That’s Georgia, the country near Russia, not the state in the US. I had heard some rumblings that McCain might have a commercial or business interest in ramping up the US saber rattling about the recent incursion of Russia into Georgia. This is what I have found so far.
The West’s interest in Georgia stems from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline — a major supplier of crude to Western markets. This pipeline is one of three that cross Georgia from east to west bypassing Russia. CLICK HERE It is not difficult to see why Russia might like to disrupt that flow which would cause an increase in the price of crude oil in the West. The pipeline is owned jointly by a number of big oil companies such as BP, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips along with several state-owned oil companies.
One possible connection between McCain and BTC is that big oil has contributed over $800,000 to his campaign thus far CLICK HERE. Another, more direct connection might be that his principal foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann is a lobbyist for Georgia CLICK HERE. So far I have not found any more direct connection here, and it may simply be that McCain is working on behalf of some big campaign contributors or his lobbyist/advisor is influencing the senator. Certainly, it would be to McCain’s political advantage to reignite the cold war with Russia on the eve of the election. There may be several interlocking interests here. I was alerted to this when McCain sent his wife to Georgia to “assess the damage” of the Russian incursion. That seemed very unusual to me, given the hot political race here in the US. Some statements made by a German friend about what might be behind it started my search. If I find anything more I’ll report it here.
There is a good summary of the connection between the Georgia conflict and oil on the Huffington Post CLICK HERE. OK, here is a thought question for you—how many dustups and actual wars would we not be participating in if our dependence on foreign oil had been reduced in the past eight years? Now we will need ten years more (if we elect a president who isn't in big oil's pocket) just to get to that place. Can we all take the pledge to forgo any more consideration of Sarah Palin's pregnant teenage daughter until we begin to solve the energy crisis? I promise that that is the last time I'll use that name on this blog.
Hmmm, very interesting, thanks for the explanation of what's really going on with the Georgia thing. Not surprising. And I hope the so-called "liberal media" will follow your example and stop mentioning you-know-who, seems like the "Reform Republicans" have made a lot of hay out of that.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anne, for looking at my blog. I've just looked at yours and you seem to be a footloose as we are.
ReplyDeleteI think the "liberal media" will never be able to shake itself loose from the addiction to sensationalism. I just look in at what they are doing for information about what people around me are being fed and what they then think about. If I want real information about serious issues I have to look elsewhere.
We are the real sources of information in this society and it is our duty to keep our eyes and ears open.
Great post, Gary. Thank you for the research.
ReplyDeleteThe age of true journalism aka: Edward R. Morrow is, sadly, a thing of the past.
Unfortunately it is Charlie Gibson who will be doing the interview on 'she who will not be mentioned.' I expect it to be a very soft sell; no important questions will be asked.
Fascinating information Gary. Thanks for that. It's generally the oil at the bottom of it, isn't it. Did you catch Noam Chomsky's article in July "It's the Oil, Stupid". There's a link on my other blog.
ReplyDelete