslims, this is partly a jealousy/scapegoat issue due to the lack of freedom and prosperity in most of the Islamic world (due to corrupt leaders, rejection of ‘outside’ ideas and technology, and repression of women - half of the workforce). They also view Islam as more ‘virtuous’ than Christianity or Judaism, but ignore the need for liberty as a foundation for virtue (lack of coercion), and rejection of violence (the ultimate ‘non-virtue) in achieving their dreams of world domination. Furthermore, the Arabs have not forgotten their losses from 13 infamous Crusades as a reason to hate Europe and it’s pals in ‘the West’. One could call the 2003 US invasion of Iraq the fourteenth Crusade. 

Of course, the creation of Israel in 1948 was a huge jab to Arab pride and sovereignty. This was an illegal maneuver by the UN, UK and US because they had no authority to create a new country, especially on land occupied by others. An analogy would be the UN voting to give the US state of Oregon back to the Indians, or our southwest states back to Mexico. Due to all of the above ‘indignities’, Muslims don’t want their governments to deal with us, have our tourists and business people mingling with them, and most certainly not have our military bases on their sacred Arab soil. The book ‘Dying to Win’ by Prof. R. Pape shows that occupying forces are the main reason suicide bombers exist. It is the only WMD that poor citizens have. However, I say our relationship with Israel has long been the core issue that gets the bombers into action against the US. And please discard any comments about anti-Semitism. This is a legal, financial and political issue, not religious. I’d feel the same if Israel was created for, and populated by, Baptists or Hippies.

There is always a demented fringe that justifies use of violence,  but executing them will not stop the source of hate. Our policies will create lots of new ones, both at home and abroad. First, we must change our foreign policy and stop our arrogant role as the world's policeman (our new ‘go it alone’ style makes it worse), and specifically back off on special treatment of Israel and our double standard as to their use of violence and assassinations, versus their neighbors conduct. 

B) The True Reasons Bush Invaded Afghanistan and Iraq:   

  1. Control Access to, and Price of, oil in the Greater Mid East: This includes the east of Caspian area and northern Africa, and preventing access and control by Russia, China, and India. By taking over Afghanistan we finally got approval to build a pipeline through it (Google 'Unocal, Afghanistan'; a deal was announced 27Dec02 after a 10 year delay), but work is still delayed due to danger to construction crews from warlords. The AMBO pipeline from the Black Sea to the Adriatic Sea was in planning before 9-11, but again, 9-11 gave more reason for the US to meddle in the Baltics and get the pipeline approved (construction started in 2005, well guarded by huge US Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo; this is the main reason the U.S. recognized the sovereignty of Kosovo in Feb-08, to assure access to Camp Bondsteel; similar to recognizing Panama to assure access to the canal; etc., etc.). The phony US lead NATO (no NATO member had been threatened) war on the Yugoslav Serbs in 1999 was really about; a) control of the region by the US for future oil pipelines from the Caspian area, and b) pushing back Chinese influence in the area (hence the ‘accidental’ bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade). China announced in May, 04 a deal with Kazakhstan to replace the rail line that ships 7 mill. barrels a year with an 807 mi. oil pipeline (step one in an 1,800 mi. pipe) to ship 77 mill. by 2005, then upgrade to 144 mill. China’s biggest foreign investments are pipelines, refineries, and ports for the Khartoum govt in the Sudan (also their biggest arms supplier). Hence, the UN and US attention to the ‘genocide’ there (another fake reason to push back the Chinese). Our bombing of all the bridges on the Danube was to prevent Russian oil from being shipped to Germany and France (to keep Russia economically weak).  Getting Iraq out of OPEC is part of the plan.  The despotic, decadent Saudi royal family (over 1,000 ‘Princes’) is in big trouble and ripe for a revolution. Bush-43 doesn’t want to deal with an unfriendly Saudi govt (we have paid off the current group so well). On Feb. 10, 2004, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which supplies 40 percent of the world's oil, agreed to rein-in an estimated 1.5 million barrels of daily overproduction. This is small compared to the approx. 85 million barrels produced daily from all sources worldwide, of which the U.S. uses about 25 mill. Members also voted to cut their official output target by 1 million barrels to 23.5 million barrels a day, excluding production from Iraq, starting April-04. An oil industry analyst stated “Over and over again, OPEC has raised crude oil prices ... saying the weaker dollar brings member nations lower revenues because oil is traded in US dollars, as noted above, a deal FDR made with Ibn Saud in 1945, namely “If you sell oil to all only in US$, we will keep you in your job.” This led to US bases in Saudi Arabia, one of the key reasons Osama hated us. It isn't rocket science to figure out they will likely do this again with the dollar reaching new lows." (see item 3 below). 

The oil industry leaders, Rockefellers in particular, have long been good buddies with the Bushes. Their money and influence have had a major impact on US foreign policy as a means for these private corporations to control oil sources and the price thereof. A fine trio of deceit and exploitation led by the oil industry, the Bushes, and pals, and the Saudis. A huge scandal sustained by US lives and money. For more detail, read ’Black Gold, Hot Gold’ by Marshall Smith. In his second week in office Bush created the task force, officially known as the National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG) with Dick Cheney as chairman. This group was supposed to develop an energy policy for the Bush administration. Cheney met secretly with oil industry leaders, and has refused to disclose the proceedings, claiming the need for secrecy of Presidential discussions. Various groups have complained that this group had undue influence on national policy. Now we know it involved invasions of oil-producing nations to capture oil before China, India and Russia had control. 

Rather than seeking military and political control of oil-producing nations (a costly and immoral method), the US should negotiate long-term contracts for supply. Big customers have clout! This approach will also end creating enemies caused by meddling in the affairs of other countries. 

In 2005, the Iraq war was not going well and Bush began collaborating with the former enemy Sunnis (thus Cheney's Jan-06 trip around the region) on a deal to reduce the anti-US attacks inside Iraq so the US could declare victory and get out 'with honor'. Of course the original plan was to stay forever in order to; a) Control Iraq oil, b) Use permanent bases in Iraq to control the Mid East, c) Defend Israel, and d) Keep Iraq oil sales in US Dollars. 

In early 2007, the weakened U.S. was ready to settle for an oil deal with the puppet government of Iraq. This would have been a ‘victory’ for Bush, and allow pullback of U.S. troops to just control Iraq’s border, while the U.S. and U.K. oil firms sucked Iraq oil dry!. To buy time, the Bush Gang started rumors they would attack Iran from the sea (creating ‘Reasons’ as needed), and occupy some of the oil regions near Iraq. This would have minimized need for scarce ‘boots on the ground’. Bushie’s plan was to get this region ‘stable’ by the end of his reign in Dec-08. Thus, all deaths in his last two years were to enhance his legacy (and sell more book?). Tragic, immoral, illegal! 

