FTR#561—Economics 9/11, Part II—(Two 30-minute segments) (Sources are noted
in parentheses.) (Recorded on 7/16/2006.)
Note: FTR#’s 260-316, 317,
324, FTR#325 and succeeding programs are streaming
on Real Audio at www.wfmu.org/daveemory.
FTR#’s 01-270, 316-324 are available for download
only, also on Real Audio, on their Archive Page.)
Note!! WFMU is now
podcasting the For The Record Shows. For details, access: http://podcast.wfmu.org/
Listeners are emphatically encouraged to use the
internet to disseminate as much of the audio and printed material as possible. Note: all of this material is free.
Note: It is
recommended that listeners print the program descriptions for optimum
readability. It is emphatically
encouraged that listeners use the printed files on the Spitfire web site and
the audio files on the WFMU web sites to create their own research/teaching
databases.
NEW!! A diligent listener is turning the For The Record
descriptions into a blog. The URL is: http://ftrSummary.blogspot.com/. In addition, the listener has put together
a blog for the RFA descriptions: http://rfaSummary.blogspot.com/.
Listeners are emphatically encouraged to utilize these spots.
Listeners are
strongly encouraged to utilize the SPITFIRE search function in order to enhance
their understanding of the material. The search function can be accessed at: http://www.spitfirelist.com/FTR_search.html.
NOTE: TWO
LECTURES PRESENTING MR. EMORY’S VIEWS OF WHAT WE CAN EXPECT IN THE FUTURE ARE
NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWLOAD FOR FREE IN
BOTH REAL AUDIO AND MP3. These lectures are:
L-1: ‘The Political Implications of the UFO Phenomenon and the ‘ET’ Myth’; and
L-2: ‘The Future--Technology, Theocracy and the Thousand-Year-Reich.’ Descriptions
are available in the Lecture
Series section.
NEW!! A number of
vitally important books are now available for download for FREE. The books are:
Martin Bormann: Nazi in
Exile by Paul Manning; The Nazis Go Underground
by Curt Reiss; and All Honorable Men (parts 1 and 2) by James
Stewart Martin. Taken together, these books will provide a significant
understanding of the concept and reality of The Underground Reich, and they can
be downloaded with a modem Internet connection. They are available at: Spitfirelist.com/Books. In addition, we have added Cairo to Damascus by John Roy Carlson [1951], Germany Plots with the Kremlin by T.H. Tetens [1953], and Armies of Spies by Joseph Golomb [1939].
Yet another recent addition is Germany’s
Master Plan by Joseph Borkin and Charles Welsh. (Borkin is the author of
the 1979 classic The Crime and Punishment
of I.G. Farben.) Another anti-fascist classic about I.G. Farben supplements
the Borkin and Welsh text—Treason’s Peace
by Howard Watson Ambruster. Two more recently-posted gems are The Thousand-Year Conspiracy by Paul
Winkler and Falange by Alan Chase,
both published in 1943. The Winkler text documents the evolution of militant
Pan-Germanism from the Teutonic Knights to the Nazis and Falange documents the Third Reich’s geopolitical goals in the
Spanish-speaking world. By the time many of you read this description, more of
the long-out-of-print anti-fascist books that are more than 50 years old will
have been added to the Spitfirelist.com/Books URL. The Manning text’s URL also features a discussion of
Paul Manning’s career and professional credentials. Martin Bormann: Nazi in Exile is also available in html. Note also that FTR#305
has a synoptic overview of the Bormann organization. An understanding of the
Bormann organization is essential for an in-depth grasp of the arguments
presented on For The Record.
Note also that U.S. Government documents proving Prescott
Bush Sr.’s Money-Laundering on behalf of the Third Reich before and after World
War II are available at a linked website, along with commentary by John
Buchanan, who located the documentation. This material is discussed in FTR#435.
The website containing the documents is www.debatecomics.org/BushFamilyFortune/.
Summary of FTR#561—(Note: The massive
volume of ‘For The Record’ programs about 9/11 and related topics is summarized
and analyzed in the periodically-updated description for FTR#391.
FTR#’s 454,
455, 456 are compilations of
much of the key documentation culled from Mr. Emory’s investigation into 9/11.
