The Soaring Price of Oil and Terrorism

By Victor Comras

A few days ago, when oil was just $115.00 per barrel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that the price of oil was still “unrealistically low,” and that “Oil … needs to discover its real value." And, within a few days the market seemed to comply driving the price up to $120.00 per barrel! The effects of this spiraling oil price on the US and world economy has been staggering, and the impact will continue to be intensified as the price of oil works its way through the international economic system. Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups could never had imagined that events they set off at the turn of the millennium could ever have caused such oil dislocation and demand around the world.

Against this background it is with great trepidation that I put my pen to addressing the link between the price of oil and terrorism. The factors involved in the pricing of oil are both extremely obscure and enormously complex, and few people can truly claim to understand them. I certainly am not one of them. But, broken down into its most basic components it apparently involves a mixture of the following factors: OPEC Oligarchy practices, intensified international competition for secure access to essential commodities, increased reliance on middlemen for oil lifting, profit-motive purchasing policies and upstream practices of major oil companies, the falling dollar, and intense speculative upward bidding of oil futures on the world’s merchantile exchanges. Taken together these factors have driven up the spot price of oil and pumped tens (dare I say hundreds) of billions of dollars into the coffers of countries known to either encourage or tolerate state and/or private funding for terrorism. One may well conclude, as I am beginning to believe, that mercantile speculation, greed, and corporate profit taking are as responsible as OPEC, if not more so, for the windfall profits that help fund terrorism.

Iran's Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari had a different answer. Speaking before the representatives of some 60 exporting and consumer countries at the bi-annual International Energy Forum, he blamed the spike in oil prices on “war and sanctions,” alluding to the measures the US had adopted toward both Iran and Iraq. But, this simplistic explanation doesn’t match reality. In fact, today’s oil prices don’t seem to have any direct relationship to the actual oil market conditions, demand and consumption. The fact is that oil output has generally kept pace with actual consumption rates, and bookings for oil transport ships and tankers are actually declining showing a slackening in demand. Speculation based on future worst case assumptions seems to be pressing the price of the oil, not past events. This includes anything from a projected heavy hurricane season to recent attacks on Nigeria’s Shell oil pipelines. But, the supply effect of such events in the past have been shown to be quite minimal and of short duration. Any reason to push oil prices higher seems to suffice for the oil traders.

Another explanation for today’s high oil prices is the declining value of the dollar. So why isn’t it that Europe is getting a bargain when it comes to buying oil? The fact is that the price of oil in Europe has also hit the roof, causing European leaders to consider extraordinary measures, such as drawing on their emergency oil reserves. The EU commission has just decided to launch its own “ public consultation” on whether changes should be made to the management of emergency oil stocks held by EU members in the face of these skyrocketing prices.

Today’s oil prices are considerably higher than anyone could have predicted a year or so ago. Look at what the International Energy Agency projected in their annual World Energy Outlook for 2007. They predicted that oil prices would now be the range of $45 to $56 per barrel, and would only reach $95.00 per barrel sometimes in 2030. Boy, are we ahead of that curve!. Remember, that in 2000, OPEC oil was selling for under $28.00 a barrel and oil consumption somewhere around 76 million barrels per day. Current estimates put oil consumption at around 84 million barrels, about the same as current production levels.

So, in actual fact, it is the oil speculators that appear to be responsible, more than any other group, for the high prices of oil, and the revenue boasts that may help support terrorism. Perhaps its time for governments to get a handle on such speculation by intervening in the oil market, as necessary to stabilize the price of oil. Just a thought!

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Ron Paul Wants $8,000,000.00 To Market Wild American Shrimp

It's in a subscribers only link at the Wall Street Journal. The Congressman wants $8,000,000.00 to pay for marketing of wild American shrimp and $2.3 million to fund research into shrimp-fishing.

These are but two of the Congressman's 65 earmarks sought thus far this year to the tune of $400,000,000.00.

Originally posted at www.theodoresworld.net

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Bankrupt Terror!

