Getting to the Nitty Gritty of Empire

I am quoting a post here from a thread on Common Dreams regarding the basis for US aggression in the middle east because I think the author gets to the nitty-gritty in describing the desperate logic of trying to save and extend a dying Empire in the worst way. "iyamwutiam" states: "This is NOT about oil. It IS about maintaining the illusion that the US dollar has value or will continue to have value IMHO. I think despite the so-called surpluses during the Clinton years and the vague re-assurance that it was possible to pay off the US’s debt - the fact was and is - that with it’s ever expanding bases and attendant financial obligations as well as many other associated cost’s- subsidizing instruments of hegemony like the IMF, World Bank, UN, a continual stream of billions of dollars to corrupt puppets oppressing their people (like Columbia, Panama, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Burma) as well as sponsoring a host of ‘velvet revolutions’ like Ukraine, Georgia, Lebanon etc - as well as the incessant pork and earmarks that are done domestically - a number of practical people got together and realized that the illusion of wealth was dissipating and that brute force and militarism must be applied to prevent a child of freedom from blurting out “the Emperor has no clothes”.

These people dub them what you will - Neocons, bankers, Illuminati, concerned leaders such as Clinton, Bush, Trent Lott, Lieberman etc realized that the lynch pin of dollar hegemony is oil and regardless of the given ‘reason’ the very existence of the US (not unlike the Soviet Union) depended on two very important things.

1. A show of a very strong and ruthless military to give pause to any nation who may actually want to cash in those treasuries in any sizable and amount and re-invest it anywhere.
2. A desperate and concerted approach to gain a complete monopoly of oil - so as to sustain the need for central banks and nations to keep dollar reserves.

The situation has become even MORE dire - however - both industry and government are emboldened. It is NOT an accident - that unlike the first Gulf war where oil plummeted - this one is causing the price of oil to surely hit $100 a barrel - so as to remove all this excess US dollar reserves and thereby depreciate US debt and most importantly increase the need of dollar reserves.

Those few who planned this outcome are truly happy and will be rewarded as they have truly saved the US from a calamity of finance that DID occur to the Soviet Union. If the control of the world’s oil CAN also include IRAN - there is NO doubt that the US can till at least another 100 years continue to build up debt into the tens of trillions and not worry about any creditor uttering a single word.

One does not and should not care for world opinion when one is looking into the abyss of a possible and tangible deconstruction of the economy on an unprecedented level. This maneuver and subsequent ones - have nothing at all to do with oil per se - and much more to do with maintaining dolar hegemony - for with out dollar hegemony the US would collapse.

It is amply documented that Iraq (Saddam) moved to the Euro for oil sales in 200 - preparing the way for the invasion of his country. If Iraq/IRAN/Venezuela/Russia?Indonesia and others actually moved to the Euro/Yen/Yuan/ standard in oil - the impact would be like the mass of the empire state building falling into your bathtub. Overnite more than 50 percent of all dollar reserves in the world (which blessedly- never see the shores of the US) would be rendered useless. The bank/countries would then seek to send these billions upon billions BACK to the US - and the next thing you know - it would cost a million bux for a small starbux coffee.

Thankfully - the price of a few million dead to extend the US life as an empire will be extended and it may by then be able to peg the US dollar to Uranium - therefore again extending its life. We can see this as a FACT since - not only can the US pentagon lose a trillion or so dollars (yawn) but central banks on a whim can inject 400 billion dollars into the banking system overnite AND cut interest rates AND have the stock market back up to 14000!! What a country - what a world !!

It has learned a great deal from England - and how England could no longer afford to house troops and cantonments globally - just as Rome had the same problem draining the exchequer.

However - thanks to dollar hegemony the US need never have to worry about this problem. Since it is the reserve currency of the world and can print an infinite amount of dollars at will - which at least 3/4ths of which will never see the shores of the US - the US can flood the world with currency while still maintaining low inflation at home. In addition- it need not have any fiscal discipline since it has attained something no empire in the world ever did - which is to print money at will as long as the key resources of the world are traded in it."