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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Feb.1, 1996
issue of Workers World newspaper
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Why were the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere so hated, slandered and butchered by the Europeans? Because they had two things the Europeans wanted above all else: gold and land.
Why are the peoples of the Middle East so hated, slandered and butchered by the imperialists? Because they have something that today's capitalists want above all else: oil- -often called black gold.
This is what all the political deceit regarding the Middle East really boils down to. This is why the United States promoted and armed a hostile Zionist settler state, Israel, in the land of Palestine. It's why, even as Washington postures about "peace" and "democracy" for the Palestinians, to this day the United States supports Israel with more foreign aid than any other country.
This is why Washington imposes crippling sanctions on Libya, Iran and Iraq--all oil-producing countries where revolutionary struggles to take back the oil fields accompanied the end of colonialism. Today, the U.S. monopolies want total control over that oil. They are willing to starve the people into submission to get it.
But the United States is not the only player in the game. Britain, France and Holland have huge oil companies, too. Germany and Italy tried to seize colonies in North Africa during World War II but failed. Japan tried to take over oil-rich Indonesia from the Dutch.
What all these countries have in common is billionaire financial-industrial ruling classes that need to expand, invest abroad, and make super-profits in the Third World in order to beat out the competition and survive.
This is no longer the post-war era when the great monopolies agreed to divide the Third World's riches among themselves--a drumstick for one, breast meat for another, a wing for the smaller contenders. Now, once again, they are struggling fiercely among themselves, all trying to redraw the "spheres of influence," to recarve the earth's resources to their own benefit. Billionaire U.S. oil corporations, which feel the enormous Pentagon military advantage entitles them to the largest share by far, are the most aggressive.
A recent New York Times editorial was titled "The Great Game"--a cynical reference to the imperialist struggle over oil now taking place in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.
All forward-thinking people should support the struggle of the oppressed countries to retain control of their resources. The theft of their basic resources--and not the phony issues of "human rights" and other smokescreens--is behind the conflicts in the Middle East today.
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