Iranian Oil Exchange
                 …Declaration of War?

Oil the reason behind latest tension with Iran
The Woodstock Sentinel-Review

In my view, the storm brewing between Tehran and Washington is less a matter of Iranian nuclear noncompliance than it is of Iran’s intention to open an oil exchange (bourse) that trades petroleum in euros.

The Bush administration can’t allow the Iranian government to open such an oil exchange because if it were to happen, hundreds of billions of dollars would come flooding back to the United States crushing the greenback and shattering the economy.

This is why Bush and Co. are planning a war against Iran. It is straightforward defense of the current global system and the continuing dominance of the dollar reserve currency. The claim that Iran is developing nuclear weapons is a mere pretext for war, like it was with Iraq.

America monopolizes the oil trade. Oil is denominated in dollars and sold on either the NYMEX or London’s International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), both owned by Americans. This forces the central banks around the world to hold huge stockpiles of dollars, even though the greenback is currently underwritten by $8 trillion of debt.

Such a currency monopoly is like a pyramid-scheme. As long as nations are forced to buy oil in dollars, the United States can continue its profligate spending with impunity.

The only threat to this strategy is the prospect of competition from an independent oil exchange, forcing the faltering dollar to go nose-to-nose with a more stable (debt-free) currency such as the euro. That would compel central banks to diversify their holdings, sending billions of dollars back to America causing nightmarish hyperinflation.

The effort to keep information about Iran’s oil exchange out of the headlines has been extremely successful. This is a secret boardroom kingpins would rather keep to themselves. It’s easier to convince the public of nuclear hobgoblins and Islamic fanatics than to justify fighting a war for the anemic greenback.