6139008-History-of-Money

Until recently all OPEC countries agreed to sell their oil for dollars only. This meant that oil importing countries, like Japan,needed to hold dollar reserves in order to be able to buy oil. So long as this remained the case, the Euro was unlikely tobecome the major reserve currency. There is not a lot of point to stockpiling Euros if every time you need to buy oil youhave to change them into dollars. But in November 2000 Iraq switched to the Euro, with potentially perilous consequencesfor the US. Only one country has the right to print dollars: the US! If OPEC were to decide to accept euros only for its oil,then American economic dominance would be over. Not only would Europe not need dollars anymore, but Japan whichimports over 80% of its oil from the Middle East would have to convert most of its dollar assets to Euro assets (Japan is ofcourse the major subsidizer of the US). The US on the other hand, being the World's largest oil importer would have toacquire Euro reserves, i.e. it would have to run a trade surplus. The conversion from trade deficit to trade surplus wouldhave to be done at a time when its property and stock market prices were collapsing and its own oil supplies werecontracting. It would be a very painful conversion; potentially disastrous. The purely economic argument for OPECconverting to the Euro, at least for a while, seems very strong. The Eurozone does not run a huge trade deficit like theUS, nor is it heavily indebted to the rest of the World like the US. Nearly everything you can buy for dollars you can alsobuy for Euros. Furthermore, if OPEC were to convert their dollar assets to Euro assets and then require payment for oil ineuros, their assets would immediately increase in value. Also, since oil importing countries would be forced to converttheir reserves into euros, whose price would therefore be driven up. OPEC could then at some later date back some othercurrency, maybe the dollar again, and again make huge profits. This would offer a virtually inexhaustible source of profitfor OPEC. But of course it would not be a purely economic decision. The Eurozone countries do not threaten MiddleEastern countries militarily as the US does.One article, written at the time the decision was made, claimed it made no financial sense and would cost Iraq millions.According to this "expert" the decision to convert was made by people who "are not experts, they are not central bankers,they are not even oil men". At the time the article was written, the Euro was worth 82 US cents. It is now worth about$1.05. So on economic grounds alone, the Iraqi decision has been a huge success (the $10 billion Iraqi fund at the UN,mentioned in the article, has apparently also since been converted). There may however be military consequences to it.The economic threat to the US may be influencing it in its belligerent stance towards Iraq. One other OPEC country hasbeen talking publicly about possible conversion since 1999: Iran. And of course it has since been included in the "axis ofevil". Everybody pretty much knew that sanctions and containment were working. Many companies around the Worldwere preparing to do business with Iraq in anticipation of a lifting of sanctions. But the U.S. and the U.K. had beenbombing northern and southern Iraq since 1991. So it was very unlikely that they would be in any kind of position to gainsignificant contracts in any post-sanctions Iraq. And those sanctions were going to be lifted soon, Saddam would still be inplace, and they would get no financial benefit.The illegal invasion of Iraq was about the oil, but not for the oil. We didn't go in to grab the oil. Just the opposite. Wewent in to control Iraq’s oil and make sure we didn't get it. Note that the price of oil went from $15 to $75 quintupling the$ purchase requirements, i.e. from over $600 million daily to over $3 billion daily. To get the whole picture, you need togo back to 1920, when the major oil companies sat in a a hotel room in Brussels and drew a red line around Iraq andsaid, “There'll be no oil coming out of that nation.” Why? If they don’t suppress oil coming out of Iraq, the price of oil willcollapse, and OPEC and Saudi Arabia will collapse. Saddam was a serious thorn in their side because he refused to playball. There is a 323-page plan, written by Big Oil, which is the secret but official plan of the United States for Iraq's oil. Itwas written out of the James Baker Institute in coordination with a secret committee of the Council on Foreign Relations(CFR). It's all about a plan to control Iraq's oil and make sure that Iraq has a system which “enhances its relationship withOPEC.” In other words, the whole idea is to maintain the power of the US$ as a world currency that is printed becauseOPEC demands US$ for its oil which it promptly recycles back to the Federal Reserve thus allowing the US militaryindustrialfeudal complex to get something for nothing. And this is one of the reasons “we” absolutely hate Hugo Chavez— and why Venezuela could well end up being the next nation (after Iran) on the Neocon’s list to be accused ofpossessing hidden caches of “WMD”. As you’ll see in the recent issue of Harper's, Chavez has asked OPEC to officiallyrecognize that he has more oil than Saudi Arabia. This is a geopolitical earthquake. And the inside documents from theU.S. Department of Energy, which is also in Harper's, say, yes, Chavez has got more oil than Saudi Arabia.We’re paying $3 a gallon. ExxonMobil is collecting $3 a gallon. When Bush came into power, oil cost $18 a barrel. Bushhas successfully built up the price of oil from $18 a barrel to over $70. That's the “mission accomplished” he announced.He didn't make a mistake here. That was the “mission accomplished” in Iraq. ExxonMobil, after Enron, is the biggestlifetime donor to the Bush campaigns. The value of its reserves, because of the Bush wars and Bush actions, has gone upby almost $1 trillion in value. Just one company. A trillion-dollar windfall to a single company! Harper's actually got theirhands on two different plans for Iraq's oil, a 101-page plan and a 323-page plan, which is all about, in great detail, whatwe are going do with Iraq's oil. And guess what? The number of Iraqis involved in writing this crucial document is exactlyZERO. So much for bringing “freedom and democracy” to the Iraqis.It is now generally known what occurred in the secret discussions between the oil companies, Ken Lay and Dick Cheney.The verdict is about to come down. Why was Cheney in the meeting with oil companies, looking over the maps of Iraq?He was on this committee drafting up the program for what to do about Iraq. And for their plan to work, they absolutelyhad to get rid of Saddam because he was totally destabilizing the oil markets by jerking prices to low levels. Sir, wake up!As numerous administration whistleblowers have revealed, the plan for the invasion of Iraq was on the drawing boardsLONG before 9-11. 9-11 was the trigger event to set that plan in motion by rallying the necessary support of the Americanpopulace. Do you see all those flag-festooned Hummers and pickups on the streets piloted by seething armchair-Rambolikelunatics? This could never have happened if the nation didn’t suffer another “Pearl Harbor” -- aka Nine-Eleven. TheNeocons used 9-11 to terrify the American public, galvanize combative emotions, and win their support for the invasionsThe Hidden History Of Money & New World Order Usury Secrets Revealed at last! Page 500