Along with FTR#391, they should give
listeners/readers a substantive grasp of this momentous event. It is
recommended that listeners use this description and e-mail it to others.) Continuing discussion of the economic
implications of violence in the Middle East, this program identifies the
oil-price increases stemming from the bloodletting as being of paramount
importance. The more violent and unstable the Middle East becomes, the more
wealth pours into the coffers of the oil companies and the oil producing
countries. The effect of this increase is to erode the position of those
individuals and institutions in the world least able to afford the
across-the-board inflation resulting from the rise in oil prices—the poorest.
Will the current round of price increases result in a rightward shift in world
politics, as was the case in the early 1970’s? The increase in the price of oil
also accelerates the re-investment of petroleum wealth in Western corporations
and the US academic infrastructure. The broadcast notes that the Bush
administration’s insane wartime tax increases have done much to realize Osama
bin Laden’s goal of bankrupting the United States. Concluding with an update on
the development of synthetic fuel technology, the broadcast notes that the
increase in the price of oil has made the use of the Fischer-Tropsch process
economically viable.
Program Highlights Include: Review of the fascist economic agenda and history of the Muslim
Brotherhood; a Saudi bid for a significant stake in the Bank of China; the
president of Iran’s endorsement of high oil prices; Osama bin Laden’s
endorsement of high oil prices; the fact that the US national debt is actually
closer to 49 trillion dollars, rather than the 8.3 trillion that the Bush
administration is trumpeting; Shell Oil’s development of a coal-to-liquid plant
in China.
1.
The broadcast begins with review of the history of the Muslim
Brotherhood’s alliance with Nazi Germany and its affiliation with fascist
ideology. Discussing the diaspora of the Muslim Brotherhood following its
expulsion from Egypt, the program discusses the establishment of Munich as a
primary base of operations. The site was chosen in order to further the cause
of Nazi/Islamist alliance. Note that it was Said Ramadan who selected Munich as
the eventual place for European Brotherhood relocation. (For more on Munich as
a center or Islamist and Muslim Brotherhood activity, see FTR#518.) “ ‘Why Munich, why Germany?’ I asked
Rifaat Said. ‘Because there, one finds old complicities that go back to the
late 1930’s, when the Muslim Brothers collaborated with the agents of Nazi
Germany. [Italics are Mr. Emory’s.] . . By soaking up the savings of these
Muslim workers, Youssef Nada, like Said Ramadan, took advantage of an extremely
favorable context and used it as a springboard for the Muslim Brothers’
economic activities.’” (Dollars for Terror: The United States and
Islam; by Richard Labeviere; Copyright 2000 [SC]; Algora Publishing; ISBN
1-892941-06-6; p. 153; visit their website at www.algora.com)
2.
Highlighting the political philosophy of the “Fraternity” (author
Richard Labaviere’s nickname for the Muslim Brotherhood), the program sets
forth the fascist orientation of this organization. “The
history of the Fraternity makes the Brothers’ concept of the Islamic State
clear: a theocratic State of fascistic inspiration. . . .Some of them were
fellow travelers of the Nazis, and are still trying today to resuscitate the
old alliance of Islamism and the swastika.” (Ibid.; p. 121.)
3.
“Muhammad Said al-Ashmawy continued: ‘All my research always
brings me back to the same point: at the beginning of this process of the perversion
of Islam are the Muslim Brothers, an extreme Right cult.’.. . An extreme Right
cult? ‘The history of the Muslim Brothers is infused and fascinated by
fascistic ideology,’ Said al-Ashmawy adds. ‘Their doctrines, their total (if
not totalitarian) way of life, takes as a starting point the same obsession
with a perfect city on earth, in conformity with the celestial city whose
organization and distribution of powers they can discern through the lens of
their fantastical reading of the Koran.’ This ‘Fascistic affiliation’ would
crop up in the analyses of several of our interlocutors, in particular that of
the journalist Eric Rouleau, who is a specialist in the Middle East, former
French ambassador to Tunisia and Turkey.” (Ibid.; p. 124.)
4.
As noted in FTR#332, FTR#340 and FTR#343, the fascists used
anti-colonial sentiment in the Third World to recruit confederates against
Britain and France. The Muslim Brotherhood was utilized in this fashion. “Lastly, the emergence and the rise to power of
Fascism, hostile to French and British colonialism, gave rise to many analogies
with corporatist propaganda and the methods of mobilization of Mussolini’s
gangs.” (Ibid.; p. 126.) (For more on the Corporate State espoused
by Mussolini, see RFA 1, Miscellaneous Archive Show M42 and FTR#268.)