Thanks to the generous donations of our supporters, we now have an advertising budget to promote BANKRUPT TERROR! campaign. Below is a proposed design for a poster. If you have any suggestions, please email infoatBankruptTerror.org

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We Support Our Troops

In earlier comments we erroneously accused some of the posters of wwww.OmahaGasPrices.com web site of not supporting our troops. We admit that we were wrong and we apologize. There are instances when they do in fact support the troops.

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Letter to Shell: Stop Doing Business with Terrorist Regime of Iran!

John Hofmeister
President
Shell Oil Co.
P.O. Box 2463
Houston, TX 77252
(713) 241-6161

Dear Mr. Hofmeister,

It has come to our attention that Shell recently signed a $10 billion contract with the terrorist government of Iran.

We don't need to remind you that the Iranian regime is oppressing 70 million people and has been one of the primary sponsors of terrorism for almost thirty years. The terrorist government of Iran controls some of the most notorious Islamic terrorist groups, and the Iranian president has threatened to wipe Israel, our only reliable ally in the Middle East, off the map. Not to mention that Iran is racing towards obtaining nuclear weapons.

When you were in Omaha on February 16, 2007 you stated that "Once it [oil] gets into the global trading market, it's just oil. Whether it's sourced from Venezuela or Mexico or Canada, it's really hard to track it. It can be tracked, and it's very hard, and most people don't track it." We agree, it is hard to track oil after it gets mixed. But you know what is easy? You can be 100% sure that an oil pipeline does not contain any oil from Iran if you do not import Iranian oil.

The terrorist government of Iran is complicit in some of the deaths of British and Dutch troops in Iraq. More than 150 of them were killed (http://icasualties.org/oif/DeathsByYear.aspx) since 2003, and
Shell's blatant disregard for the loss of life of their countrymen is abhorrent.

Maybe the Brits and the Dutch are okay with the fact that Shell provides financing to the terrorist regime, but the Americans are not.

Being an American, how can you sleep at night knowing that your company gives money to the terrorists who murder American troops?

We implore you to do the right thing and sever all ties with the terrorist Iranian regime.

We do not wish to put your company out of business, but we urge you to consider the consequences of Chavez' UN speech: over 2,000 7-Eleven stations dropped Citgo. Can you imagine the uproar when American people realize that Shell is partly responsible for 3,500+ dead Americans? Maybe Shell could withstand the pressure from the American government; but we highly doubt that it would be able to withstand the pressure from the American people.

The undersigned,

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Thank you letter to Cenex & Sinclair for not importing Middle Eastern oil

John D. Johnson President & CEO CHS, Inc. (Cenex) P.O. Box 64089 St. Paul, MN 55164-0089 (651) 355-6000

Companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil

Peter M. Johnson President Sinclair Oil Corporation 550 E South Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84102 (801) 524-2700

Dear Mr. John D. Johnson and Mr. Peter M. Johnson,

We would like to thank your companies for not importing Middle Eastern oil. We understand that oil may get mixed in the pipelines and that oil bought on the commodities exchange could be from anywhere, but the fact that you are not importing oil from the Middle East is commendable.

Oil revenues are the main source of terrorism financing;
by purchasing Middle Eastern oil we are financing our own demise.

Almost none of us knew that Cenex and Sinclair do not import Middle Eastern oil. Now we do, and it directly affects our purchasing patterns. There are millions of Americans that are unaware of this fact. And if they knew, most of them would have made Cenex and Sinclair their brands of choice. We hope that you include this in your advertising campaigns.

We would like to thank you again for choosing not to finance terrorism.

The undersigned,

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The voices of reason within Islam are getting silenced, is anyone out there, listening?

Seyyed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, a voice of Moderate Shiah Islam, will be silenced forever unless the United States helps…

Renegade Ayatollah, some call him. Most of the Iranian human rights activists, including me, know him through his late illustrious father and through his bold actions in Iran in 2005. His is the first voice of Moderate Islam echoing aloud from Iran. Tragically, the government of Iran, seemingly, will soon succeed in shutting him down if we don’t move fast…

The Ayatollah and 17 other members of his family were sentenced to death in a private court session in Zafaranieh Tehran on June 10th, 2006. Although very ill and suffering from Parkinson disease, he defended himself in the Iranian court where he did not even have access to a lawyer.