Failure to capture Osama bin Laden (and not trying very hard) helped keep Bush as a 'War President' so the above issues could be pursued as part of the forever War on Terror. The increasingly illegal and desperate measures (torture, spying, etc.) taken by Bush showed his concern about avoiding new attacks on U.S. soil, which in fact were made even more likely by his ongoing intervention for the above issues in the Mid East. 

In their effort to solve the above problems and gain power worldwide, the Bush Team operated as an Imperial Presidency  with excess use of force, torture, domestic spying, and secrecy (hence the emergence of WikiLeaks in 2010!) which violate core U.S. principles and law; Sure signs of imperial rule!  They (and now Obama) used: a) foreign aid, intervention, and war in a plan to control the world’s politics and oil, and b) high spending, funded by debt, to pacify the folks at home; As with Rome, our self-serving leaders seek 'tribute' (oil these days) abroad, and give 'bread and circuses' (welfare and pork these days) at home. A classic failing empire! 

The first version of the warfare plan was secretly issued in Sep-00 by the ‘Project for a New American Century’ team (PNAC, a DC think tank, Founders included Cheney and Rumsfeld; www.newamericancentury.org) which started in 1997. The plan called for increased military force worldwide to promote control of oil and their special-interest politics. When Bush was elected in Nov-00, many of the authors (including Cheney, Rumsfeld, Perle, Kagan, Feith, Abrams, and Wolfowitz) joined the Bush team. For details, refer to the 25Feb03 essay, The Project for the New American Century, by William Pitt. Pitt also joined Scott Ritter (former UN Inspector for Iraq weapons) to write 'War in Iraq in Sep-02, and Ritter wrote five other books on Mid East strife. As shown by the demise of all previous empires in history, this approach never works. It is a path to military, economic, and ethical failure. 

The pathetic and tragic result is that we have not achieved control of oil and gas in the greater mid east, so the costs in lives (of our troops and murder of local civilians) and dollars has been wasted, but continues, and are a big part of our economic and moral decline! 

   2. Defense of Israel: Israel is by any definition a U.S. protectorate, but it is a well-guarded secret that we give them over 1/3 of our foreign aid (plus uncounted , unpaid, 'loan guarantees'), defend them with over 90% of our vetoes in the UN, and spend our blood and treasure to weaken their enemies (Iraq, Syria, Hamas, etc.; Iran next?). Again, no cries of anti-Semitism please, this is a political, legal and financial issue). Water, land, and oil for Israel are also issues. Watch Paul Whibey at GWEST and AISPS. GWEST is Global Water and Energy Strategy Team, and AISPS is Advanced Inst for Strategic Political Studies (offices in Israel and DC). Of course the ardent Christian religious types (Bush, Delay, Ashcroft, etc.) also believe that Israel must exist to allow the second coming of Christ (the Raptures). Religious folks have a long and sordid history of being willing to kill and maim to enforce or protect their preferences and ‘faith’ (certainty in the absence of logic and facts, or in contradiction of same). Many Bush-Team neocons are Zionists (all are Empire builders), which means they put the success of Israel before the USA, and expect the USA to pay for its defense with our blood and treasure. Robert Parry described it well on Jan. 2, 2009 in his essay 'Pity the Poor Neocons' at; http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/010209.html. The Israeli lobby AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee; www.aipac.org) is their enforcer in the USA. If a Congressperson doesn't support Israel, they don't get re-elected!! AIPAC attacks them or supports their opponent. Take note that most Congresspersons (plus Cheney, Rice, Powell, etc.) attend their annual banquet in DC and kiss-up by promising vast military and financial support for Israel!! Only a retiring Congressperson will criticize AIPAC. A massive scandal!!  

  3. Defense of the US dollar from the Euro:  US leaders want to keep oil deals denominated in US$ (see essay by W. Clark 'The Currency War' 26jan03; Saddam switched to Euro on Nov. 6, 2000; N. Korea did on Dec. 5, 2002, and Iran and Venezuela in Dec-06). One of the first executive orders that Bush signed (in May, 2003) switched trading on Iraq’s oil back to the US dollar. Also watch for emergence of the Islamic gold ‘dinar’ coin, or it’s virtual e-form for national bank transactions and trade imbalance settlements. Both the euro and dinar were created by Europe and Islam to a) avoid political and banking dependence on the US dollar, and b) avoid losses in value of dollar holdings as it weakens in purchasing power (30% against the euro in 2003). 

Nixon abrogated the Bretton Woods agreement in 1971, which removed convertibility to gold with other nations and allowed us to create dollars out of thin-air. Other nations continued to accept it and treat it as their reserve currency (as good as gold), because it was backed by the world’s strongest economy (the USD is a share in ‘USA, Inc.’). Now, many nations are ‘pregnant’ with large US dollar holdings and cooperate to avoid a collapse in it’s value because they all would lose. However, in early 2008, we began hearing about merchants worldwide refusing to convert dollars to local currency for tourists, to avoid losses. This is how a crash starts from bottom-up! 

The combination of non-convertible 'fiat' paper money used as the world's primary reserve currency has never happened before, and allows the USA to create new money to pay its bills, and live high on debt (selling Treasury bonds to dollar holders overseas). This ‘economic high’ is like a heroin drug high, but is usually followed by painful withdrawal called a depression. 

One of the risks foreign governments fear is that the US will payoff its debts by excess creation of cash out of thin air. This would greatly reduce the value of the dollar, is a form of default, and could lead to hyperinflation (almost worthless money). The 2009 and 2010 Federal Reserve bailout plans of 'Quantitative Easing' (QE-1 and -2) give them just cause.

Foreign dependency on the US dollar, and support from our military strength, are the foundation of ‘Empire USA’, the US domination of the world. Both are weakening and causing our 'friends' to consider alternatives before we crash.

  4. Access to Iraq Land for Permanent bases: We need to use their ports, and build new US airbases, and a fortress embassy (21 buildings, 104 acres, with a 15 foot thick wall), so we 'remake' Iran, Syria, and the Greater Mid East, and prevent a rebel takeover of Saudi Arabia (by Osama’s pals). Our bases in Saudi Arabia (source of the 9-11 killers) were vacated in the ‘90s under pressure, and Turkish bases have been undependable. Also notice our new ‘outer Europe’ bases in Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kosovo (huge Camp Bondsteel), etc.

Why do you think we are still in S. Korea, to help them, a very strong country? No, it’s to have bases and troops handy in Asia! Mark my words. The US will be in Iraq for a long time. Bush had no exit strategy because he never planned to leave!! We have over 700 military bases worldwide (according to the Pentagon's own 2005 official inventory). Not including the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, we now station over half a million U.S. troops, spies, contractors, dependents, and others on military bases located in more than 130 countries.
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The 9-11 tragedy (prompted by the US interventionist foreign policy, aka ‘world’s policeman’, and Empire, and support of cruel dictators such as the Saudis, but implemented by Israel's Mossad) gave Bush-43 a great reason to launch his takeover plan. ‘Lucky Iraq’ is just the first step to invoke W's 'New World Order.' Bush detests Saddam for his interference in ME oil, his threat to Israel, and his use of the Euro for oil. I say Saddam’s threat to the elder Bush-41 is a very small part of his hate of Saddam. 