5.
The theocratic fascism of the Brotherhood was enunciated by the
organization’s founder Hassan al-Banna. “ ‘Islam is
doctrine, divine worship, the fatherland, the nation, religion, spirituality,
the Koran and the sword.’” (Idem.)
6.
Further highlighting the comparisons between the Brotherhood’s economic
program and those of Mussolini and Hitler, the broadcast continues: “Taking Italy’s choices under Mussolini for inspiration,
the economic program set three priorities . . . The social policy foresaw a new
law on labor, founded on corporations. This economic program would more
directly reveal its relationship to totalitarian ideologies a few years later,
with the works of Mohamed Ghazali . . . . Mohamed Ghazali recommended ‘an
economic regimen similar to that which existed in Nazi Germany and fascist
Italy.’ . . .The moral code is also an important component in this program,
which is intended to create the ‘new Muslim man.’ . . . The notion of the
equality of the sexes is inherently negated by the concept of the supremacy of
male social responsibilities . . .the ‘natural’ place of the woman is in the
home.” (Ibid.; p. 127.)
7.
Next, the program
reviews al-Qaeda strategy with regard to the world petroleum markets. Osama bin
Laden has previously expressed his intent to collapse the U.S. economy. The
former head of the CIA’s al-Qaeda task force believes that this strategy will
involve attacks on the petroleum infrastructure in the U.S. and elsewhere—not destruction
of oil wells themselves. It is interesting to note how the strategy of bin
Laden and other Islamist terrorists dovetails with the goals of the oil
industry—driving up prices and, as a result, maximizing profits. As will be
discussed at greater length below, the global increase in oil is effecting an
enormous transfer of wealth from the accounts of every individual and
institution on earth—both private and public—into the coffers of the petroleum
related interests, both nations and commercial enterprises. (Remember in this
regard that virtually everyone and everything uses petroleum, either directly
or indirectly. This transfer of wealth is an altogether profound phenomenon,
and one that will prove decisive in the course of human affairs if it is not
altered.) “The US and its Arab allies must expect
an increase in attacks on their oil infrastructure in the next phase of the war
by al-Qaeda targeting the US economy, the former Central Intelligence Agency
official who was responsible for hunting down Osama bin Laden warns today.
Writing for the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington security think-tank, Michael
Scheuer says Mr. Bin Laden’s intention to bankrupt the US economy by driving up
world oil prices is very likely to lead to attacks inside the US by al-Qaeda,
its allies or unrelated groups. Houston’s gas refineries, oil import facilities
and ship canal and pipeline systems, and the trans-Alaska pipeline are
potential targets.” (“US ‘Must Beware’ Rise in al-Qaeda Oil Strikes”
by Guy Dinmore; Financial Times; 5/15/2006; p. 6.)
8.
“Al-Qaeda’s
failed attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abdaiq facility on February 24, which led to a
$2 a barrel jump in world oil prices, should also be seen as the beginning of a
new and more systematic phase of targeting of the kingdom’s oil infrastructure.
Two days after the attack, an al-Qaeda-affiliated cleric issued a religious
justification for attacking oil-processing installations. The cleric, using the
Internet, also claimed that attacks on prominent Muslim oil officials were justified.
The militant organization’s media apparatus is also being used ‘to stir the
troubled pot of oil-related international worries,’ Mr. Scheuer writes, noting
encouragement for Nigerian insurgents in the Niger Delta and ‘mujahideen’ in
the Caspian Sea region.” (Idem.)
9.
Note that bin
Laden’s strategy dovetails nicely with the agenda of the oil industry. Note
also how the administration of George W. Bush is doing an excellent job of
realizing bin Laden’s goal of collapsing the U.S. economy. It is Mr. Emory’s
long-held view that the Underground Reich is manipulating both “W” and bin
Laden. “Tracing al-Qaeda’s evolving strategy, Mr.
