Chapter 84 Re-layout the oil map

〖The deep connection between the new Bush administration and oil determines that the core of the US economic and foreign policy is oil.When the oil production capacity is about to reach its limit, the United States is stationing troops everywhere at all costs, and even brazenly launched the Iraq war. Its real intention is not to fight terrorism but to oil. 〗 Amid an impeachment scandal and a stock bubble burst, Clinton's presidency ended.In a matter of months, more than $7 trillion was wiped out.The myth of the new economy has been shattered, bringing with it the retirement hopes of millions of Americans, and the trillions of dollars of foreign investment lured by the prospect of surging wealth in the U.S. stock market. In the 2000 presidential election, Vice President Al Gore ran against a former oil businessman from Texas.The biggest characteristic of this businessman seems to be his ignorance of world politics.

George Bush was inaugurated as President of the United States in January 2001 after one of the fiercest campaigns in modern American history.Bush's presidency has not come easily.The Supreme Court intervened in Florida's vote by 54, and Bush was elected, despite the ballot clearly showing Gore's lead.The basis for the United States to dominate the world has undergone a complete change, and what Washington is now concerned about is no longer the economic policy that President Clinton is concerned about. The composition of Bush's cabinet is worth noting.It easily reminds people of Bush Sr. 12 years ago.Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Powell, and even Assistant to National Security Affairs Condoleezza Rice are all held by senior Bush senior staff.All cabinet members are handpicked by Cheney and Baker for the president.Baker was a very secretive figure who was always there in a pinch.

There is no denying that those in Bush's circle have deep oil backgrounds.Cheney used to be the CEO of Halliburton, the world's largest geological and petroleum service company. Rice was once a director of Chevron Petroleum Corporation. Bush himself has rich experience in the oil industry, and Secretary of Commerce Vince Oil merchant.In a word, compared with any administration in the modern history of the United States, the Bush administration, which entered the White House in January 2001, has been involved in the oil and energy industry to an unparalleled degree.Oil and geopolitics are back at center stage in Washington politics.

The Clinton administration was filled with the personal touch of Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.Rubin is an investment banker on Wall Street and an advocate of a strong dollar policy. He emphasizes multilateral cooperation and free market economic policies, and advocates actively playing the role of the International Monetary Fund.Clinton has pushed tirelessly to globalize his company, viewing it as an American advantage.He cut military spending and curtailed oil geopolitics, a policy that lasted until the end of his administration. As the new century began, the inner circle of the American establishment decided it was time to change policy priorities.If the Treasury Department was the symbol of power in the Clinton administration, then the Department of Defense is the center of power in the Bush administration.And, as during the Cold War, oil geopolitics is at the top of the Defense Department's agenda.

The first thing Cheney did after he was elected as the US vice president was to conduct a comprehensive review and evaluation of the US energy policy.In the early days of Bush's tenure, it was clear that Cheney made most of the important decisions. He had more power than any vice president in history. Cheney then turned to help an old friend and mentor, James Baker III.After Baker left Washington in 1992, he donated a think tank, the Baker Institute, at Rice University in Houston.The Baker Institute was known for its energy research group, which included the head of Enron, Kenneth Wray, the most generous patron of the Bush administration (the company soon became infamous), directors of Shell Oil, executives of BP, Chevron - The leader of Texaco Petroleum Company, well-known oil consultant Matthew Simmons is also a member of the group.The Baker Institute's board also includes former Kuwaiti oil minister Al-Sabah.

Sabah's daughter, who turned out to be the Kuwaiti woman who testified before Congress in October 1990 as a mysterious witness to the first Iraq war, testified that Iraqi soldiers removed premature babies from incubators. snatch away.Her testimony shocked the American people and was a major factor in their support for Operation Desert Storm.This event was later billed as a classic case of public relations by a public relations firm, Hill Knowlton, a defense public relations consultancy closely related to the Bush administration.Kuwait's government-in-exile paid the company $10.8 million in gratitude for its help in securing U.S. support.At the time, the company's Washington branch was headed by Craig Fowler, the former chief of staff to the vice president.

The power crisis in California, which caused the price of oil and natural gas to rise nationwide, and the chaotic state of the American power grid were the superficial reasons for the president to ask Cheney to start studying the national energy strategy.Cheney's "National Energy Policy Report" pointed out a clear policy direction for the new Bush administration.Because of partisanship, these obvious signals have been ignored.As an important clue to President Bush's day-to-day arrangements, the report should have been highly regarded.