What Yemen is really about. The oil routes.

[dixiegrrrrl]

Bab-el Mandab ( or Babel Mandab) is one of the world's most important shipping lanes.

A picture tells all....



The US Government Energy Information Agency states that "closure of the Bab el-Mandab could keep tankers from the Persian Gulf from reaching the Suez Canal/Sumed pipeline complex, diverting them around the southern tip of Africa. The Strait of Bab el-Mandab is a choke point between the horn of Africa and the Middle East, and a strategic link between the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean."
This link goes to chart of the choke points, worth looking at.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/World_Oil_Transit_Chokepoints/Full.html



Control of the waters around Bab el-Mandab would serve several goals:

1. Provide a major link of control over one of the seven most critical oil choke points around
the world.

2. Part of "The Grand Chessboard" by Brzezinski outlines US strategy of denying oil flows to
China, the EU or any region or country that opposes US policy. Given that significant flows of
Saudi oil pass through Bab el-Mandab,
US control there would also serve to deter the Saudi Kingdom from becoming serious about
transacting future oil sales with China or others no longer in dollars, as was recently reported
by UK Independent journalist Robert Fisk.

3. It could also threaten China’s oil transport from Port Sudan on the Red Sea just north of Bab
el-Mandab, a major lifeline in China’s national energy needs.

4. Yemen is reported to hold some of the world’s greatest untapped oil reserves.
Yemen’s Masila Basin and Shabwa Basin are reported by international oil companies
to contain "world class discoveries."
http://www.adelphienergy.com.au/projects/Proj_Yemen.php

5. Finally, in Spring of 2009, Yemen's pro-western President Saleh, started losing control after
two decades as despotic ruler of unified Yemen. Opposition groups in the South of Yemen,
and Shi'ite forces in the north are fighting for control of the country.
Saleh has asked for US help, and the sudden convenient appearance of Al-Quada has led to
US air strikes in the South, tho it is unclear if the strikes are targeting Al-Quada or the
Southern opposition groups.

[notadmblnd]

1. This entire war on terr thing is a quest for the control of the flow

of oil. Always has been. Damn corporate welfare queens think they are entitled to it and they have the US government doing their dirty work.

[earth mom]

45. Yep, the only thing the powers that be are terrified of is that their money flow will stop.

:grr:

[NJmaverick]

2. Mass hysteria= "Yemen issue must be something other than the Al Qaeda attacks"

[malaise]

3. +1,000 n/t

[StarfarerBill]

9. Sorry, dude. Our interest in the Middle East has *always* been about oil, nothing else.

It was our support of repressive regimes like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel, as well as the outright destruction of a democratic government in Iran that first gave the Islamic conservatives impetus to not only oppose those regimes but also their bankroller, the West, and primarily the US. This all predates foreign attacks on US targets by decades.

[NJmaverick]

16. Your baseless claims that President Obama is a stooge of big oil

grow quite tiresome

[StarfarerBill]

18. That's rough. I know only your "facts" matter, but is what I said incorrect?

Please prove to me that US foreign policy has not been and is not now primarily in the aid of corporate interests. Specifically, for what other reason would we have interest in that region save for oil?

[Junkdrawer]

30. Obama has been elected and the 65 yr geo-strategy of the US has been reversed

What a guy!

[Behind the Aegis]

40. No it hasn't. Do consult a history book.

You obviously have a passing fancy with history and facts.

[StarfarerBill]

42. Consult your corporate-approved "history" book, no doubt?

I had enough of those in school, thanks. My real knowledge of history began after I stopped reading that propaganda.

But I offer you the same challenge as I gave NJM: Please prove that US interest in the Middle East goes beyond the oil.

[Behind the Aegis]

50. Are those the only ones available?

"My real knowledge of history began after I stopped reading that propaganda." And started reading other types of propaganda...

