Spring Break
African oil supplies funds for unspeakable tragedy
Ian Bezek
Issue date: 3/31/09 Section: Opinion
I've received several comments about my article from last week saying that while global warming may not be a threat, it is still useful as a tool for promoting conservation of resources and our break from foreign oil.
However, we don't need to use the illusion of global warming to promote greener behaviors. Conservation is an ethic on its own, but there are abundant social and economic reasons why we need to conserve our energy resources while promoting alternatives to petroleum-based fossil fuels.
For instance, oil expert John Ghazvinian's book "Untapped" shows in graphic detail the damage caused by our addiction to oil.
Oil is, along with diamonds, the lifeblood of conflict throughout Africa. Wherever you find a conflict, you find oil wells nearby.
Almost all the biggest African wars of the past few decades such as Angola, Congo and now Sudan have centered on control of oil resources.
Ghazvinian explains how oil money funnels into warfare. Multinational oil companies pay a large portion of royalties from oil produced in a nation to its government.
The African government, receiving the funds, then uses the majority of the revenue to buy weapons to preserve its tenuous grasp on power.
Why are these weapons needed? These governments, in particular Sudan and Angola, spend so little on social services that only direct tyrannical oppression of the population can keep its subjects in line.
For instance, during the 1980s, the government of Chad - which was receiving foreign aid and diplomatic support from the U.S. - requested a "truth serum" and a "generator for interrogations" from the Americans.
Ghazvinian writes that in Chad, "Electric shocks, beatings, whippings and extraction of fingernails were all routine, but victims could also expect hot pepper gas to be blown through pipes pressed against their temples."
Ghazvinian continues, saying, "One of the most extreme forms of torture included forcing the exhaust pipe of a running vehicle into the mouth of a victim. Simply accelerating the motor would cause severe burns."
However, we don't need to use the illusion of global warming to promote greener behaviors. Conservation is an ethic on its own, but there are abundant social and economic reasons why we need to conserve our energy resources while promoting alternatives to petroleum-based fossil fuels.
For instance, oil expert John Ghazvinian's book "Untapped" shows in graphic detail the damage caused by our addiction to oil.
Oil is, along with diamonds, the lifeblood of conflict throughout Africa. Wherever you find a conflict, you find oil wells nearby.
Almost all the biggest African wars of the past few decades such as Angola, Congo and now Sudan have centered on control of oil resources.
Ghazvinian explains how oil money funnels into warfare. Multinational oil companies pay a large portion of royalties from oil produced in a nation to its government.
The African government, receiving the funds, then uses the majority of the revenue to buy weapons to preserve its tenuous grasp on power.
Why are these weapons needed? These governments, in particular Sudan and Angola, spend so little on social services that only direct tyrannical oppression of the population can keep its subjects in line.
For instance, during the 1980s, the government of Chad - which was receiving foreign aid and diplomatic support from the U.S. - requested a "truth serum" and a "generator for interrogations" from the Americans.
Ghazvinian writes that in Chad, "Electric shocks, beatings, whippings and extraction of fingernails were all routine, but victims could also expect hot pepper gas to be blown through pipes pressed against their temples."
Ghazvinian continues, saying, "One of the most extreme forms of torture included forcing the exhaust pipe of a running vehicle into the mouth of a victim. Simply accelerating the motor would cause severe burns."
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