As to our military projects subsequent to 9-11: a) Osama’s connection with the Taliban (a former US ally who did nothing to the US) in Afghanistan gave Bush a perfect opportunity to invade Afghanistan and create a puppet gov’t so the long delayed pipeline from Turkmenistan, via Afghanistan, to Karachi could be built (surprise, a deal was signed 27Dec02!), and b) while Saddam Hussein is a bad guy, our arrogant talk about ‘changing regimes’ in Iraq was/is primarily to defend Israel and control oil (throughout the mideast!), and has nothing to do with protecting the U.S. 

A corollary is why China, Russia, France and Germany oppose the US plans for Iraq;

1. They already have a good business deal with Iraq, which also owes them money
2. They don't give a darn about Israel

Why is Blair so friendly? The UK is not on the above list of Iraq partners and he wants in on the deal when the US takes over Iraq! Besides, the UK isn’t on the Euro. 

Then there’s the Ahmed Chalabi fiasco. I say W, Cheney, Rummy, and the neocons knew from the start (pre 9-11) that he was a liar and a crook, but he 1) was an Iraqi, and 2) fed them the WMD and other lies they needed to justify the invasion, so he was a useful tool. When the phony reasons to invade lost all credibility, they dumped him in May, 04 as a scapegoat (CYA time!). Of course, as they always knew, there was plenty of illegal activity to pin on him as the purported reason for the dumping. R. Parry wrote, “Bush should have suspected that Chalabi, an Iraqi Shiite who has lived most of his life in exile, might have been in league with Iranian leaders with whom he met often. They share a background in the Shiite sect of Islam – and a burning hatred toward Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated government. Saddam suppressed Iraqi Shiites and battled Iran in a bloody eight-year war starting in 1980. It has long been Iran’s goal to see a friendly Shiite-controlled government in Iraq. Chalabi, in turn, needed a political base of support that promised more durability than Washington.” 

And let’s not ignore the fact that we used depleted uranium (DU) in lots of our shells. It is heavy stuff, which helps penetrate metal and concrete, but it has a nasty side-effect of causing; 1.  cancer in those folks (our military and ‘enemies’) who have the bad luck to inhale or otherwise get some of the dust or particles in their body, and 2. birth defects in new babies. Of course we deny the use of DU, and the existence of sick people with the side effects. These victims are among those deemed by our then Sec. of State Madelyn Allbright to be ‘worth it’! 

What's new in gov't deceit?? I further accuse Bush of ‘staying the course’ in the hopeless quagmire of both wars so his replacement (‘successor’ sounds too nice) would be framed as the loser in 2009. Sadly, many thousands more of our troops and Iraqi civilians were killed and maimed in the process!. Pres. Obama has supported our ongoing role. Is this to avoid being labeled a ‘weak loser’, or to get the oil? 

Domestic ‘big government’, which invokes police powers as ‘boss’ and ‘manager’ of our lives, rather than just sticking with their proper role to ‘protect’ our rights from violation by others, is also a big problem. The Waco, and Ruby Ridge crimes by police against U.S. citizens (with support from Janet Reno) are good examples of big violations, but there are hundreds of smaller ones daily. The current surge of increased domestic police powers to fight terrorism (Patriot Act, MCA, etc.) threatens to make things worse as they are used, and abused, for other situations (RICO is a good example). A major part of the reason for creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security , and the air travel gropers of TSA (U.S. Transportation Security Administration) was to keep the US population in fear of attack so they are willing to submit to violation of their rights. Once the government gets new power, it seldom goes away.

If we stop meddling and supporting 'our' dictators and terrorists to satisfy short-term goals for ‘stability’ and oil, the hate will subside. If we are too vain or stupid to change, the terror will continue (copycats included) and our liberty and economic productivity (due to fear of travel, border and transport delays, reduced confidence for investing, etc.) will suffer forever. The 'Why Us' article on Sep. 14, ’02, page A6, the WS Journal did a good job of addressing many of the above issues. Take heed.

In summary, I believe in a strong homeland defense, but that does not include, or require, being a worldwide meddling policeman and empire builder. The Iraq and Afghan. wars are not about the Taliban or WMDs, etc., but about CONTROL of the Middle East, and then the politics, currency, and oil of the world. This is the core mission of ‘EMPIRE USA’.

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Flash: On June 22, 2008, Eric Margolis issued the article below, which confirms the oil part of 'True Reasons' above:

"These wars are about oil, not democracy"         

PARIS -- The ugly truth behind the Iraq and Afghanistan wars finally has emerged.

Four major western oil companies, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP and Total are about to sign U.S.-brokered no-bid contracts to begin exploiting Iraq's oil fields. Saddam Hussein had kicked these firms out three decades ago when he nationalized Iraq's oil industry. The U.S.-installed Baghdad regime is welcoming them back.

Iraq is getting back the same oil companies that used to exploit it when it was a British colony.

As former fed chairman Alan Greenspan recently admitted, the Iraq war was all about oil. The invasion was about SUV's, not democracy.

Afghanistan just signed a major deal to launch a long-planned, 1,680-km pipeline project expected to cost $8 billion. If completed, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline (TAPI) will export gas and later oil from the Caspian basin to Pakistan's coast where tankers will transport it to the West.

The Caspian basin located under the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakkstan, holds an estimated 300 trillion cubic feet of gas and 100-200 billion barrels of oil. Securing the world's last remaining known energy El Dorado is a strategic priority for the western powers.

But there are only two practical ways to get gas and oil out of land-locked Central Asia to the sea: Through Iran, or through Afghanistan to Pakistan. Iran is taboo for Washington. That leaves Pakistan, but to get there, the planned pipeline must cross western Afghanistan, including the cities of Herat and Kandahar.

PIPELINE DEAL

In 1998, the Afghan anti-Communist movement Taliban and a western oil consortium led by the U.S. firm Unocal signed a major pipeline deal. Unocal lavished money and attention on the Taliban, flew a senior delegation to Texas, and hired a minor Afghan official, Hamid Karzai.

Enter Osama bin Laden. He advised the unworldly Taliban leaders to reject the U.S. deal and got them to accept a better offer from an Argentine consortium. Washington was furious and, according to some accounts, threatened the Taliban with war.

In early 2001, six or seven months before 9/11, Washington made the decision to invade Afghanistan, overthrow the Taliban, and install a client regime that would build the energy pipelines. But Washington still kept sending money to the Taliban until four months before 9/11 in an effort to keep it "on side" for possible use in a war against China.

The 9/11 attacks, about which the Taliban knew nothing, supplied the pretext to invade Afghanistan. The initial U.S. operation had the legitimate? objective of wiping out Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida. But after its 300 members fled to Pakistan, the U.S. stayed on, built bases -- which just happened to be adjacent to the planned pipeline route -- and installed former Unocal "consultant" Hamid Karzai as leader.

