VHeadline.com commentarist Karl B. Koth writes: It is increasingly obvious that the perceived push for world domination by the USA, which gravely threatens world peace, is not mere speculation, but needs to be taken seriously.

In the last few days we have learned that the US is sending not one, but seven naval Task Forces to the China Sea. On one level this seems an act of utter provocation!

On another, however, it is evidence of a madness, which will invoke the ire if not the retaliation of the Chinese government.

What is behind this latest insanity in US foreign policy of which we have seen so many examples?

Is it (as the highly respected and articulate editor of the Uruguayan newspaper, La Republica de Uruguay, Dr. Federico Fasano Mertens, has argued), evidence of a Hitler-like figure in the White House in Washington … “a paranoid fanatic intoxicated by messianic passions?”

Perhaps! But I believe that that is only a partial answer.

It seems that the 'Mad Hatter' policies emanating form the heart of the plutocratic Empire are not just the work of one person. Rather, they emanate from a cabal of religious fanatics bent on an insane and irrational religious crusade that will, most likely, lead to another series of military clashes alike in their brutality to what we have seen imposed on Iraq.

Goals and Strategy of the US
The word ‘crusade’ is appropriate, since, in order to fulfill its goal of world domination, the US must secure the Middle East. There are two geo-strategic reasons behind this reasoning: one is to dominate the supply of oil for the US … limiting its access to the East Asian emerging economies. The other is to maintain world oil transactions primarily in US$.

But the question of HOW to secure the main objective is becoming clearer.

The obvious key, of course, is Israel … long a US ally during the Cold War, Israel is once again the linchpin for US control of the Middle East. One need only consider

1) the tremendous financial and military backing from the US;

2) the exemptions from any number of UN resolutions (the likes of which would have been sufficient to justify many Iraqi-like invasions);

3) exemption from the sanctions against producing and keeping Weapons of Mass Destruction, especially nuclear arms, and

4) a free hand in any violence against the Palestinian people.

(I am not here trying to deny the suicidal attacks against Israelis, but the “kill-ratio” of three or four-to-one against Palestinians makes one wonder, who has the upper hand in this struggle).

But in order to justify (in their own minds) this carte blanche for Israel, the White House has embraced an ideology, which dovetails nicely with Bush’s own messianic zeal and the practical purposes of US foreign policy.

The New Ideology from the Christian Right
This new ideology is being steered from within the White House by Bush, himself a puppet of the Christian Right and the movement known as 'Dispensationalism' or Christian Zionism.

What is this new movement?
Their main tenet is that the state of Israel is “the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham and the center of His action from now to the Second Coming of Christ and final battle of Armageddon, when the Antichrist will be defeated.” But before this can occur, they say, all Jews must return to the homeland, and Israel’s borders must be extended between the Euphrates and the Nile rivers, and the Muslim Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem replaced with a Jewish temple.

“Essentially Christian Zionists, an Evangelical subset whose ranks are estimated at 20 million in the US, have in the past two decades poured millions of dollars of donations into Israel, formed a tight alliance with the Likud and other Israeli politicians seeking an expanded “Greater Israel,” and mobilized grassroots efforts to get the US to adopt a similar policy.”

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s recent diplomatic faux pas, inviting all French Jews to migrate to Israel, lends credence to this argument.

Bizarre, you say? Yet, as Jane Lampman writes “Christian Zionist leaders today have access to the White House and strong support within Congress, including the backing of the two most recent majority leaders in the House of Representatives.”

The Crusade
In other words, what is taking place is a new Crusade for the total incorporation of Jerusalem and the West Bank into Israel, in which President Bush is the new sponsor. Let us remember that during the first Crusade (1099) the streets of Jerusalem (the main goal of the European Knights) were awash in the blood of the occupants, as all Jews and Muslims were slaughtered. No quarter was given.

Similarly it seems, the Palestinian people have been secretly declared expendable. In order for the “Christian” West .. led by the Dispensationalists and the US … to succeed in bringing Jerusalem under Western control in preparation for the Second Coming of Christ, no effort, however murderous and illegal will be spared.

A frightening scenario? Yes, but one which is reputedly the main foreign policy objective of the White House, for it underwrites the purpose of imperial control with a religious ideology, which might be very appealing to Mr. and Mrs. Joe America.

