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EU Moves To Ban Iran Crude Oil
rtoz writes with this snippet from the BBC: "EU member states have agreed in principle to ban imports of Iranian crude oil to put pressure on the country over its nuclear programme. ... The US, which recently imposed fresh sanctions on Iran, welcomed the news. ... The Iranian state gets more than half of its revenue through the export of crude oil, says the BBC's James Reynolds. If Europe does stop buying, Iran will have to turn to countries in Asia to replace its lost trade, who will demand a discount, he adds."
Iran 'might' be working on a nuclear bomb and the EU wants to put an embargo on them.
the USA, Russia, India, China, Pakistan and Israel all HAVE nuclear bombs and the EU is happily trading and talking with them.
Conclusion:
Once Iran finishes it's research the EU and Iran will be Best Friends Forever.
We ban crude oil imports, Iran blockades the Straight of Hormuz, the US bombs Iran. They wont even need a dodgy dossier this time around. Here's to another decade of war.
All they need is to withdraw from the NPT. Iran has a perfect right to develop nuclear weapons, and a very plausible reason of deterring foreign invasion, given what happened to Iraq. Why pretend not to have a nuclear program when nobody believes you? At least they could take the "no comment" approach that Israel has.
The EU nations import 8.5 million barrels a day. USA: 13.5. Japan: 5.5. China: 4.5. South Korea: 2.5. Get *all* of those nations to ban Iran crude and you'll substantially affect Iranian prices for the worse (and prices within the embargoing nations for the worse, too). Just EU? Meh. EU plus USA? Still meh since in fact most of the current USA's imports come from the Americas. But EU, USA, Japan, SKorea? Now we're talking. As Iran goes further and further down the list of importing nations they start having to deal with shipping into smaller ports, into ports which can't take as much oil as quickly, etc. Less efficient transactions and less efficient shipping, and potentially for a lower base price because the countries agreeing to buy Iranian oil will have negotiating leverage.
In the mean time, it wouldn't be the worst thing for each of the potentially embargoing nations to figure out how to reduce the oil required for each unit of GDP, health, or any other metric of "goodness" that the nation uses. After all, an oil embargo hurts both trade partners, but reducing demand hurts the seller and improves conditions for the (former) buyer.
Support a few technologists in Washington.
Consider the issues with religious extremism in the Middle East, and compare that with our own issues with religious extremism during The Crusades.
Now, imagine that we had nukes back then. The world would have either been Christian or irradiated. This is why we're not happy about Iran, South Korea, Iraq etc having WMDs in this period of their civilisations' evolution; They need their Enlightenment first, and the Arab Spring is the start.
Religion still plays a significant part of their political climates, and a fundamentalist with their finger on a world-ending bomb is nobody's idea of a happy Christmas. Unfortunately, the only way we can try and stop these people from getting such cataclysmically lethal weaponry (short of turning the place to glass) is to stop buying their crap so they get really poor and have to end their nuclear programmes. Hey, it's better than sending our sons over to be maimed by a roadside bomb, right?
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
pray tell me. if you say 'they are a hardliner state', you will find israel MUCH more hardliner than any other country on the planet. just listen to what liebermann says (external affairs minister of israel). you'll be dumbfounded. just watch what gets publicly spoken in one of their leading party assemblies. youll be appalled.
the signs that israel has nuclear capability is always dodged by all international agencies and governments. yet, iran gets the heat for less.
or maybe it is because only countries that are either in angloamerican or russian alliances are entitled to have nuclear weapons ?
never mind. the question was rhetorical.
Read radical news here
China not a threat? I would call BS. They have been a major threat to the US since they found they are good at wars by proxy. The Korean war was a stalemate. The Vietnam conflict was an easy victory for them. Other places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries where insurgents "mysteriously" get ammo and explosives from somewhere also show this.
Look how they killed the solar industry in the US. Six months ago, /. had the articles about how sites belonging to energy companies were being hacked. Then a few months ago came the solar panel dumping for less than the cost of making them. Now we are sans a complete industry because of this, and MORE dependent on oil/gas while they are happily building the latest, safest nuclear reactors and getting off of coal.
Look how they are securing rare earths and other resources.
China is smart, and extremely brutal. They know that a couple shipments of C4 that mysteriously wind up in a bunch of insurgent hands go a lot further than sending PLA troops in a region. This is how they can win a battle in a theater of conflict without a single member of the Han race ever firing a shot.