Washington disguised its energy geopolitics by claiming the Afghan occupation was to fight "Islamic terrorism," liberate women, build schools and promote democracy. Ironically, the Soviets made exactly the same claims when they occupied Afghanistan from 1979-1989. The Iraq cover story was weapons of mass destruction and democracy.

Work will begin on the TAPI once Taliban forces are cleared from the pipeline route by U.S., Canadian and NATO forces. As American analyst Kevin Phillips writes, the U.S. military and its allies have become an "energy protection force."

ADDED BENEFIT

From Washington's viewpoint, the TAPI deal has the added benefit of scuttling another proposed pipeline project that would have delivered Iranian gas and oil to Pakistan and India.

India's energy needs are expected to triple over the next decade. Delhi, which has its own designs on Afghanistan, is cock-a-hoop over the new pipeline plan.

Russia, by contrast, is grumpy, having hoped to monopolize Central Asian energy exports.

Energy is more important than blood in our modern world. The U.S. is a great power with massive energy needs. Domination of oil is a pillar of America's world power. Let's be realistic. Afghanistan and Iraq are about oil, nothing else. "

 http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Margolis_Eric/2008/06/22/pf-5953041.html

2. Wars and the lies that start them

Published Mon. SEP 10, 2007     Wisconsin State Journal     www.madison.com (regional daily newspaper)

Our presidents, and their complicit henchmen, have lied us into every war since the revolution in 1776.

Their true reasons have not been legal, constitutional, or politically acceptable, so they invent one or more false reasons that they can "sell " to the people.

Sadly, most people believe the lies, and proudly support the "wars for defense. " They can 't imagine that our leaders would be so evil as to spend the lives of our troops to gain their hidden political and economic goals for Empire-USA.

The secret plan of Bush and his gang is to: 1) Take over all oil in the Middle East so we don 't have to share it with China and India, and 2) Defend Israel at any cost. Control of oil was the hidden reason for the Balkans, Afghan, and Iraq wars.

Iran is their next target.

The war drums are beating in Washington to justify bombing Iran, so this is a good time to consider whether our leaders are lying again. Here are the facts on how we got into a few major wars. Each one could be a book, so please forgive the brevity.

War of 1812

Lies: In 1812, Congress declared war on England based primarily on their kidnapping

( "impressment ") of our sailors at sea. Truth: To drive England out of North America and get southern land.

Mexican-American War

Lies: Fight to defend our Texas border with Mexico. Truth: We invaded to expand, and took the northern half of Mexico, now our entire Southwest region.

Civil War

Lies: Fight to end slavery and preserve the union. Truth: The South seceded due to economic abuse by the North. Slavery was ended later (but only in Southern states).

Spanish-American War

Lies: Spain blew-up the U.S. battleship Maine in Cuba 's Havana harbor. Truth: The accidental explosion was used to invade Cuba, and the Philippines.

World War I

Lies: Join Europe to "Make the World Safe for Democracy. " Truth: Wilson was convinced to join by U.S. and European industrialists.

World War II

Lies: Defend the United States from unprovoked attacks by Japan. Truth: FDR wanted to help his pal Winston Churchill, so he poked Japan until he got his "incident. "

Korean War

Lies: Defend America. Truth: Truman and the generals wanted a reason to have troops in the Far East area of our Empire.

Vietnam War

Lies: Johnson said Vietnam attacked our ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. Truth: The United States didn 't want to lose the southeast Asia region, and its oil, to China.

Gulf War

Lies: To defend Kuwait from Iraq. Truth: Saddam was a threat to Israel, and we wanted his oil.

Balkans

Lies: Prevent Serb killing in Kosovo. Truth: 1. Get the Chinese out of Eastern Europe and Caspian Sea areas so they couldn 't get control of the oil, and 2. Grab land for bases and an oil/gas pipeline.

Afghanistan

Lies: The Taliban were hiding Osama. Truth: To build a oil/gas pipeline from the northern "...stan " countries to a warm water port near Karachi.

Iraq

Lies: Stop use of WMDs, or bring democracy. Truth: Oil, defense of Israel, land for permanent bases and restore oil sales in the United States Dollar.

Possible Iran War

Lies: They almost have an atom bomb. Truth: Oil and defense of Israel.

Fight the Bush gang to stop their plans for war against Iran.

                            ****************

Redick, of Madison, is president of www.Forward-USA.org.

3. Failure of Congress

(Published in Wisc. State Journal, regional daily newspaper (www.madison.com) and www.wispolitics.com ,  28MAR07)

xxxxxxx

For immediate release (April 1, 2007)    

Contact: David Redick, www.Forward-USA.org, 608-469-8922

Congress Has No Clothes

(Madison, WI) An old Danish fable tells how an Emperor fell for a trick where he thought he had a suit on and only stupid people could not see his clothes. The news spread and as he walked in public no one would say he was naked for fear of being scorned as stupid. Finally a child (or maybe an honest person) saw him and declared the Emperor was naked! The key point is ignoring what is obvious in order to protect ones self. Words like ‘self-serving, dishonest, and cowardly’ apply.

April Fools day is a good time to declare that most people in our Congress are playing the same game, hoping no one will declare the obvious. Republican’s were dumped in the 2006 election due to voter’s opposition to Bush’s wars and other unconstitutional, dishonest, immoral, and illegal acts. Now the Democrats - who loudly campaigned on opposition to the war in Iraq and the coming one in Iran - timidly avoid using their new power to establish peace. They talked peace to get elected, but now they are voting funds ($122 billion) to continue the war in Iraq, with no restrictions on expansion into Iran. The game now, for both parties, is to get re-elected to Congress in 2008 by avoiding charges of being soft on defense.  Congress somehow believes people cannot see that this peace charade has ‘no clothes.’  In the meantime, more lives of our brave troops, and countless civilians, are being wasted.

Fortunately, a small group of Congress persons (of both houses and parties) have the courage and honesty to speak out against this deception, and will soon write binding resolutions to end the killing and spending. It is time for ‘nation-first’, rather than ‘party-first’ politics. Republican Chuck Hagel set a good example when on March 27 he backed a Democrat-led effort to defeat a Republican attempt to strip a non-binding timeline for phased withdrawal from the $122 billion emergency spending bill. His vote created a 50 to 48 win (2 non-voting) for the bill, which also included his new bi-partisan amendment with Sen. Webb to provide better care of our troops.

Most people now question the fake ‘WMD’ and ‘Install Democracy’ reasons put forth by Bush, but oddly, both sides of the debate show little interest in the hidden agenda of REAL REASONS why Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, and now threatens Iran. All the honest evidence and logic indicates they are: 1. Control of oil in the greater mid east (including a pipeline through Afghanistan), 2. Defense of Israel, and 3. Land for permanent bases. The 9-11 tragedy was ‘used’ as a trigger to launch this previously prepared agenda.