Scheuer, who left the CIA in 2004, notes that Mr. bin Laden has never
threatened to cut oil supplies to the US. Instead he is driven by the belief
that Muslim oil is bought too cheaply. In December 2004, Mr. bin Laden wrote
that a minimum of $100 a barrel was a ‘fair price.’ In his September 1996
‘Declaration of War against Americans,’ Mr. bin Laden argues that oil in the
Islamic world is a treasure to be preserved for future generations of Muslims
and thus should not be wasted through attacks. As a result, Mr. Scheuer says
al-Qaeda’s plans rule out attacks on oil wells but focus on the infrastructure
needed for refining and transporting oil, as well as industry personnel.” (Idem.)
10.
Assessing the state
of the US economy (and the extent to which George W. Bush’s administration is
realizing Osama’s goal of destroying the American fiscal landscape), the
program notes that the administration is not reporting the true state of
American financial ruin. Although the administration is reporting the national
debt as being $8.3 trillion, the actual figure should be $49 trillion!! The
Bush administration’s slash and burn approach to the economy has been obscured
by all the hoopla surrounding the ‘war on terror.” The “war” is in the process
of realizing the goal of bin Laden. “The federal
government keeps two sets of books, but the Bush administration only wants you
to see one of them. There is the highly publicized ‘President’s Budget’ issued
by the Office of Management and Budget, and the almost-secret ‘Financial Report
of the United States’ issued by the Department of Treasury. The budget says
that the 2005 US fiscal deficit was $319bn, but the Financial Report claims it
is $760bn. Which view is correct? Is the deficit a mere 2.6 per cent of gross
domestic product and shrinking, as the former OMB director and now White House
chief of staff Joshua Bolten claims, or an alarming 6.2 per cent of GDP and
growing, as John Snow, Treasury secretary, writes in the Financial Report?” (“A
Truer Measure of America’s Ballooning Deficit” by Jim Cooper; Financial
Times; 5/1/2006; p. 11.)
11.
“The budget that is
hand-delivered to every congressman’s and senator’s office is calculated on a
cash basis, that is, the government only counts dollars as they are received
from taxpayers and spent by government only counts dollars as they are received
from taxpayers and spent by government agencies. This says the ‘deficit’ for 2005
was $319bn. In contrast, the financial report was issued without a press
release and measures government activity on an accrual basis—when income is
earned or expenses are incurred, although no cash may have yet been
transferred. According to the report, the US obligated itself to spend $760bn
more than it collected from taxpayers in 2005, so the ‘net operating cost’
was $760bn. . . .” (Idem.)
12.
“ . . . The budget says that
the national debt is $8.3 trillion; the report indicates that the present value
of our obligations is more like $49 trillion. That unimaginable sum is how much
money we must set aside today to pay the full Social Security and Medicare
benefits that Congress has already promised. The budget says Americans’
personal share of the national debt is $28,000; the report says it is $156,000.
That means that a family of five
owes roughly $750,000. As David Walker, US comptroller-general, says, you owe
your government the equivalent of a luxury home, only you do not get to live in
it. You only get the mortgage. [Italics
are Mr. Emory’s.] . .” (Idem.)
13.
To date, analysts observing the violence
engulfing the Middle East have focused on one or another real [or imagined]
cause—“the U.S. wants to control Iraqi oil ”; the Iraqis [or Iranians] want to
bankrupt the American economy by pricing oil in euros instead of dollars”, etc.
Sounding the keynote to this broadcast, Mr. Emory notes that the violence itself is driving up the price of oil and precipitating an
enormous transfer of wealth from the pockets of every individual and
institution [public or private] on earth! It is Mr. Emory’s opinion that it is
this transfer of wealth and its results that are the goal of the Underground
Reich!! Note that the “Israeli-Palestinian mess” is not
“simmering down” and the Saudis are financing Hamas; the Iranians are financing
Hezbollah. Of course, Iran and Saudi Arabia are two of the world’s largest oil
producers, and benefit from the “mess” not “simmering down.” Note that the
price of oil began its current enormous climb in 2003, the year in which the
Bush administration launched the invasion of Iraq. “Since
the price of oil began its rocky but seemingly inexorable climb above $40 a
barrel in 2003, there has been widespread debate about what is driving it.
Crude bears have contended higher energy prices are heavily influenced by a
‘risk premium’ amid fears of terrorist or political disruption to supply.
