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July 6, 2008
Last year Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve said, "Everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil." That observation has been reinforced by the Iraqi government awarding a series of key oil contracts to British and US companies including Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Total.
Steve Bell
The US attention has shifted to Iran and its challenge to Israeli hegemony in the Middle East. Of late, Israel has been escalating its threats against Iran.Israel's official argument that it faces an "existential threat" from an Islamic extremist Iranian regime determined to get nuclear weapons. The official Israeli line that Iran cannot be deterred because of its alleged apocalyptic Islamic viewpoint on war with Israel.
However, Israel, which already has as many as 200 nuclear weapons, is the dominant power in the region rather than as the weaker state in the relationship. There is a sharp imbalance of power in favor of Israel and the United States in the Middle East. In contrast, Iran's power to retaliate for a US attack on its nuclear facilities is quite limited and weak.
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Total is French
Shell is Dutch