This aggression, and the related spending and losses of liberty, are causing dangerous harm to our nation’s military, economic, and ethical strength.

Now is the time for accountability in DC! It is up to our precious few Congress-persons with courage and integrity to lead the fight to restore the USA to its role as an honest and moral nation. Those who have spoken strongly thus far include, Sen. Feingold, Hagel, Smith, and Webb, plus US Rep’s Jones, Murtha, and Paul (please forgive omissions). All concerned citizens should stand up and be counted with this courageous band of patriots.  Indeed, it is our duty as citizens of a Republic to do so.

Dave Redick is a Madison businessman, and President of www.Forward-USA.org, which seeks ways to improve government.

4. In Iraq, losses are ‘Worth It' to Bush

Published Sat. OCT. 27, 2007     Wisconsin State Journal     www.madison.com (regional daily newspaper in Madison, WI)

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/column/other/index.php?ntid=253441&ntpid=4

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

By Dave Redick,  October 27, 2007

There have been many attempts to explain the causes of and solutions for the Iraq war. They all miss the main point.

While the "weapons of mass destruction" and "bring democracy" covers have been well discredited, and the real reasons -- oil, defense of Israel and land for permanent bases -- have been revealed, there has until now been no good explanation of why the Bush-Cheney cabal has been so adamant in continuing the fight, despite our losses, and little sign of progress. The quandary is, progress toward what?

Here is the answer: They compare our human and financial losses to the cost of buying oil at very high prices if we lose control of the greater Middle East to our (DR: newly-created) enemies Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia and to large oil consumers like China and India.

They want it all. As long as we are over there and China and India aren't, Bush views that as "mission accomplished."

The Middle East holds the last large reserves of "peak oil," which is cheap to pump and refine. Oil from shale and tar sands is plentiful, but it's very expensive to get and is an environmental nightmare. Other alternate sources of energy -- solar, bio-fuel, wind and nuclear power -- also have economic, environmental and technical problems.

The Bush administration figures a trillion or so dollars, and a few thousand U.S. lives -- plus hundreds of thousands of Iraqi dead, and a ravaged country -- are worth it compared to the many trillions they figure we would otherwise have to pay for buying the oil in the future.

If their thinking sounds mean and evil, get used to it. Leaders throughout history have sent their troops and treasure to war for less -- sometimes just for personal grudges.

Lying to the American people and our friends is just a normal method for them. Stoking the "War on Terror," restricting our freedoms, and keeping Osama free to threaten us, is part of the plan. All leaders know that fear sells war, and they are making the most of it.

However, many well-informed people think that we can get our share of oil at a reasonable price without bombing and occupying the countries that produce it. This also has the advantage of being legal and moral.

But Bush and Cheney don't want to take that chance. They like to use force and control at home and abroad.

So how do we stop these zealots from starting World War III?

Here are two ideas: Badger your congressman and senators to withhold funds from the Iraq war except to withdraw troops, and support the presidential candidates who oppose this and any war waged for political and economic reasons.

(DR:Yes YOU!) It is the duty of every citizen in a republic to defend our Constitution and ethics.

                                  ******************

Redick is a Madison businessman and president of www.Forward-USA.org, which seeks ways to improve government.

5. Fake Money: Cause of wars, Depressions

Published as the ‘Guest Column’ on Jan. 29, 2008 by the Wisconsin State Journal, a regional daily newspaper based in Madison, WI. See it on www.madison.com .

MON., JAN 28, 2008 - 5:46 PM   On Jan. 22, 2008, the Federal Reserve System issued an interest rate cut to "rescue the economy. " This shows how counterproductive government "management " of the economy is. It creates problems with too much easy money (mortgages), then tries to solve them with more of the same (a "stimulus " package). The analogy is that easy money is like a heroin high, and recessions are like withdrawal. In each case, it is better to avoid the fake highs and let the free market work.Our monetary system is very important because it affects government policy so much. Our leaders in Congress want an unlimited supply of that money so they can continue to give handouts to voters and fund wars for empire, such as Iraq.Since only the federal government can create money, we see an increase in the number of state projects funded by Washington and more pork from the Capitol.You won 't read the following analysis in the newspapers or in a college economics course. Most politicians, business leaders and professors like the current system of fake money, because their jobs, grants, and social lives depend on it.Thus they ridicule the idea of real money (convertible to gold, by any person, on demand) as old-fashioned. However, history and logic show us that the use of real money, not subject to manipulation by government, is fundamental to the long-term success and survival of a nation. Conversely, all failing nations in history have resorted to debasement of their currency, using worthless paper and less-precious metal in coins, to fund their excess spending. Fake paper money, managed by the Federal Reserve, is what allows the massive spending and debt for wars and domestic pork and welfare that have brought the United States to the brink of economic collapse. The Fed is a private bank created in 1913, which was granted authority to produce our currency and manage our monetary system. Its mission to bring stability and maintain the dollar 's value has been a failure. The U.S. dollar has lost 90 percent of its purchasing power since 1913, and 40 percent against the Euro since 2001.The key reason to covert paper money to a commodity is to limit excess expansion of the money supply. The commodity could be wheat, iron, diamonds, or pearls, but gold works best for many practical reasons. Politicians hate real money because it limits their spending.The United States is bankrupt due to excess debt, spending and future obligations, with no cure in sight. Those countries that own a lot of U.S. dollars can 't afford to dump them as their value declines due to fear of starting worldwide panic selling.But history shows us that something always triggers panic selling and a crash. This crash could reduce the value of the U.S. dollar by 50 percent or more, and start a worldwide depression. Sadly, very few people understand or care about currency issues. Instead, they prefer our version of Roman bread and circuses as we crash. Redick of Madison is president of www.Forward-USA.org.  (for the full essay, go to Part 1 in the left margin of this site)

6. Bomb Iran: The Bush-Cheney Rush to Bomb Iran’

Contact; David Redick   dave@Forward-usa.org     608-469-8922

May 2, 2008, Madison, WI:  Our dear leaders have been rattling the sabers about Iran since 2006. They claim its about Iran building an atom bomb and helping ‘insurgents’ go to Iraq, but the Real Reasons are controlling their oil and pipelines, and defense of Israel. With that in mind, recent events set an ominous pattern, which increases the chance that Bush will bomb Iran. Here are some key events that ‘set the stage’ for bombing or invasion soon;

1. During his Jan-08 visit to Israel, Bush said, ".. Iran will be a threat if the international community does not come together and prevent that nation from the development of the know-how to build a nuclear weapon."

2. Centcom Commander (all of Mid East) Admiral ‘No war with Iran on my watch’ W. Fallon suddenly retired on March 11 (in fact, he was fired; one less impediment for Bush), He had refused to send the third aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf.