Bulls, conversely, acknowledge a premium, but say it is far less important than
the soaring demand from developed and developing countries amid ever-tightening
supply. So far, the bears have been punished mightily, while the bulls have
been among the best-compensated investors in the world. ‘Clearly, there is some
risk premium,’ said James Melcher, manager of Balestra Capital, a New
York-based hedge fund that has notched up strong returns in recent years, in
part thanks to energy-related bets. ‘If the Israeli-Palestinian mess simmers
down, Venezuela settles down and the Iran situation progresses in a benign way,
I think oil will come down to maybe $55 or $60—but it isn’t going back to the
$40s.’” (“Fear Factor and Soaring Demand Blamed for Crude Price
Leap” by Kevin Morrison and Stephen Schurr; Financial
Times; 7/5/2006; p. 6.)
14.
“There has been no shortage of
events to fuel the fear factor. Notwithstanding the failed attack on Saudi
Arabia’s Abqaiq facility, Nigerian militants closed significant parts of the
country’s production early this year. There are the continued attacks on Iraqi
oil infrastructure and the nuclear stand-off continues between Iran and the
west. All of which have kept oil traders busy, and stoked concerns about future
oil supplies, which has helped push oil prices to more than $70 a barrel this
week. . . .” (Idem.)
15.
Among those openly hailing the increase in the
price of oil is the president of Iran, the Holocaust-denying architect of some
of the fears (and, perhaps, the eventual reality) of violence in the Middle
East. Note that Hezbollah, currently applying the match to the Middle East, is
backed by Ahmadi-Nejad’s Iran. “Mahmoud
Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran’s fundamentalist president, yesterday said rising crude oil
prices were ‘very good,’ reflecting his belief that events are moving in Iran’s
favor as Russia appeared to rule out sanctions against Tehran without proof its
nuclear program was designed to produce weapons. Oil prices yesterday rose
above $75 a barrel on concern that shipments from Iran and Nigeria will be
disrupted. The president’s remarks will be read in some quarters as a warning,
to those who advocate action—either economic or military—against Tehran over
its nuclear ambitions, that Iran’s position as the fourth largest global oil
producer makes it a difficult target.” (“Rising Crude Oil Prices
Very Good, Says Ahmadi-Nejad” by Gareth Smyth
and Guy Dinmore; Financial Times;
4/22-23/2006; p. 2.)
16.
“On Thursday, Mr. Ahmadi-Nejad
announced Tehran was studying a dual pricing scheme to cushion poor countries
against high oil prices while countries with ‘hundreds of billions of dollars
should pay the real price of oil,’ Since becoming president last year, Mr.
Ahmadi-Nejad has faced western condemnation for fiery verbal attacks on Israel
but his support for the Palestinians AND Egalitarian slogans have courted
popularity among many in the Arab and Islamic worlds. His proposal that ‘poor
consumers’ should get lower oil prices plays into that same populism. . . .” (Idem.)
17.
An important part of the
program involved Mr. Emory’s discussion of the historic impact of increasing
oil prices on the social fabric of world society. A principal element of this
discussion concerned the role of the 1973 Arab oil embargo on the social
democracies in Europe. The inflation resulting from that enormous oil price
increase placed great strain on those social democracies, because the increase
in oil prices strained every individual and institution in those countries. The
resulting social strife did much to undermine belief in the social machinery in
those societies. In Britain, for example, the wage/price spiral generated by
the combination of enormous oil price increases and the demands of the UK’s
powerful labor unions subverted support for the Labor Party, and ushered in the
reactionary regime of Margaret Thatcher. Because everything and everyone uses
fossil fuels, directly and/or indirectly, the across-the-board increases in oil
prices occurring worldwide will result in an unforgiving manifestation of
social Darwinism. Those individuals and institutions best able to afford the
price increases (the wealthiest) will fare relatively well, while those least
able to absorb the increased cost of oil (the poorest) will do very badly
indeed. For a glimpse of the sort of social catastrophe that might result from
this, see FTR#534.
18.