The Us was interested in Israel early on for much the same reason it was interested in Korea, Vietnam, and Cambodia? Any guesses? Hint: It wasn't oil. Did you guess "stop the progress of communism? Very good! The oil industry had some interests, but those didn't start to become stronger until the late 50's. Also, Israel was seen as a "counterbalance" to the USSR's interests in the area.

[wuvuj]

44. Don't forget our support of Israel.

...Does AlQ represent the last stand against the NWO?

[StarfarerBill]

47. The formation of Israel was supported by the US primarily as an outpost in the region.

As for your question, I'm probably not understanding it correctly, but...Islamic conservatives are for the most part no better than the regimes they oppose. BUT...those are their countries, not ours, and we have no moral or legal right to thwart change in them.

A good primer for understanding Islamic fundamentalism (and by happy coincidence, Western Christian fundamentalism, as well) is a documentary called The Power of Nightmares.

[dixiegrrrrl]

48. Is it still available on Google video?

I know it was on YouTube, in many chapters.

[StarfarerBill]

49. Yep, its three parts are here:

Part One:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2798679275960015727&ei=ax1KS56fFqieqAKIuOWODA&q=power+of+nightmares&client=firefox-a#

Part Two:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4602171665328041876&ei=ax1KS56fFqieqAKIuOWODA&q=power+of+nightmares&client=firefox-a#

Part Three:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1433149975726132762&ei=ax1KS56fFqieqAKIuOWODA&q=power+of+nightmares&client=firefox-a#

If those don't work for you, there are other TPoN postings on Google Video.

[Hippo_Tron]

51. The formation of Israel was barely even supported by the US

Harry Truman recognized the state mostly as a ploy to get Jewish voters in the 1948 election but didn't do shit to arm them against the inevitable war they would have to fight against the Arabs as soon as the British evacuated. It wasn't really until the Kennedy Administration that we were serious about our support for Israel and again that mostly had to do with the fact that American Jews tend to vote Democratic.

Yes oil is a big part of US Foreign Policy in the Middle East, there is no question about it. But that doesn't mean that every single time we take military action in a specific place that military action is directly related to securing some kind of oil related resource.

[StarfarerBill]

55. Of course every military action we've taken is not necessarily to secure oil.

Not everyplace in the world has oil; there are other resources to steal, you know. ;)

The bottom line of US foreign policy is economic; and so by extension, corporate-related. Sometimes it's to secure resources; other times, it's to deny resources to the enemy du jour; still other times, it's to secure or open markets. While this isn't unique (every country's foreign policy is primarily driven by economic calculations), this is our foreign policy we're talking about and as American progressives we must try to change that paradigm.

[Hippo_Tron]

57. Every country's foreign policy is primarily driven by political considerations

To the extent that resources and economic issues are a part of those considerations is the extent to which foreign policy is carried out for those reasons.

[StarfarerBill]

58. In a capitalist-dominated and -exploited world, that's not the case, I believe.

Resources and markets are the driving forces for foreign policy, I still maintain.

[Hippo_Tron]

59. And I maintain that you're wrong

But we can agree to disagree.

[StarfarerBill]

60. As I maintain that you are wrong...and I often find myself agreeing to disagree in DU.

Thanks for the exchange, though. :)

[cliffordu]

17. Yep.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Yemen is NOT "reported to hold some of the world's greatest untapped oil reserves"

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/reserves.html

About 3 billion barrels, out of a world total of about 1,300 billion. Less than Egypt, for instance. Or Oman. Or Sudan. About one hundreth of Saudi Arabia's.

Your link talks about production of 120,000 and 250,000 barrels per day. At that rate, that's 22 years of production from those reserves. Enough to get some money for those who control it, but fairly insignificant, globally.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. The Adelphi Oil company link I provided says

"world-class discoveries have been made " in Yemen.
Dunno who is right, the DOE estimates of reserves or the Aldelphi oil company who
has been mapping the fields in Yemen.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. And Adelphi gives figures

and clearly, the figures are not impressive, in comparison to the amount of oil in the world. They're good news for Adelphi; which is a small company.