3. Cheney visited Iraq on March 17 to chat with various military and civilian leaders (was it partly to assure the commanders would attack when ordered?),

4. On April 8, Israel conducted its biggest nation-wide civil defense drill ever to practice evacuation after simulated rocket attacks from Syria or Iran.

5. Also on April 8, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker met with Congress. As expected, Petraeus pointed blame at Iran,

6. On April 24, Gates announced the appointed of Bush lapdog Gen. Petraeus to replace Adm. Fallon (see #2 above) as Centcom Commander (all of the Mid East) and surprise, the compliant General immediately ordered another carrier into the Persian Gulf. Get ready for the bombs!

It has been clear for years that the Bush Gang wants to control Iran. Now, time is running out, including; a. The end of his Presidency, b. The bad target-visibility season of rains starting in July, c. Lack of funding, and d. The increasing resistance to a new war that could result in mass demonstrations and ruin McCain’s chance to win. Indeed, now that McCain is the presumptive nominee, Bush wants to help him win as a ‘war candidate’. Any complainers will be painted as ‘non-patriotic’, etc. Attacking Iran is thus a 'Hail Mary' political risk that could back-fire, but it will be satisfying to the Bush-Cheney war-first gang either way. Maybe Israel will start the war with a phony claim of defense, perhaps after a false-flag bombing.

Insiders agree that it is unlikely Bush will try to occupy much of the vast acreage of Iran. Instead, they will try to destroy nuclear labs, long-range missile sites, and occupy only the oil fields concentrated along the Persian Gulf (and the short-range missile sites there).

In their ongoing display of weakness and self-interest, most members of Congress have raised no serious objection, and keep voting for war funding. Fortunately, wiser voices are speaking against the Bush-McCain doctrine of using force and threats to build ‘Empire-USA’ to control land, sea and resources worldwide. A few members of Congress with guts and honesty, led by Sen. Chuck Hagel and Congressman Ron Paul, have spoken strongly against the current wars, and more with Iran. To his credit, our Sen. Feingold is part of this group.

The presidential candidates vary on Iraq from ‘100 Years McCain’ to ‘Someday Leave’ Clinton and Obama. At least Obama has supported serious diplomacy with Iran, as have Hagel and Paul.

Now is the time for every responsible citizen to take personal action to prevent war with Iran. Write your Congressperson and Bush, or organize a street demonstration.  Do something!

                                                   **************              

Dave Redick lives in Madison, and is President of www.Forward-USA.org

 7. How Government Abuses Our Patriotism,

         July 1, 2008

We hear talk during Federal election campaigns, including the current presidential race, about which candidates are the most Patriotic, as demonstrated by words, lapel pins, etc. This word is also used to urge young people to join the military and risk death or harm, or for all citizens to sacrifice in other ways. Patriotism is defined as ‘love of country and devotion to its welfare’. Thus it is normal to think of being Patriotic as a good thing, but let’s look at how it can be abused, and the difference between ‘country’ (same as ‘nation’, the land and people), and ‘government’ (same as 'state', the political activity). Unfortunately, many people have been duped into thinking they are the same.

Our colonial citizens and founding leaders created state and federal governments as a means to protect their personal and property rights, as individuals, from violation by others (persons, countries, or firms). Due to the abuse they endured under English rule (like millions before them in other countries), they were worried about government going astray and causing harm, so they wrote a Constitution that gives it limited powers, to keep the DC folks on a short leash (OK, they added a few ‘rights’, just to be sure). They were independent–thinkers (not Parasites or Lemmings), cherished their Liberty, and viewed government as a Servant to protect the citizens, and not as a Parent, Owner, Funder, or Boss. They wisely viewed the ‘government’ as distinct from the ‘nation’ or ‘country’. They were loyal to their family, friends, fellow countrymen, and property, and felt patriotic to these things, but not to the 'leaders' who temporarily had jobs running the ‘government’. Fighting to protect your family and property was considered defense for your own good, not a sacrifice for others. Government workers were considered ‘public servants’ with a duty to help protect the people.

More and more since 1776, the government folks have pleaded for our Patriotism to support their wars, spending, and other projects, most of which are self-serving violations of the Constitution, and not to protect the people’s rights! The government has evolved from a Servant to a Parent, Owner, Funder, and Boss. The recipients of the government handouts and favors chide others to be Patriotic and Loyal, or worse, others are dupes who believe government lies, and urge their children and friends to accept whatever the government people say, including joining the military to risk giving their life as the ‘ultimate sacrifice’. Sadly, all U.S. wars since 1812 have been based on lies, and were for political and economic reasons (oil, land, Empire, etc.), not defense.

So let’s think twice when we are asked to be Patriotic, and make sure we are supporting our family, friends and property, not self-serving government projects created by Politicians to enhance their power and wealth!

                        xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Footnote: 1. Loyalty = faithful to lawful govt; true to any person to whom one owes fidelity, 2. Sacrifice = giving some desirable thing in behalf of a higher claim.

                         xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dave Redick lives in Madison, and is President of www.Forward-USA.org

8.  Events in Georgia: More Bush Lies; Aug. 19, 2008 -  (An email to 40 political activists and pundits)

Friends: There has been much conjecture and ranting since the Georgian army artillery shells landed on the city of Tskhinvali in South Ossetia on Aug. 7. Early reaction was ‘is Mikhail Saakashvili nuts?’ Having read a bunch of these writings, I have now figured the likely truth behind it all. You have to be really cynical to get it straight. Here it is;

1, a) Bushie wanted to get US troops in Georgia so as to protect the oil pipeline that runs through it, then to a port in Turkey and to Israel, a major user, and b) Bushie wanted Poland to approve installation of US missiles. Polish officials wanted them, but needed a ‘reason’.

2, Saakashvili is a puppet-ruler for the US and will do as Bushie says.

3,  Mikhail agreed to do a vicious attack on Tskhinvali, home of many ethnic Russians, so as to prompt retaliation by Putin, and allow the US to declare Russia a threat to its neighbors (shades of 1968; go get’em Condi), and justify US ‘help’. This also would help ‘clear’ the area for NATO membership.

4, Putin obliged (for good reason). Bushie; a) was in Beijing so could claim, or seem, 'not involved', b) made a quick call to Poland and got their agreement, and c) sent US troops and equipment with ‘aid’ to Georgia (they won’t leave soon). Watch for them in the pipeline area.

5. A semi-truce was quickly made to avoid WW3

6, It worked as a 'trigger' event; a) We have a deal with Poland, b) we have troops and equipment in Georgia, near its pipeline, and 3) Russia is again labeled a vicious bear. OK for Bush so far.

This is the kind of foreign-policy-by-force that Bush-Cheney and their neocon gang love. Empires have always employed it, until they fail due to expense abroad, and decadence (bread and circuses) at home. They all fail. See # 5 in the left margin of my site below.

