"This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists... The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority."

"The main American aim seems to be to gain control of the world's second-largest oil reserves and to dictate the flow of oil to the world market"--Inder K. Gujral, former Indian Prime Minister

Last Saturday, January 18, the day we celebrated the memory of Martin Luther King, we have been witnessing demonstrations all over the world against president Bush's determination to attack Iraq. In particular, this morning I have received an e-mail from my son James referring to how tired but happy some of his friends were as they participated in the Washington demonstration where some half million people protested against Bush's war. By the way, first reports from mainstream media put the number of Washington's protesters at 30,000! So make up your own truths as not only our own perspectives are different from each other, but some are outright lies.

Bush's war against Iraq is not about the disarmament of Iraq as Iraq is not a present danger to the United States; it is not a war against Al Qaeda as there is no linkage between Al Qaeda and the Iraq's regime; it is not even a personal war against tyrannical Saddam Hussein as the same Americans along with the personal participation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld assisted Iraq's war against Iran in the 80ies. President Bush's war against Iraq is about OIL!

The United States is desperate about its need for OIL. The United States is running out of OIL, yet the Bush administration is using its military strength to assert their economic and military hegemony all over the world. The United States imports about 60% of its oil consumption and guess who is making up for the shortage of imported Venezuelan oil? Iraq!

President Bush Inc. should understand of the United States' interdependency with every other country in the world, yet they feel they are above any other country. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was set in the 70ies as an emergency relief against the possible interruption of oil supplies and such reserve has today the capacity to hold 700 million barrels. At the approximate 2001 oil consumption rate of 19,633,000 barrels per day, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, at full capacity, would provide oil to run the country for about 36 days.

Iraq has the second largest proven oil reserve in the world, second only to Saudi Arabia's and there are intelligent speculations that Iraq's may even have the largest oil reserve in the world. President Bush wants Iraq's oil and he doesn't care about the ravages of war. President Bush wants a repeat of what happened in Iraq in 1991, and you may find out about the carnage and desolation caused by this previous war by watching and reflecting on the pictures taken by journalist and photographer Peter Turnley. (top of page)

We must stop president Bush's madness to wage a war against Iraq, for OIL and only OIL.

Note: This writing was motivated as I read the article "Guess who's helping the United States to fill Venezuela supply gap?" which was e-mailed to me by Sheila Steele, Publisher of www.injusticebusters.com

References

Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words, TIME.com, 19 January 2003 http://www.truthout.com/docs_02/011903E.MLK.words.htm

Siddiqui, Haroon, 'Oil lobby determined to have its war' in Iraq, (PDF) January 19, 2003, Toronto Star

Mia, Ziyaad, Snake Oil for a New Century Friday, January 17, 2003 by the Toronto Star http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0117-02.htm

Paul, James A., Oil in Iraq: the heart of the Crisis December, 2002 Global Policy Forum, http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/2002/12heart.htm

Reynolds, Paul, Analysis: Iraq and al-Qaeda: Bush linked Iraq and al-Qaeda in a recent UN address. 28 October, 2002 BBC News Online world affairs correspondent, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2284123.stm

Fisk, Robert, This Looming War Isn't About Chemical Warheads or Human Rights: It's About Oil: Along with the concern for 'vital interests' in the Gulf, this war was concocted five years ago by oil men such as Dick Cheney Published on Saturday, January 18, 2003 by the lndependent/UK http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0118-03.htm

Guess who's helping the United States to fill Venezuela supply gap? January 17, 2003 By: PETROLEUMWORLD, . http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=1423

Profile of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve http://www.fe.doe.gov/spr/

GeoHive Chart Section http://www.geohive.com/charts/en_oilprod.php

The European Union becomes the first superpower to announce a plan to become a Hydrogen Economy An American, Jeremy Rifkin, is credited with facilitating the historic E.U. energy initiative http://www.foet.org/whatsnew.htm

Turnley, Peter, The Unseen Gulf War, December 2002 http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0212/pt_intro.html