In April 2007, as an activist spokesperson passionately fighting for the rights of 19 political prisoners, I publicly criticized on Fox TV the lack of effort of international committees on his behalf.

I now publicly apologize for my uninformed criticism. Most people, including me, assume the UN and Amnesty International don’t do much because we don’t see many positive results from our petitions. In response to my criticism, I have belatedly learned through personal communication with sources inside these organizations that both have in fact actively petitioned Iran for leniency not only for the Ayatollah but other political prisoners as well. Unfortunately, they do not have the power to enforce the international laws to which Iran is signatory but chooses to ignore. UN officials in Geneva assure me that they are well aware of the mental and physical torture political prisoners are enduring daily and that Mr. Olson, the UN rapporteur, has make repeated appeals but there is not much that either of the international agencies can do to save Ayatollah Boroujerdi or anyone else in Iran.

UN and Amnesty International officers point out the sad-but-true reality that their hands are tied. They can only remind but cannot force the Iranian regime to abide by their international contract prohibiting torture of dissidents. Amnesty has not been able to visit Iran since 1979 and UN visitations have been denied since 2003.

I asked UN officers what can be done to save this and other voices who will loose their lives in the next few months. They answer that the only way seems to be the media and politicians who can sway Iran by denying resources it needs.

I naively thought that since America is searching for an influential Moderate Muslim to stand up to the terrorist Iranian regime, the suicidal willingness of this man to speak out against this medieval theocracy in an effort to avoid military conflict and save the lives of American soldiers would get the immediate attention of someone in the media. Unfortunately I was in for a rude awakening. Fighting for media attention has proven about as difficult as fighting the Iranian regime. I was genuinely shocked when my scheduled appearance on national TV to publicize this voice of reason was pre-empted by Paris Hilton’s family visit to her private cell which is a cut above the 10th century dungeons of Iran’s Evin or the Raji-Shahr prison.

Tears came to my eyes remembering the 19 political prisoners relying on me for help; even as I hoped Americans would want to help. It made me sad to remember that even though Amnesty and UN have done everything they can, Khaled Hardani, who has not been permitted to see his family for six months, will lose his life on July 3, 2007 and I will have to be the one to deliver the message to his family or they will hear it over the Iranian media and it will be as though he never existed.

It made me sad; wondering where was the media two nights ago when prison guards inside Raji -Shahr prison beat Mr. Nasser Khirolahi unconscious and left him lying on the ground to bleed to death? Another of his fellow inmates called me 2:30 AM to let me know that the guards beat him on his spine, damaging disks and leaving his right arm paralyzed.

I am sad to say one of the men I represent has not seen a dentist in many years. Finally, the tooth infection overcame a strong man and brought him to his knees by the pain he felt in his face.

It made me sad that none of these individuals are celebrities and their lives seem to be expandable.
For the past 28 years, Iran has struggled under a cult of religious Mullah zealots exploiting and ruining the resources of this vast country to support Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine. Recent evidence reveals that road bombs made in Iran and bearing fake US marks are being used by Al Quaeda in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Those of us who dig deeper in the sand see a master plan by certain individuals in the government of Iran to silence key members of the opposition even, or especially, if they are the son of Grand Ayatollah Broujerdi. Eye witnesses say he was able to rally more than 200,000 people around his house last year to hear him inform the regime that he can no longer bear to witness the atrocities of killing people in the name of Islam. He shouted that he did not believe Khomeini’s broadcast when he returned to Iran because he was not a real Ayatollah. In a rare audio sent to my attention by connections to Ayatollah Broujerdi, he denounces Iran as a religious dictatorship instead of an Islamic Republic outlines Khomeini’s deception and lies and calls for replacing the fake Islam taking over Iranian’s hearts and minds with real Islam. Broujerdi charged that the title velayat-e faqih assumed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is not valid. In a handwritten letter to Ayatollah Sistani in Iraq he appeals for support in criticism of the regime.

