Monday, August 28, 2006
Public Meeting: Oil -The New Scramble for Africa
Cork SWP public forum
From the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Guinea.
Oil , The New Scramble for Africa.
Speaker, Philip Ikurusi, Niger Delta activist
Victoria Hotel, Patrick St., Cork
Friday 6th October, 8 PM
The Scramble for African Oil.
After decades of Cold War, when Africa was simply viewed as a convenient pawn on the global chessboard, and a further decade of neglect in the 1990s, the African continent has now become a vital arena of strategic and geopolitical competition not only for the US but also for China, India, Japan and other new emerging powers. The main reason for this is quite simple; Africa is the final frontier as far as the world's supplies of energy (both oil and natural gas ) is concerned.
In the next 10 to 15 years, most of the new oil entering the world market will come African fields because it is only in Africa that substantial new fields have been found and brought into production.Since 1980, the US have been officially committed ( in the words of President Jimmy Carter, which have become known as the "Carter Doctrine") to the use of "any means necessary, including military force" to ensure the free flow of Persian Gulf oil.Now the "Carter Doctrine" has been extended to Africa. "African oil is of strategic national interest to us and it will increase and become more important to us as we go forward", Walter Kansteiner, the former US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, declared during a visit to Nigeria in July 2002.
Not surprisingly, the largest chunks of US aid to Africa are going to Angola and Nigeria, Africa's two leading oil suppliers to the US. Total US security aid to these countries in 2002-2004 ammounted to approximately $300m, a substantial increase over the previous three year period.In October 2004, the US European Command (EURCOM) hosted a three day Gulf of Guinea maritime security conference in Naples, Italy (head quarters of the US Sixth Fleet). Participants included naval leaders from Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Equitorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo Brazaville, Sao Tome and Togo along with personnel from the US, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK.It is clear that as the security of Middle Eastern oil becomes more uncertain, the Imperialist Powers are setting their sights on the Gulf of Guinea.
From the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Guinea.
Oil , The New Scramble for Africa.
Speaker, Philip Ikurusi, Niger Delta activist
Victoria Hotel, Patrick St., Cork
Friday 6th October, 8 PM
The Scramble for African Oil.
After decades of Cold War, when Africa was simply viewed as a convenient pawn on the global chessboard, and a further decade of neglect in the 1990s, the African continent has now become a vital arena of strategic and geopolitical competition not only for the US but also for China, India, Japan and other new emerging powers. The main reason for this is quite simple; Africa is the final frontier as far as the world's supplies of energy (both oil and natural gas ) is concerned.
In the next 10 to 15 years, most of the new oil entering the world market will come African fields because it is only in Africa that substantial new fields have been found and brought into production.Since 1980, the US have been officially committed ( in the words of President Jimmy Carter, which have become known as the "Carter Doctrine") to the use of "any means necessary, including military force" to ensure the free flow of Persian Gulf oil.Now the "Carter Doctrine" has been extended to Africa. "African oil is of strategic national interest to us and it will increase and become more important to us as we go forward", Walter Kansteiner, the former US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, declared during a visit to Nigeria in July 2002.
Not surprisingly, the largest chunks of US aid to Africa are going to Angola and Nigeria, Africa's two leading oil suppliers to the US. Total US security aid to these countries in 2002-2004 ammounted to approximately $300m, a substantial increase over the previous three year period.In October 2004, the US European Command (EURCOM) hosted a three day Gulf of Guinea maritime security conference in Naples, Italy (head quarters of the US Sixth Fleet). Participants included naval leaders from Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Equitorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo Brazaville, Sao Tome and Togo along with personnel from the US, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK.It is clear that as the security of Middle Eastern oil becomes more uncertain, the Imperialist Powers are setting their sights on the Gulf of Guinea.
# posted by Cork SWP : 3:22 pm
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Socialist Forum: From Bloody Sunday to Guantanamo - The Slow death of Democracy
Socialist Forum:
From Bloody Sunday to Guantanamo - The Slow death of Democracy.
Speaker :Eamon McCann
Victoria Hotel, Patrick St.
Mon Aug 14th 8PM
The shooting dead of 13 unarmed civilians in Derry during a Civil rights Demonstration in Derry, January 1972 was a decisive event in the history of the North. Unlike all the other atrocities in Northern Ireland, it took place in broad daylight with hundreds of witnesses. The people of Derry know what happened on Bloody Sunday. They saw it! Yet to this day, the British Government has never come clean on responsibility for the mass murder, or charged any of the British Paratroopers involved in connectionwith it.The lack of accountability of so called democratic Governments is still evident today, against the wishes of the people. the US/Israel and Britain are waging a horrific war against the people of the Middle East. The lack of accountability in the so called "War on Terror" is best demonstrated in the illegal detentions of in Guantanamo Bay.
Eamonn McCann has been an active socialist for four decades and was one of the original organisers of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA). He is a member of Derry Trades Council and the Bloody Sunday Trust. He personally witnessed the events of Bloody Sunday in January 1972, and has written and campaigned extensively with the relatives of Bloody Sunday victims for truth on what happened on Bloody Sunday to be published. Eamonn is a prominent member of the Socialist Workers Party, and in recent NorthernIreland elections has stood as a candidate for the Socialist Environmental Alliance.
# posted by Cork SWP : 9:18 pm