So yes, the estimates from BP, and Oil and Gas Journal (the DOE is just showing them on the net) are right. Adelphi never said "some of the world's greatest untapped oil reserves". You did.

[Robb]

46. Indeed.

This reminds me of those who screamed at the massive profits the drug companies stood to make on H1N1 vaccine. Yes, they were huge profits, but in the grand picture of the kind of huuuuuuge profits they see each year, vaccine was a drop in the bucket.

The "deny petroleum to China" meme may also have been true at one time as a strategy, but it's rather a lost cause. Ever since its batshit crazy old leader died, Turkmenistan has played the game quite well, and has made deals with China that have brought in the regional producers as well. "Deny petroleum to China" has been a strategic failure.

[left is right]

5. It's funny, I did not consider that while this event was taking place or after

Yet the moment I read your Subject line, I knew in my gut that you are correct or at least very close to correct

[The_Commonist]

6. I've been waiting for this to become an issue.

I'm surprised it took so long...

[conscious evolution]

7. Good catch

Sounds like more PNAC bullshit.

[madrchsod]

8. it`s natural gas.......

http://www.yemenlng.com/ws/en/home.aspx

http://armiesofliberation.com/archives/2009/12/21/yemens-natural-gas/

http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/2439.cfm

[Imagevision]

10. Obama will move US. troops out of Iraq over into Yemen, but then, who will keep the oil pipelines

in Iraq from going boom! (?) The Pentagon stopped reporting on all the weekly pipeline explosions under the guise that it simply went away on it's own...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. Also here: Obama's Yemeni odyssey targets China - Asia Times

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LA09Ak02.html

A year ago, Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh made the startling revelation that his country's security forces apprehended a group of Islamists linked to the Israeli intelligence forces. "A terrorist cell was apprehended and will be referred to the courts for its links with the Israeli intelligence services," he promised.

Saleh added, "You will hear about the trial proceedings." Nothing was ever heard and the trail went cold. Welcome to the magical land of Yemen, where in the womb of time the Arabian Nights were played out.

Combine Yemen with the mystique of Islam, Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and the Israeli intelligence and you get a heady mix. The head of the US Central Command, General David Petraeus, dropped in at the capital, Sana'a, on Saturday and vowed to Saleh increased American aid to fight al-Qaeda. United States President Barack Obama promptly echoed Petraeus' promise, assuring that the US would step up intelligence-sharing and training of Yemeni forces and perhaps carry out joint attacks against militants in the region.

Another Afghanistan?
Many accounts say that Obama, who is widely regarded as a gifted and intelligent politician, is blundering into a catastrophic mistake by starting another war that could turn out to be as bloody and chaotic and unwinnable as Iraq and Afghanistan. Yes, on the face of it, Obama does seem erratic. The parallels with Afghanistan are striking. There has been an attempt to destroy a US plane by a Nigerian student who says he received training in Yemen. And America wants to go to war.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. ty for that link.

:hi:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

12. Pipelines "my dear Watson"

[Mira]

14. Yemen. Enemy spelled sideways. I am not surprised at the information,

makes perfect sense to me.


K&R

[JCMach1]

19. Not completely accurate... it is about the U.S.A. being K.S.A.'s lackey

and KSA's fear of a huge impoverished country on a peninsula with so much wealth...


Saudi Arabia 27Million
Oman 3.4million
UAE 1Million (not counting expats

Yemen 20Million+

30Million by 2015 - Highest growth rate in the world at 6.7%

[Nikki Stone1]

25. Link?

?

[JCMach1]

32. Here is population growth overall

http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?c=ym&v=24

note, not the same as fertility rate

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ym.html ...

So, demographically Yemen currently exceeds (or will exceed) the size of KSA during the next 5 years. It is the demographic 500lb. gorilla on the peninsula.

[leftstreet]

34. Interesting!

Thanks for posting those links

[Nikki Stone1]

36. Thanks for providing that info.

I appreciate it.