China is doing a damn good job at keeping the US stuck on fighting in shithole countries to keep the foreign oil flowing while they are going to a post oil economy.
Hahaha, theocratic monarchy... You clearly aren't from the UK. The "ruling" monarch has such important duties as welcoming foreign dignitaries, visiting poor people, and talking rubbish at Christmas. We're run by a parliament, and if the Queen ever decided that wasn't going to work out, dissolution of the monarchy would be instantaneous.
Think of the royal family of the UK as a tourist attraction, and something to talk about in the tabloid press, and you wouldn't be far wrong.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
There is not that much demand for oil,
Oh really? world oil demand 1996-2012.png
Also never mind that lot of these countries are actually self-sufficient in oil needs too.
Can you name a single EU country that is self-sufficient in oil? EU is a net importer, it has to buy on the world market, restricting supply by refusing to buy from one country means that the price goes up (unless other suppliers have the motivation and resources to increase supply at no cost, which seems doubtful in this case).
Look how they killed the solar industry in the US.
Let's be clear, China didn't do anything alone. They whipped the slaves, the slaves were industrious, we bought the fruits of their industry. With few exceptions the Chinese are working in conditions of one sort or another which would be illegal here, even if they are not literal slaves literally being whipped. I would imagine that happens less in Solar production and more in cheap crap consumer goods.
As long as we on one hand pass laws which claim to protect the rights of the laborer and on the other hand continue to purchase goods from countries which do not respect any such rights we are continuing to fund our own devastation through the application of hypocrisy.
We choose to purchase goods from China, both at the personal and national level. What effect did you think that would have?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
You mean Sudan that has now been split off into two countries, the new one being south-sudan which is now more free then before from the north-muslim and Iran backed mass murderers?
Sorta like a not perfect but better then before result of the embargo?
Gosh, as an example of why embargo's don't work a embargo that gave millions a change to create their own country with a better future.... why not show how the storming of the Bastille did nothing to get rid of the corrupt king. How the US decleration of dependence did not result in indepedence?
Next time before spouting off, check what actually happened.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
With few exceptions the Chinese are working in conditions of one sort or another which would be illegal here, even if they are not literal slaves literally being whipped
In a communist economy, the population are slaves. Literal whips are replaced by the Type 56 and threats to your family.
As for the rest of your comment, I agree.
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
Strange, considering that when Libyan oil started to go into Chinese direction, both EU and US got scared shitless and bombed the country into stone age.
Is this what passes for intelligent commentary these days?
1) Libya was not bombed into the stone age. The Ghaddafi regime lost some tanks, artillery, choppers and a few buildings were hit in the process as well.
2) Libya was free to sell its oil to whomever it wanted before the Ghaddafi regime change, and it is so now.
Man, and you people vote. Scary.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
Can you name a single EU country that is self-sufficient in oil?
the UK
The UK is a net oil importer, and has been since around 2004. Output peaked in 1999 and has been declining since. ("The rate of decline has ranged from 6% to 17%, year-on-year.... The UK produced an average of 2.72 million barrels a day (mbpd) in 1999, hitting a high of 3.1 mbpd in August. But by June 2005 this had fallen to 1.7 mbpd, a drop of 34%.") Is UK oil output running on empty? )
Norway
Norway is not in the EU. It is a net oil exporter but exports have been declining since 1993. see Oil_production_Norwegian_North_Sea.png and oil-production-norway.gif. They hit peak oil in 2001, so reversal of this decline seems unlikely unless they can discover and bring big new fields online. (They will undoubtedly bring more small fields online, the issue is whether this will be enough to compensate for decline in the existing fields) Only 12% of European oil comes from Norway, and they do not have the production capacity to increase this significantly.
It's amusing how some people still think we went into Iraq because S. Hussein was an evil dictator, or that we helped get rid of M. Khadafi for the same reason. The popular media seem resistant to portray these things for what they are: taking control of Third World petroleum industries. Iran is the last redoubt in the middle east not yet in bed with or controlled by international petroleum mobsters. Venezuela is the last in the western hemisphere, and it is no coincidence at all that H. Chavez is demonized as an evil dictator as well. It is an industrial pattern every bit as stereotyped as any software design pattern, and it works just as well.
Yes, we are headed for another decade of perpetual war for perpetual peace in order that the mobsters who rule the First World can take control of small nations' wealth and resources. For the rubes, it's all about saving the world from Iran's evil dictators having a few nukes. Suckers.