Another result of the increase
in oil prices is the reinvestment of “petro-wealth” in Western corporations. In
recent years, the rising tide of anti-Semitism has re-fueled the old saw about
the “Jewish control of the news media.” The reality of American media corporate
ownership is fundamentally different, and reflects the growing influence of oil
producing nations in the corporate landscape. AOL/Time-Warner—the world’s
largest media company—is controlled by a minority consortium of Saudi princes,
led by Prince Alwaleed. Alwaleed is also the second largest stockholder (behind
Ruppert Murdoch) in Newscorp. Alwaleed is also heavily invested in
Disney—ABC/Disney is the third largest media corporation in the world. Other
examples of reinvested oil wealth on the US corporate landscape are the 7 per
cent stake owned by the Kuwaiti Investment Authority in Daimler/Chrysler, the
Kuwaiti Investment Authority’s major participation in Aventis, the world’s
largest pharmaceutical company, and the Iranian government’s significant stake
in Thyssen/Krupp, the largest heavy industrial firm in Western Europe.
19.
Growing Saudi oil wealth has
also permitted them to buy influence in the academic world, as well. Earlier in
2006, there was a paper published out of Harvard by two professors who lambasted
the Israel lobby. What largely escaped public notice was the fact that, several
months before the Walt/Mearsheimer paper was published, Prince Alwaleed gave
millions of dollars to Harvard in order to promote Muslim/Christian
understanding. Alwaleed made a similar endowment to Georgetown University,
following the footsteps of other Saudi donors who have helped to fund Middle
East studies programs at American universities. The Saudi investment in
American education is interesting because Saudi Arabia has a literacy rate of
roughly 50 per cent.
20.
Next, the program highlights some
observations by a professional associate of Mr. Emory’s. A former investigator
for the SEC, this person noted the attempts by the Saudis to buy a considerable
share of Bank of China. In the professional opinion of this highly qualified
individual, this acquisition by the Saudi group headed by Prince Alwaleed would
give the Saudis added influence on the financial landscape. New shares issued
by Bank of China are aimed at raising $9.7 billion, constituting 10.5% of its
capital share. The Saudi consortium is led by Prince Alwaleed’s al Azizia, and
also features Ma’an bin Abdulwahid al Sanie, Muhaidib Group, Olayan Group,
Olayan Saudi Investment Co., Bahamden Holding Company, and Amwal al Khalej
Commercial Investment Co. (“Saudis Seek Bank of China Stake”; Wall Street Journal; 5/26/2004; p. C4.)
21.
Mr. Emory’s SEC contact viewed the Saudi bid
as an attempt to further utilize its accruing oil wealth to increase its
influence in other countries: “IF Bank of China has
the traditional balance sheet of 10% capital (stockholders equity and retained
earnings) with the classical balance of 20% outside debt and 10% accruals and
60% deposits (Chinese government), and the stockholders equity is 90 billion
(U.S.), that means they can own any number of governments around the world,
their entire central banks. I see the role of Alwaleed, UBS, Royal Bank of
Scotland, and ‘Bank of Tokyo’ (Mitsubishi) to be one of ‘sweet talk’ to
encourage governments to borrow from Bank of China where the bank could then
exercise tremendous influence over those governments. In the international
community, they are likely not as interested in consumer lending (outside of
China) and I don’t know what they charge in interest for domestic loans, as
I’ve not studied the bank yet, but I see the geopolitical purpose as one of
serving empire (of which the Saudis are part).”
22.
The concluding part of the program returns
to the subject of the development of the Fischer-Tropsch process to synthesize
oil. For a number of years, Mr. Emory has predicted that the FT hydrogenation
process would be rejuvenated in order to synthesize fuel, now that prices are
rising so dramatically. (For more about this, see—among other programs—FTR#385, 506, 552.) With enormous coal
reserves and a rapidly growing appetite for petroleum, China is working with
Royal Dutch Shell to develop a CTL (coal-to-liquid) plant in order to begin to
address its energy needs. “Royal Dutch Shell and a
Chinese partner yesterday committed to a three-year study of a coal-to-liquid
fuel plant in western Ningxia province, which if it went ahead would be one of
China’s largest foreign investments. Lim Haw Kuang, executive chairman of Shell
in China, said a plant of the size envisaged would cost $5bn-$6bn to build,
although Shell said this was a preliminary estimate and should not be taken as
a guide to the final cost. The Shell joint venture is part of an investment
surge into CTL plants in China, driven by a combination of the country’s
abundant coal, rising energy demand and record oil prices. Just under 30 such
projects are in the detailed planning or feasibility stage, according to a
report by Credit Suisse, with a projected output equivalent to 10 per cent of
the country’s present oil demand.” (“Shell Eyes $5bn Coal-to-Oil
Fuel Plant in China” by Richard McGregor; Financial Times;
7/12/2006; p. 13.)
