When will we ever learn?

[Sikboy]

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/06/07_Soylent.html


Soylent Green is Oil

June 7, 2002

By Dwayne Eutsey

I watched the last part of "Soylent Green" the other night, that popcorn-paranoia flick where Charlton Heston discovers the unsavory truth about a new corporate snack food.

The movie's been out since the '70s, so I don't think I'm spoiling the ending here (along with your appetite) by revealing the secret. Heston himself, in his usual teeth gritting, sweaty, overly dramatic way, exposes what it is when he cries out at the end that: "Soylent Green is people! It's PEOPLE!"

Maybe that's why ol' Chuck refuses to give up his Uzi unless you pry it from his cold, dead fingers. Anyone from Nabisco knocking at his door wanting to make a new line of Charlton Heston snack treats gets one right between the eyes, bucko.

Anyway, as I watched Heston screaming out the truth about soylent green to a city sleeping in darkness, I couldn't help but think of the most recent developments in Afghanistan.

According to news reports, mostly from European media, construction of a $2 billion oil pipeline through that battered and broken country has received the green light -- or perhaps that should be the "soylent green light" -- now that the Taliban is gone.

What do I mean? Chew on these morsels:

- As far back as the early-'90s, a coalition of US oil interests, led by the Houston-based Unocal Corp., has wanted to build a pipeline through the region. They began negotiations with the Taliban in 1995 to accomplish this.

- According to a 1997 memo from Ken Lay to then Gov. George W. Bush, Enron was also negotiating a "$2 billion venture" with Uzbekistan and Russia. Lay told Bush the venture could "bring significant economic opportunity to Texas" and "political benefit to the United States."

- Also in 1997, Unocal and Texas oil barons invited Taliban leaders to Texas. According to The Telegraph (UK), the "high-ranking delegation was given VIP treatment during their four-day stay." They stayed in a five-star hotel and were chauffeured in a Unocal minibus.

- After the Taliban is linked to Osama Bin Laden and terrorist attacks against American embassies in Africa, Unocal abandons the project because it doesn't want to appear supportive of the Taliban government.

- George Bush steals the election in 2000 and continues negotiations with the Taliban, giving the repressive regime millions of dollars in aid.

- Negotiations stall in August 2001 and the Bush administration draws up plans for a war with Afghanistan.

- The September 11 terrorist attacks provide an excuse for bombing Afghanistan and removing the Taliban from power.

- After ousting the Taliban, the Bush administration engineers the rise to power of two former Unocal employees: interim President Hamid Karzai, and Bush's envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalizad.

- May 2002: Plans for the oil pipeline through Afghanistan are approved.

So what's this oily recipe for greed and war got to do with "Soylent Green?" It occured to me as I watched the gruesome truth come out in the movie that the main ingredient Heston discovers is used to manufacture all those little green squares also helped make this pipeline possible:

Dead bodies.

Thousands of them, in fact. Some estimates say 10,000 (some others go as high as 20,000) Afghan civilians are now dead as a result of the US bombing campaign. Of course, that doesn't include the 3,000 who died in the 9/11 attacks as a result of the Bush administration's incompetence (or worse).

Thousands of innocent Afghan men, women, and children, killed. Not to combat terrorism at all, but according to all the evidence, to build a pipeline.

As with soylent green, once you learn how that pipeline was really made, it sure leaves a nasty taste in your mouth, doesn't it?

[SC-Sp00k]

I agree.

[majic]

As a general rule, when making a strong statement like that, the author should consider citing sources .  

[Mickey1992]

"Thousands of them, in fact. Some estimates say 10,000 (some others go as high as 20,000) Afghan civilians are now dead as a result of the US bombing campaign. Of course, that doesn't include the 3,000 who died in the 9/11 attacks as a result of the Bush administration's incompetence (or worse)."

Some estimates?  Yeah, by people that have no idea what they are talking about.  Most reliable estimates put the number of non-combat civilian casualties at one to two thousand.

I am no Republican supporter, but I find the quote that blames the screwups on the Bush administration laughable.  The FBI, CIA, and NIS was not created by the current administration.

[lazs2]

Heston isn't afraid of nabisco... He is afraid of the same people the founding fathers were.  

All that crap is maybe true maybe not true maybe half true..... Bottom line...  does any of it lower or raise the price of 92 octane at the pump?    That is the only tangible thing.
lazs

[Elfenwolf]

It's too bad a piece like this has phrases like "Bush steals the election" and "3,000 who died in the 9-11 attacks due to the Bush administration's incompitence." Any valid points in this article are immediately dismissed by a substancial propotion of your audience with those catch-phrases.

[Goth]

People will see black helicopters and vans parked outside their houses all the time. That is the most rediculous story I have read to date. Journalism has really taken a nose dive in the past 20 years.

[midnight Target]

Hmmmmm. I give it a 7.5 for content, an 8 for opening line and a 7 for bait placement.

[Hortlund]

Originally posted by Elfenwolf
It's too bad a piece like this has phrases like "Bush steals the election" and "3,000 who died in the 9-11 attacks due to the Bush administration's incompitence."Any valid points in this article are immediately dismissed by a substancial propotion of your audience with those catch-phrases.

Yup, that is exactly where I went into -mode and stopped taking the post seriously.

[Charon]

At best, the oil aspects are a "collateral benefit" for the current administration and the oil industry. One they are more than willing to act on after the fact, but a bit of a stretch (quite a bit) to assume a deeper connection. Now, the link to the oil insudtry and the Bush administration is very clear, but then most parties and individual campaigns have "special buddies" that get special deals at our expense.

You can't be a serious US politician today without $$$, and that money is expected to buy more than face time. You could argue that Enron didn't get it's $$$ worth, but then the implosion was beyond the scope of help. And look how "Serious" the administration has become with Worldcom. Where was that with Enron? Enron would have (and its peers will) receive plenty of goodness should H.R. 4 make it though the Senate without major ammendments. ANWR may be out , but then some felt it was only added to distract attention from the subtle corp. welfare provisions that will stay without much comment


Charon

[easymo]

The amusing part, is that sikboy is dumb enough to belive that BS.  Just a little common sense would tell you, the lefties over a CNN are drooling for a story like that. You would have long since heard about it.

[Boroda]

Huh.

Looks frightening.

Remember, US Congress declared KLA a "terrorist organisation" in 1998, and in 1999 NATO,  led by the US, started to openly support Albanian terrorists and started an unprovoked agression against Yugoslavia?

Politics mixed with Big Money is always a dirty thing...

[easymo]

Boroda.  You have admitted missing communism. AND being part of the privileged class, under that old system.  You are about as left wing as George Bush.  You dont give a sh*& what happens to other people, as long as you get your piece.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by easymo
The amusing part, is that sikboy is dumb enough to belive that BS.  Just a little common sense would tell you, the lefties over a CNN are drooling for a story like that. You would have long since heard about it.

I dunno Sikboy...

Name calling is definitely considered as a score. Not a lunker though.

[Gadfly]

There are some stupid posts on this board, but this one is near the top.

I can make just as many ubsustanitated accusations about anyone in the world.  It is simple to do when you do not cite real sources.