What? You mean like that one? You didnt educate anyone with that post least of all the guy you were responding to....nor did your entire "Coles Notes" explaination of the oil sands partiularily inform anyone or even underlines any relevence to the Iraq war as you seem to claim. If you believe you have some kind of monopoly on knowledge of the oilsands or that no one has ever brought up the topic of Canadian oil and it's connection to US thirst for oil you would have to be pretty arrogant.

I'm from Edmonton Alberta myself and have brought this up many times in the past. If you are truely new to this forum (which has just changed sites - so there's a lot more history here than you think), maybe you should take the time to listen to ohters and see what they're about instead of preeching here like you were the first to think of the subject --- or, for that matter, sit there and pretend you're not being insulting and that the rest of the "mutts" on this forum are unintelligent nobs. You bring up completely pedestrian facts and then pontificate as though you figure you're Gwynne Dyer. You're not. You're not informing us of anything but go ahead and keep telling yourself that.


I've never met a person anywhere near as intelligent as you claim you are yourself who never listens to anyone else. It's usually the first idnication of intelligence.

Ahk

Nope. That would be your own egotistical delusion.


I have nothing against what you said so much as your aire that others insult but you don't. You have indicated on every single thread you've posted on so far that basically if people don't agree with you they are brainwashed warmonging mutts. Okay. So it turns out you're completely "normal" then, and not really better than others as you seem to believe.

I see guys like you all the time. You claim to be all about the open exchange of ideas, but that is only when you're so used to a incestuous group of like thinkers that no one ever disagrees. When you come here and someone actually asks you to explain why the whole incident of Iran torturing and killing a photojournalist, Canada's push in the UN to do something about it and then Iran's ridiculous response with their "report" has anything to do with the US at all. You can't explain that, or be bothered to familiarize yourself with the details but instead decide I'm just an "anti-Iranian" pushing my thread whose sole purpose is to demonize them.

you KNOW you have this backwards but are not intelligent enough to admit it and move on with your point. Canada has not been 'demonizing" Iran, Iran’s report attempts to do that against Canada.


you spout off crap about "Canada's complicity in US wars of aggression" and you don't even know what you are saying. You're just regurgitating it from somewhere else because you figure it sounds good.

First off: what complicity? Canada didn't approve of or join in Iraq and if you mean Afghanistan then you are simply someone not smart enough to understand that the al Qaeda, sheltered and protected by the Taliban attacked first and that the response is essentially defensive. So what "war of aggression"? And as opposed to what other kind of war? most are aggressive.


You WILL NOT address these issues. YOU WILL instead simply label me a warmonger, a neocon, an "Iran Hater, a "Bush lover" or whatever other words you can stuff in place of a real argument and as a smokescreen to cover the fact that you simply don't understand the world very well at all…not as much as you so desperately want others to believe


I'm sorry....was that insulting?


Ahk

As expected: another cop-out from the "critical thinker".

I know. That's what I said. You pretend that you are not insulting every time you pretend that's all others do. That’s called “pretention” as in, “pretentious”.


Wow I'm scared. You didnt come here with a polite demeanor, you came here with an arrogant pretentious one.

You come right ahead and "tear me to pieces". I have yet to see you argue your way out of a paper bag or demonstrate that you can listen to anyone but the sound of your on pompous pontificating.



Ahk

Good post Fred and I see we essentially agree on much of it. I'll try to respond to the pertinent issues you raise because I think it does deserve a detailed response. And to start with I will just remind you of the US' manipulation of oil prices to $14/barrel prior to the Gulf war as a deliberate attempt to cause Saddam to take action to save his economy. I'll also ask you to prepare yourself to defend the fact that you are thinking on a much too small scale if you are attempting to put this war down to manipulation by oil companies. This is the common mistake most people make and the conclusion they come to once they understand that the war is for oil. It just doesn't square with reality and for that reason it's never answered the questions.

It's also worth mentioning the lack of cooperation of Saddam with US interests and his threats of dealing in Euros for oil. Also the ongoing threat of an Iranian oil bourse which plays an important part in more current events.

Yes, I stated the obvious in the sense that I made it clear that the war is all about oil. I think you should at least recognize the fact that most of the prowar side has not come to terms with that elementary truth and that is the reason why they didn't get involved. Obviously along with that addmitting goes the guilt IMO.

So let me give you a quick little analogy: Imagine I'm the ruler of a island nation in the middle of nowhere and I have a huge cabbage crop which I sell for profit. You are the ruler of an island close by which is quite incapable of growing it's own cabbages for some reason and you really have no other source of food. (oil haves and have-nots) I will sell you my cabbages but I want an exorbitant price for them. So high a price that in order to feed your people you can't even afford to clothe them properly because all your efforts to produce cotton go to trade with my island nation. Oh, and I might add here, I don't like you anyway because I have already had bad experiences with your people coming to my shores and murdering my people. Now this puts you in an uncomfortable position, even in fact a very untenable position and you need to do something about it. Your course of action is obvious.

Does that help? It's as simple as that Fred, once you come to the understanding that the world is very rapidly advancing toward the crunch where affordable oil is no longer available. I would suggest that you probably understand that the US reached that understanding about 20 years ago and is really only in the process of looking after it's interests. I find that much, much more plausible than thinking that rich oil barons are controlling the fate of the US and it's very existence in the 21st. century as the obvious threat of terrorists getting their hands on a nuclear weapon and turnign NY into a glass parking lot. Or worse yet. The US continuing prosperity along with it's gluttonous appetite for oil to maintain it lifestyle is the only reason it's worth it.

Respectfully. Your thoughts?

BTW, no need to call people mutts here.  It won't build any credibility.

No argument with that neo. Now see that you make it clear to the ones who wanted it that way from the beginning of my experience on this forum. There's no credibility to be had by coming down on me and ignoring the rest. HOwever, if you want to do something constructive about the problem maybe you should be the boss around here. You would need to deal with the current one. ;-)

Look neo, have a glance of Abraxas' response #99 to my post to him on the 'has Israel a right to exist' string. Specifically his last line calling me a neocoservative or dumb. Is there really any hope for this forum when your moderators are all f---ed up themselves and don't want to run a decent show?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!