[Tim01]

20. Obama has a lot of wars going on. nt

[Mira]

21. Check for another illustration - a great cartoon on the subject

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. So very apt. Nice one.

[Nikki Stone1]

24. Thank you for posting this. That area around Yemen is known as a "choke point"

This war with Yemen will give the US control of that choke point, among other things.

[dixiegrrrrl]

26. uh....yes.......that is what I posted...you are right.

[Nikki Stone1]

27. Just letting you know I read your post.

:)

[dixiegrrrrl]

28. Thank you. I mis-read.

:hi:

[Nikki Stone1]

31. It was a good post, and I was really glad you put it up.

Thank you.

[Mira]

29. We don't yet have "this war" with Yemen - thank God.

But thanks to this thorough post we have more information. I appreciate the presentation.
Thanks, Dixiegrrrrl.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

33. Did Obama announce plans to invade Yemen and I missed it?

:wtf:

I know that there are some drone strikes going on there but that is in no way tantamount to an invasion/occupation. Sorry, I just don't see it happening- not in Cheney's wildest dreams.

[PacerLJ35]

35. You haven't missed anything...

We aren't invading Yemen...as far as I know, Yemen has been situated across from the Gulf of Aden for a very long time and no one has bothered to attack it because of the "choke point". More loud hot air coming from the "they will invade!" side of DU...I don't know how many times I've read on here that the invasion of Iran is around the corner...for years now people have been stating that it's "imminent".

[Proud Liberal Dem]

37. I thought that when Bush was President that Iran was a real possibility

Or at least I think that they were definitely "jonesing" for it but there was simply no way to do it since Iraq ended up being such a disaster for them, both politically and militarily. But I don't, for a second, believe that Obama is eying an invasion of Iran let alone Yemen unless either of them, particularly Iran, attacks us directly (which they would be fools to do so). I don't rule out an Israeli attack on Iran at some point but I don't believe Obama wants that nor would support it and the Israelis would, frankly, be dumb to try it unilaterally.

[PacerLJ35]

52. If any country over there makes me nervous...

it's Iran. I do believe an Israeli attack would be foolish attempted on their own. The Iranians have the equipment and the will to launch really terrible counter-attacks that can and will kill many civilians...not to mention that the only reason why the Iranians haven't attacked anyone yet is because it's not in their best interest to do so. That regime really isn't interested in true diplomacy, and I hope to god the internal revolutions and grumblings catch up to the regime before they decide it IS in their best interest to attack someone.

But you're right...Obama isn't planning on attacking anyone, and those that postulate that the military is planning something (they have contingency plans for everything) are ignoring the fact that the military by and large is carrying out Obama's vision and directives concerning Iraq and Afghanistan, so I don't see any alarm there either.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

54. I'm not worried about Iran

so much as I am, frankly, about North Korea, which has the military capacity to inflict some real damage on South Korea and our troops over there not to mention the possibility that DL may decide to actually launch a nuclear weapon at us before he goes out. Kim Jong Il seems seriously whacked out but, fortunately, at least for now, he doesn't seem to be harboring any desire for/visions of martyrdom. If there is any regime that needs to be seriously undermined, it's his. Given the status of the populace, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a massive rebellion there already- although I guess starving people probably don't really have the energy to revolt.
:shrug: :scared:

[OneBlueSky]

38. um . . . EVERYTHING that's happening in that part of the world . . .

in which the United States has any interest is about oil . . . not about killing the evildoers, not about spreading democracy, not about anything other than black gold, Texas tea . . . it's ALL about the oil . . .

[yurbud]

39. good find

[leveymg]

41. Guess the piracy thing wasn't enough. Geopolitics and oil - now you're talking!

That's what we do best.

[BlueIris]

43. Ew. And duh.

Thanks for posting.

[David Zephyr]

53. K&R.

!

[Forkboy]

56. I thought it was about their noodles.

Wait...what?

I got to start paying more attention to the news...