The World‚s Problem
Now it becomes easier to understand that the words “democracy,‰ “freedom,” and “sovereignty” are mere platitudes, to be interpreted according to the whims, (read policies), of the White House.

So, for example, the Bush administration is not about to introduce democracy to Iraq, because the electorate there might very well elect someone who has no intention of carrying out Uncle Sam’s will.

Democracy then comes to mean the selection of regimes favorable to Washington … this must appear very familiar to Venezuelans who have actually lived through “democracy” US-style with the attempted coup d’etat against their constitutionally-elected President.

John Kerry will be no better
And if one believes that there will be any change in policy if John Kerry wins the US election, they had better think again. Venezuela knows already where it stands with Kerry’s verbal attacks. As for John Edwards, he is known for his conservative foreign policy, one that apparently earned him many kudos at the recent Bilderberger conference in Stresa, Italy.

So Where does South America stand?
Where in fact does this leave South America? There have been recent reports of suggestions that the South American countries form a United States of South America. The economic basis for this supposed entity is already being forged by the expansion of Mercosur. And important initiatives are underway to create a common petroleum policy (Petrosur). These are important steps that have merit. But leaders must now be on their guard to proceed in as timely a manner as possible. For the only way to combat a renewed assault from the USA is through some sort of unity and amalgamation.

True, there may be still time to maneuver. The US is not going to secure the Middle East that quickly: believe it or not Iraq will stand in its way. And then there is Afghanistan that is a long way from becoming a US colony … and the issue of Caspian Sea oil will be a contentious one for decades, with the major players being Russia, China and Iran.

(At the moment the US is negotiating with Azerbaijan over a pipeline that is to be built through Turkey.)

In other words, the US has its hands full in its scheme for world domination. It won‚t be easy, and as people become increasingly aware of the tactics and methods of maneuvering, there will be increasing resistance and opposition.

Still, South American countries must be on their guard.

If there is no easy victory in the Middle East, if the Jerusalem project backfires (yes, there is opposition on all sides from other Christians, Jews and Israelis), the US, in its search for viable energy sources and currency stabilization, might well turn its attention back to this continent, and try to prepare the ground for a takeover of the oil reserves that lie under our feet.

That it will try to mobilize and steer opposition forces, as has been the case in Venezuela is obvious.

But more covert, destructive, and dirty tactics will be employed…

When that time comes, South Americans had better be ready!

Dr. Karl B. Koth is former professor of Latin American History at Okanagan University College in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. He is the author of Waking the Dictator: Veracruz, the Struggle for Federalism, and the Mexican Revolution, 1870-1927, Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press, 2002. He divides his time between Canada and Brazil. You may email him at mailto: kkoth@hotmail.com

[i] Those who are skeptical should read Dru Oja Jay, “A Dream only America can Inspire: The Project for a New American Century‚s Vision of Global Domination,” The Dominion, 16 May 2003.

[ii] “From Hitler to Bush,” Information Clearing House, 14 July 2004.

[iii] Dispensationalism itself is not “new” as it emanates from the nineteenth century.

[iv] These quotations are from Jane Lampman, “Mixing Prophecy and Politics,” Christian Science Monitor, 7 July, 2004.

[v] Jenny Kleeman, “French Press Review,” The Guardian, 20 Jul 2004.

[vi] Lampman, op.cit.

[vii] Jonathan Steinberg, “A Mighty Fortress is His God,” Miami Herald, 18 Jul 2004.

[viii] For an assessment of Kerry’s views see John Pilger, “Pilger: Bush or Kerry? Look closely and the danger is the same.” New Statesman, 3 April 04; on Edwards jaunt to the Bilderberg Conference, see “Election 2004: Bilderberg Œperformance‚ key to Edwards VP pick,” WorldNetDaily.com, 8 July 04; Stephen Zunes, “John Edwards the Smiling Hawk,” Foreign Policy in Focus reprinted with permission by Asia Times, 21 Jul 04.

[ix] Craig B. Hulet, “US Policy Objectives in the Middle East will Fail,” Information Clearing House, 29 Jul 2003.

[x] There is no consensus among the neo-conservatives. Francis Fukuyama, for example, is counseling that the US retrench after its victory in Iraq, and not attempt further expansion. I doubt very much that his advice will be followed.

[xi] www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22119 “Miami TV station invites terrorists to talk openly about planned attacks on Venezuela,” CounterPunch Wire, 11 Jun 04, reprinted in VHeadline

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