9. Social and Economic ‘Engineering’ by Government: It always does more harm than good

(Madison, WI, Jan. 21, 2009)  The purpose of our Federal constitution is to put the government on a short leash. It is a list of ‘powers’ (not laws), granted by the people, stating what it is allowed to do, and aimed at protecting the personal and property rights of the people. This is a ‘Constitutional Republic’, not a ‘Democracy’ where majority rules. The first ten amendments (which named ‘rights’) were part of the original package because some Founders feared the government would not comply with the limits. They were right! Then and now, many people want an ‘activist’ government to go beyond protecting rights, and have it ‘manage’ the economy and our social system with subsidies and other benefits to their favorite groups. This attitude is displayed equally by Liberals/Progressives and Conservatives, they just have different goals and priorities. These ‘leaders’ violate our constitution, and ‘should’ on us by using the government to force us to do their version of the ‘right’ things. They claim ‘majority rules’, but it is in fact ‘tyranny of the majority’ due to the lack of constitutional limits. Most of their projects do more harm than good,

There are thousands of examples, and all are unconstitutional. A few major ones are:

1913: The Federal Reserve Bank was created as an independent body to manage our monetary system and protect the value of the US Dollar. Result: The Fed has become a political tool. The Dollar’s purchasing power has fallen 95% since 1913, and by 50% against the Euro since 1999. Politically driven excess increases in the money supply led to the panics and depressions, which started in 1929 and 2008. The Fed should be abolished, and sound money, convertible to gold, introduced.

1933: FDR’s New Deal first made the government responsible for the nation’s economic success. Result: Government spending, debt, and citizen dependency, has increased ever since. The Bush TARP plan, and Obama’s promises, follow this method.

1950’s: Laws to ‘help’ workers gave special negotiating advantages to unions (guaranteed jobs and back pay after strikes). Result: Extortionist demands created pay and benefits above market value, especially in the auto and steel industries, so jobs started going to Southern states, then overseas.

1960’s:  LBJ’s ‘Great Society’ was aimed at the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. Medicare and ‘preferred minorities’ were invented. Result: Costs, unfunded future liabilities, dependency, and lack of personal responsibility, have all zoomed up since then.

1968: The Williams Act of 1968 restricted hostile takeover attempts by making the Buyer announce their intentions when they had 5% of the target stock. Result: This allowed officers to get lazy and corrupt without risk of getting booted out. It wasn't long (and quite predictable) that Directors were selected by Officers (a ‘slate’), the combo title ‘Chairman and CEO’ was born (an inherent conflict), and the self-dealing of excess salaries and bonuses started.

1977, 1995:  The ‘Community Reinvestment Act’ (CRA), was a law signed by Pres. Carter that required banks and thrifts to offer credit throughout their entire market area and prohibits them from targeting only wealthier neighborhoods. Clinton passed laws in 1995 forcing lenders to meet quotas for ‘subprime’ loans to low income borrowers. It was all aimed at stimulating the construction industry, while buying votes from ‘the disadvantaged’. Wall Street converted ‘bags’ of these to ‘securities’ (including weird ‘swaps’), falsely labeled them ‘AAA’, and sold them world wide. Result: US Banks, the Fannie & Freddie GSE’s, and investors, accumulated tons of loans and mortgages, which went into default when borrowers couldn’t pay. This was the main cause of the Oct.-08 Wall Street crash.

Many people call for more regulation, but proper enforcement of existing laws, and less creation of fake money and fake loans by our corrupt government, would have prevented the 2008 crash. The Bush-Obama plan offers bailouts to the greedy and incompetent, a proven failure that delays recovery, and risks hyperinflation (crash in purchasing power of the US Dollar). I say let the greedy and foolish fail,and  repeal the bad laws, so the prudent, competent firms and people can recover on their own. This is fair, effective, and faster.       

10.  Progressives Blame Capitalism and Corporations for Our Economic Mess: Pathetic

(Madison, WI, Jan. 22, 2009)  All elected politicians want the government to have lots of money; they just have different priorities on how to spend it. Getting votes is a big part of the priority. Any unbiased study will show that excess growth of the money supply (over about 3 to 5% per year; created as needed by the Federal Reserve ‘bank’) results in false prosperity, mal-investment, and ‘bubbles’. It is like heroin; it feels good as a short-term stimulant, but causes pain (recession) or even near-death (severe depression). Our government and politicians are the dealers and pushers; ‘Want a ‘fix’; Vote for me’. The progressives (Liberals, Socialists, etc.) don’t want to admit they are causing harm with their handouts, so they blame ‘Conservative’ straw men such as ‘Capitalism’ and ‘Corporations’ as evil things. They claim Conservatives have blind faith in free markets and don’t care about human conditions. They re-define Capitalism as a ‘social system’, and even some dictionaries are adopting this change. My 1953 Webster’s New Collegiate dictionary defines Capitalism as ‘an economic system based on free enterprise and private ownership’, but new dictionaries may include a ‘non-economic’ definition calling it a ‘social system based on property rights’.

Leaving bias and emotion aside; 1. Capitalism is just an economic system based on free enterprise (minimal government intrusion), and private ownership, and 2. A Corporation is just a way to share ownership in a business, which helps in raising money by selling stock. Progressives have called it a way to cheat and avoid individual blame; what a silly spin! Their latest dread is that Corps may be viewed as having ‘personal’ rights such as ‘freedom of speech’. They go to these extremes to deflect the fact that they are causing problems by their use of the government to impose their social views and projects on others by force. This reveals another benefit of Capitalism: It is a moral system based on voluntary association, buying, selling, etc. Progressives love to raise money by immoral ‘tax the rich’ schemes, which I call ‘gang-theft-by-vote’.

As to our current economic mess, the cause starts with fake money issued by the Federal Reserve System, then used by the government to fund all manner of inflationary projects (feel-good ‘fixes’ like sub-prime loans, housing bubbles, pork, etc.), and wars. The progressives like to spend the money, but blame the harm on ‘Capitalism’ and ‘Corporations’; Pathetic and dishonest. The true solution is to issue sound money (convertible to gold), abolish the Fed, end Empire-USA and its wars, and stop government meddling in the economy and our lives. History and logic show that this approach works best to attain more peace, prosperity, liberty, justice and ethics.

11.   Essay by David Redick, Dave@Forward-USA.org , 10Dec2010, posted at http://www.activistpost.com/2010/12/why-use-gold-as-money.html  (with minor edits)

Why Use Gold as Money ? 

History shows us that when countries use a valuable commodity as money they have zero or low price inflation, zero or minor 'cycles' of economic panic or depression, and more peace, liberty, and prosperity (smaller governments). For example, the number of grams of gold needed to buy a barrel of oil has been very steady over the years. A key benefit of using gold as money is its value stability. Even better, Econ 101 tells us that a commodity (such as gold) in limited supply, and with increasing demand for it (growth of the economy), will APPRECIATE in value. This has huge importance because it kills the ‘there is not enough gold’ argument, and gives a positive incentive to save, and avoid debt 

Thus, we would expect all countries to use a precious metal as money, except the politicians want more money than they can get by just taxing, especially for wars. They want a way to create money ‘out of thin air’. ‘Fiat’ money (‘face value’ decreed by the government; not redeemable for gold; we call ours ‘Federal Reserve Notes’) serves this purpose. Even when some level of redeemability (exchange of paper for precious metal) exists, governments often 'suspend' it before, during, and after wars (the US did for the Revolutionary, 1812 and Civil wars), and then must be pushed to restore it (often with less value). 