The Ayatollah then takes another brave step and clashes with Khomeini, explaining who Khomeini really is and how he was made an instant Ayatollah. This is the reason he was sentenced to death in a private court session in Zafaranieh, Tehran along with 17 other family members.

May God Bless America and may Americans want to know more about this man before he is silenced for good because he can save American lives.

For more information on Khomeini I have submitted my own research from my book.

The following are excerpts from the book "Living in Hell" by Ghazal Omid, Pages 235-236: Who Was The Real Khomeini?

….The Story of Two Logos….


The Sikh Khanda Logo (http://www.sikhs.org/khanda.htm) Vs. Islamic Re... Logo


...When he died his last testament was published. He talked for the first time about his Hindi brother and directed that some money be given to him. Apparently, Khomeini had forgotten to tell people who he really was. In fact, his last name was "Hendi", not Khomeini.
Khomeini was born Ruhollah Khomeini Hendi on May 17, 1900. Although his father was from India, Khomeini himself was born in the town of Khomain located 323 Kilometers south of Tehran. In 1930, he changed his name to Ruhollah Mousavi Al-Khomeini. It was years after his death before radio Iran announced his last testimonies referring to his brother, Sheikh Hendi.
Perhaps it is ironic but many who have paid attention to the flag and the logo of the Islamic Republic of Iran noticed that it is remarkably similar to the Sikh religion logo. The government of Iran has explained that the logo is indeed the name of Allah in Arabic. Nevertheless, the logo similarities, the Hindi brother, his whereabouts for all those years and why Khomeini never divulged anything about his background leave a nagging question in the minds of the cynical.

When I was discussing the research about Khomeini with a friend, he asked me if I had any prejudices about Indians? I answered, "Of course not." For all I care Khomeini could have come from Mars. He was a despicable ogre, whatever planet he came from. What I do have issues with, is that he didn't share with the people. He led them to believe he was an Iranian. People died for him and deserved to know the truth. In my view, certain character and financial records of a politician who is paid by people's tax money should be public record. The public who pays has the right to know who the individual eagerly occupying the seat is. In the beginning, people didn't know what they got themselves into before lofting him onto the revolutionary platform.
While living in Iran, I met a woman doctor in the post office while mum was sending some gifts to Manoocheher in Canada. The doctor said that when she was studying in India, Khomeini was a poor young man, dressed as a mendicant, singing poetry for money in the street. I had a hard time believing her until after Khomeini died and his poetry was suddenly published. We never knew he was an accomplished poet. Perhaps his softer side did not exactly fit the ruthless image he wanted to project. There is no record of Khomeini's whereabouts until he miraculously showed up in Qom in his early twenties and studied religion.
In the view of Khomeini and his followers who, sadly, are still in power, people's lives didn't mean anything. He also didn't see any reason to end the war. If he had not been forced by everyone around him to agree to a truce, he was willing to subject Iran to the disaster of the Iraqi chemical weapons.
For forty days, there was mandatory national mourning. All business, schools and television was suspended. The nation was paralyzed. His burial ceremony was more of a circus de soleil. His burial chamber is located in Behesht Zahra. Eighty kilograms of pure 24 karat gold was used to cover the dome built over his grave. I have heard from people who have visited his grave that the mosque built for him is covered with a one-of-a-kind, hand-made, silk Persian carpet and free food is always provided to the visitors or, as the regime calls them, pilgrims. I have never seen a need or had any desire to waste my time visiting his grave. I know he is in trouble in his after life. I had my own opinions about his life, regardless of how the regime tries to portray him. In his testimony, he named as his successor his son, Ahmad Khomeini, who died mysteriously (rumored to have been killed by Rafasanjani agents) about a month after his father's death and was buried next to him. Khamenei, in order to be eligible to replace Khomeini, promoted himself, with the help of Rafsanjani and Majless, from Hojat-al Islam to Ayatollah and announced himself as the new leader or Vali Faghih.

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Terror-Free Oil: Saudi Arabia is NOT Our Friend!

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