23.
“The costly, capital-intensive
CTL plants are generally considered to be financially viable when oil prices
are above $35-$40 a barrel, which the industry thinks is a good bet. Coal is
China’s ‘real strategic reserve,’ says the Credit Suisse report, because it
could all be sourced locally, rather than imported. China has another 30
coal-to-methanol plants being built or going through the approval process. . .
. The technology to turn coal into
gas and oil was invented in the 1920’s in Germany, where it was used to make
fuel for the armed forces in the Second World War. More recently, it was
developed by South Africa during apartheid-era sanctions. [Italics are Mr. Emory’s.]” (Idem.)
24.
Reviewing
information originally presented in FTR#385 (and recapped in FTR#552), the broadcast
sets forth the [ostensibly fictional] forecast of the eventual development of
the coal-to-liquid variant of the hydrogenation process by the petroleum
establishment—after the price of oil has risen sufficiently to ensure the
profit margin of the oil companies!! For a complete understanding of the
argument Mr. Emory presented concerning The Formula, see the two
programs cited in the preceding sentence. “ . . .
.Steiffel walked up to the big glass window, and Barney sat down in a chair
facing the circular desk. ‘Don’t feel too disheartened, son,’ Steiffel said,
turning to Barney. ‘We will manufacture synthetic fuel. And in great quantity.
We already own most of the coal in the country. We know what’s coming. We have
the formula. We have the Mangan catalyst, and we have the technology. But we
must be certain of profit. By 1990, the country will be on its knees to OPEC.
The government will then turn to us. And in their desperation they will insure
our profit position in the manufacture of synthetic fuel.’. . . .” (The Formula; by Steve Shagan;
Copyright 1979 Cirandinha Productions, Inc.; Soft Cover edition published in
1980 by Bantam Books; 0-553-13801-4; p. 330.)
25.
Lending substance
and considerable credibility to Mr. Emory’s musings about the possible
existence of a technology analogous to what is represented in The Formula
as the “Mangan catalyst”, a recent article noted that two U.S. researchers
have introduced a catalytic process to make the conversion of coal into oil
(CTL technology) more efficient and economically viable. Have they innocently
duplicated a previously existing technology? Or did someone deliver the
catalytic process to the researchers “in a brown paper bag?” “As the cost of oil soars and worries over the U.S.
dependence on foreign petroleum escalate, coal is becoming an increasingly
attractive alternative as a feedstock to make a range of fuels. Now chemists
have invented a new catalytic process that could increase the yield of a clean
form of diesel made from coal. The method, described in the current issue of
the journal Science, uses a pair of catalysts to improve the yield of diesel
fuel from Fischer-Tropschs (F- T) synthesis, a nearly century-old chemical
technique for reacting carbon , monoxide and hydrogen to make hydrocarbons. The
mixture of gases is produced by heating coal. Although Germany used the
process during World War II to convert coal to fuel for its military vehicles,
F-T synthesis has generally been too expensive to compete with oil.
[Italics are Mr. Emory’s.] . . . ” (“Clean Diesel from Coal” by Kevin Bullis; Technology Review; 4/19/06;
accessed at: http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=16713&ch=biztech.)
26.
Concluding this
description is a quote from an Arab investor concerning the effect of war on
the price of oil. Note that this article was published eight days after the
broadcast was recorded and confirms Mr. Emory’s views on the effect of war on
oil prices and the investment climate that results from the “war inflation”“ ‘Lebanon is far away,’ says Waleed Abdullah, a sales manager
in Sharjah, one of the United Arab Emirates, who has been buying stocks in
neighboring Dubai and Abu Dhabi. ‘Our investments here aren’t affected really
by what happens there.’ For investors like Mr. Abdullah, conflict in the
Middle East means one thing: higher oil prices. ‘It’s always good for us,’
he says. [Italics are Mr. Emory’s.]. . .” (“Mideast Stocks Hold Up
Well Amid Conflict” by Karen Richardson and Yasmine El-Rashidi; Wall Street
Journal; 7/24/2006; p. C1/)