The two key reasons for using a commodity as money are to; a. Limit excess expansion of the money supply (inflation; loss of value) by the government (you can’t trust them), and b. Provide a market-based store of value. The commodity could be wheat, iron, diamonds, or pearls, but the market (users of money) usually chooses gold because it works best. 

To achieve broad use, commodity coins must be made of, or contain, a material that is: 1) Rare, with a low amount in existence now, and limited new supply, 2) Malleable, so can be made into coins, 3) Stable physically and chemically; doesn't break, rust, or rot (can be stored; lasts through much handling), 4) Easy to identify (recognize), and determine purity and amount, 5) Difficult or impossible to counterfeit, 6) Homogeneous in content (a melted chunk is the same throughout), 7) Divisible into pieces (diamonds and pearls aren’t), 8) High value per ounce (not bulky to handle or store), and 9) Acceptable to most Sellers (familiar and recognizable). This approach allows the use of ‘representative’ paper ‘notes’ (‘claim checks’ for gold), or base-metal tokens, so long as they are marked to show the amount of gold they can be redeemed for by any bearer, on demand. 

The ‘market’ of money users has decided that gold fits the above requirements best, but silver and copper can have a role in parallel, with no fixed ratios set between them as to value per gram (i.e., no bi-metallic standard). It is interesting to note that gold is not ‘consumed’ as other commodities, including silver and copper, are. Thus except for wear, over 90% of all gold mined in history still exists (even if buried in a tomb). Silver and copper supplies and costs are more volatile than gold (more new production, are consumed for industrial use, etc.), so are less attractive, but useable. When gold is used as money, it has no ‘price’ anymore. Weight is the unit of account. This will take some getting used to as we evolve to pricing in weight of gold. 

History

From its origin until 1913 the US used a combination of foreign and domestic coins and local ‘bills of credit’, had two failed central banks, ‘Continental’ and ‘Greenback’ paper dollars (both became worthless), and various runs and panics in a turbulent banking system. Article 1, Sec. 8 of the US Constitution gives the government power; ‘To coin money, regulate the value thereof, ..’, and in Sec. 10; ‘No State shall ..coin money; emit Bills of Credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts;..’ Note that this is a restriction, and not an exclusive monopoly! As usual, these phrases were ignored as the Federal and State governments issued a variety base-metal (token) coins, Bills of Credit, and paper currency. The unconstitutional Federal Reserve System (Fed) was created in 1913 and had a monopoly on creation of ‘legal tender’ money. It was secretly planned ‘by bankers and politicians, for bankers and politicians’. At first, anyone had the right to trade-in their ‘Silver Certificate’ paper dollars for a silver dollar (this ended in 1968), and deal in gold for transactions. In March, 1933 (his first month in office) FDR took those rights from mere people and only nations could redeem paper for gold. In 1971 Nixon ended this right for nations when he abrogated the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement due to our serious financial problems ( a. We were running out of gold because France, England, and others were redeeming the US dollars accumulated in Europe due to our postwar spending and loans there, and b. The US was poor after spending on Vietnam and LBJ's 'Great Society', etc.). With no link to gold, the US could make dollars out of thin air as needed, and did we ever ! Prices started their 'hockey stick' shaped rise a few years later as the effect of excess money creation and spending trickled to the world economy. Within in a few years, all nations worldwide ceased redeemability, even the prudent Swiss floated the Swiss franc (SF), but have been less abusive than others; hence while 1 US$ = about 4 SF in 1961, it is now about 1 US = 1 SF, so they only inflated by 2.5 while by 2008 the US inflated by 10; 4 times more!  

Where Are We Today?

The US has been the worst abuser among developed nations (older countries remembered their lessons from past monetary failures). The US has created so much new 'free, fake money' since 1971 that the US$ has lost about 80% of its purchasing power since then (this excess expansion of the money supply is called ‘monetary inflation', like a balloon) with its consequent price increases (due to loss of the Dollars’ purchasing power) called ‘price inflation’. Check prices of common 'commodity' items (that are not imported, subsidized, cheaper due to new technology, or under price control), such as a pizza, a restaurant meal, or even a car. Good examples are: 1. A room at a 'Motel 6' cost $6 in the 1950s but is now in the $50 range in 2010 (same type of room and service), and 2. A family car cost about $2,000 in the ’60s but is now about $20,000 in 2010. There is your 8 to 10X loss of US$ value since the late 1940’s (when the post-war big-spending started)! 

This ties-in with the over 95% loss of the dollars value since the Fed started ! The only reason we can get away with our world-wide spending and borrowing is because the US$ is the world's 'reserve currency' (any person or bank will take and keep it as if 'good as gold') and we can create new money to pay our bills. The dollar is viewed as a share in 'USA, Inc.', the world's strongest economy, which sadly is fading (faster since 2007) as we continue the long abuse of our economy (by spending, taxing, and harmful intervention 'management' by the Fed and government) and money (by excess expansion of the supply). The era of US world dominance is ending, as it does with all empires (Rome, Spain, England, France, etc.). When (not if) the dollar loses its reserve currency status, there will be a 50% or more loss in value in a few days, and prices at Wal-Mart will triple!. 

Politicians and bankers love an unending supply of cheap money, but such ‘fiat’ systems always fail. It is part of the pattern for all failed empires in history, and the Empire-USA is now entering the failure phase. To avoid a chaotic crash, we must reduce spending (including our role as the world’s policemen and bully), and convert to a gold-money system! The gold we own could be used to ‘back’ all existing US dollars, and allow redemption of paper and token coins for gold. This would amount to about 2/10,000 ounce per dollar (or less if the Fed is lying about how much we have), and imply a price of about $50,000 per ounce. Thereafter, prices would be in ‘weight of gold’ (grams, milligrams). All nations would soon convert to gold money, or sellers would not accept their trash paper. Variable foreign exchange valuations would end between countries using gold. The IMF, World Bank, BIS, G-20, and all other meddling government groups would fade and die (good). Time is short (1 to 5 years) before the big crash starts. Write, call and visit your Senate and Congress persons to urge support of this new system. Most now prefer hyperinflation (print money to pay bills), or default (ignore debts), but that causes more damage and has no future benefit. Despite the pain and losses the conversion to gold may cause, the damage is far less than an uncontrolled crash, and there is a bright future afterward. Let’s get started. 

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The author of this article, Dave Redick, is a businessman in Madison, WI. For his bio and more about his books and writings, see  www.Forward-USA.org

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