Why Aren't They All Be Brave Enough and Spell It Out? 

By Ali Al-Hail

ccun.org, July 7, 2007

Undoubtedly, the Middle East, particularly, the Arab and Muslim Part of it, not only Iraq, is an essential provider of energy, specifically, oil, to the US-led Western states of the coalition in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the region. As a result, the long Western marketed propaganda that is, to help out Iraqis, or Afghans to establish a democracy no longer, holds out. It's rather a myth.

Lately, the Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson had apparently, echoed this well- known impression the world over. He had the courage in an unprecedented manner to admit that, securing oil supplies is almost entirely, the only motivating force behind the presence of Australian troops in Iraq. This statement of course is also, understood to be applicable to the US, and to the whole US-led coalition in Iraq, and Afghanistan, despite continual confusion, manipulation, and concealing.

The Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson emphasized that, maintaining "resource security" in the Middle East had lividly, been a top urgency, and a key factor as to why Australia was engaged in such a huge undertaking. Though, there's no originality in such a statement, to be spelled out by an official in the US-led coalition in Iraq makes it somehow, interesting.
In an interview to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Mr. Nelson confessed that, the fluency of oil had impacted Australia's long-term agenda in the region. He maintained that, "Obviously the Middle East itself, not only Iraq but the entire region, is an important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world." The Minister suggested that, "Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq." Hence, he proposed that, "It's in our interests, our security interests, to make sure that we leave the Middle East, and leave Iraq in particular, in a position of sustainable security."

One presumes, as do many that, the standoff between the US-led West and Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons is part of this thirst for the region's resources. Because Iran has colossal storage of resources most notably, of oil and gas, to have a pro West regime in Iran would be serving the West's energy ambitions in the region.

While leaving Iran's current anti West regime to buildup its nuclear arsenal would mean a threat to the West's supply of Oil. Many argue that, Israel's longtime nuclear buildup is crucial to the West's oil security in the Middle East, as Israel is uncontroversial and viable ally. This observation explains why the West is not hammering out Israel over its nuclear program. But when it comes to Iran's nuclear program tough, presumably, in its very beginning, the tale takes different dimensions. If the US-led coalition withdraw from the Middle East, for any reason, Iran will be the most powerful in the Gulf region, to which oil and gas are significantly, linked. This would probably, give Iran an upper hand over both energy supply to the West and over its prices. Therefore, the Australian Defense Minister, Brendan Nelson's emphasis on securing the oil supply has apparently, a lot to do with Iran.

Having said that, his confession goes down well amongst Anti-war protesters in the countries of the US-led coalition. They argue that, an admission of this like to be expressed by a high ranking official reinforces that, the US-led invasion was more of a grab for oil rather than a genuine attempt to uncover weapons of mass destruction, or to remove a link to Al-Qaeda within Saddam's regime. Especially, after both presuppositions upon which the whole invasion was initiated had drastically, fallen short of being realistic.

Perceivably, embarrassed by his defense Minister, before his masters in the White House, and 10 Downing Street, John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister has kept a low profile about the comments, stating that, it was "stretching it a bit" to presume that Australia's Iraq involvement was tempted by oil. The Australian PM gave his feedback to his defense Minister's comments to a local radio station, insisting that, "We didn't go there because of oil and we don't remain there because of oil." He had further persisted that, "A lot of oil comes from the Middle East - we all know that - but the reason we remain there is that we want to give the people of Iraq a possibility of embracing democracy."

Australia has since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, been part of the US-led coalition with nearly, 1,500 military personnel still deployed in the region. Despite some members' decision in the coalition such as Spain to bring their troops home, Australia had not drawn out any scheduling to bring its troops home.

Professor, Dr. Ali Al-Hail, Professor of Mass Communication, Twice Fulbright Award Winner, Fulbright Visiting Scholar, and Board Member of AUSACE ASC, IABD, NEBAA, BEA, IMDA and EAJMC American Associations.

Can be contacted via: alhailali@yahoo.com