If Dick Cheney keeps an eye on Alberta’s oilfields, can al-Qaeda be far behind?
DUBAI (Reuters) - A Saudi wing of al Qaeda called for attacks on suppliers of oil to the United States around the world, saying targets should not be limited to the Middle East and listing Canada, Venezuela and Mexico as under threat....
“It is necessary to hit oil interests in all regions which serve the United States, not just in the Middle East. The goal is to cut its supplies or reduce them through any means," it said....
"Targeting oil interests includes production wells, export pipelines, oil terminals and tankers and that can reduce U.S. oil inventory, forcing it to take decisions it has been avoiding for a long time and confuse and strangle its economy," it said.
In Calgary, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board -- the regulator responsible for overseeing the bulk of Canada's oil and gas production -- said it was taking the threat seriously, but had not raised security levels.
Canadian government officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Canada is the biggest exporter of crude oil to the United States, followed by Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
The muted reaction of Canadian security and government officials appears to be sensible in this case:
While foreign affairs expert Eric Margolis said the threat is cause for some concern, he said this particular organization has proven "quite ineffective and inefficient" in its attempts to take out oil facilities in the past."This group has adopted the name of al Qaeda but it's not part of al Qaeda," Margolis told CTV Newsnet in an interview.
The organization was behind the failed February 2006 suicide attack on the world's largest oil processing plant at Abqaiq in Saudi Arabia.
"A lot of its members have been killed or arrested by the Saudi government. Their attack last year on a major oil refinery was a fiasco," Margolis said. "Threats coming from them cannot be taken too seriously."
Further, Margolis said oil and gas installations pose a formidable challenge for terrorists to knock out. They cover enormous amounts of ground and the type of damage these groups could inflict would be minimal and easily repaired, he said. Margolis cited unsuccessful attempts by Iran and Iraq to destroy one another's main oil terminals during the Iran-Iraq war.
So that’s moderately reassuring. That our security and government officials are capable of reacting sensibly and calmly to rumours of terror attacks is also moderately reassuring.
The eyes of the powerful of our own continent are still on us, though, and some of our security and government officials appear keen on the attention. That is not so reassuring.
On Sunday, Alison at Creekside reminded us of last September’s meeting at the Banff Springs Hotel of something called the North America Forum. You may recall the fine if, for a time, lonely coverage of that event by the Banff Crag and Canyon, who have an update for us.
Under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) another curious group called Judicial Watch requested documents concerning the participation in the Banff forum of then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and senior military and staff of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM). The request to the Pentagon is still pending, but Judicial Watch have published the documents released by NORTHCOM.
Those documents don’t tell us much about the purposes of the Banff forum-goers that hadn’t already been revealed by Lockheed Martin’s chatty President for the Americas (and former Pentagon adviser to Dick Cheney, I see Alison telling us) Ron Covais in an interview with Maclean’s last fall. They do yield up a lovely new label for the continentalizers’ methods, though:
The secret guest list of the North American Forum included then-U.S. secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld, Canadian Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, Pengrowth Corp. CEO James Kinnear and Lockheed Martin executive Ron Covais.Presentation outlines for the forum acknowledge that the concept of North American integration - which some call a "North American Union" - is unpopular, and note that it might be tough to sell as a concept.
"While a vision is appealing, working on the infrastructure might yield more benefit and bring more people on board ('evolution by stealth')," the notes said.
"Evolution by stealth" means using regulatory changes, such as food- and drug-safety benchmarks, which don't require parliamentary approval, to lay the infrastructure for North American integration. This allows for change with little or no public debate, critics say.
Media were excluded from the September forum, and Day, who gave a speech at the event, declined to reveal the contents of his talk.
"It was meant as a private meeting," said Melisa Leclerc, a spokeswoman from Day's office, although she conceded he attended "in his capacity as minister for public security."
"It is not encouraging to see the phrase 'evolution by stealth' in reference to important policy debates such as North American integration," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a Washington-based conservative watchdog group that obtained the documents last week.
But, former finance minister John Manley, who attended the meeting, said the forum was "not part of a nefarious plan to yield sovereignty to the U.S. .... It was just some informed private citizens and government officials having a conversation" on how best to co-operate to ensure their citizens enjoyed a safe and prosperous future.
In fact, he said, Canada comes out stronger than ever from such meetings, which force "some senior American officials to think about Canada for a few days."
However, Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians said the reference to stealth is "a very telling and important statement."
Many of the politicians who attended the forum have been pursuing "integration by stealth" for the past two years, she said, pointing to a little-known but top-priority agreement called the Security and Prosperity Partnership [SPP].
The accord, kickstarted by U.S. President George W. Bush, then-prime minister Paul Martin and former Mexican president Vicente Fox at a 2005 meeting in Waco, Texas, is designed to streamline everything from food and drug safety standards to counter-terrorism measures.
Now, you’d think that at some point all these people who have gone to such lengths to keep their discussions secret -- for the obvious good reason that they are going against the popular will in Canada and they know they are – might begin to feel a little self-conscious about carrying on with the construction of the SPP in plain view.
But no. We’re talking shameless here. The meetings to which only a few select citizens and no media are invited continue apace:
North American integration will be the primary focus of a high-level trinational meeting scheduled for February 23, says the Council of Canadians. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff will be in Ottawa to meet with Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, Trade Minister David Emerson and their Mexican counterparts.“While recent media reports have claimed that the meeting will focus on border security,” says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, “we know that the goal of this meeting is to advance a much larger corporate-led agenda for North American integration – something our government has been very secretive about.”
A September 2006 report issued by the governments of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico stated that the upcoming meeting would take place in order to “review progress” on the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) and “develop concrete initiatives” in preparation for the leaders’ summit expected to take place in Kananaskis in June 2007.
“The Security and Prosperity Partnership goes beyond simply the passport issue,” says Jean-Yves Lefort, trade campaigner for the Council of Canadians. “The agreement calls for 300 policy changes in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico and gives wide-ranging powers to the business elite without any consideration for the public interest or the environment.”
The North American Competitiveness Council, a business advisory body to the SPP representing North America’s largest corporations, will be presenting recommendations at the upcoming meeting.
In immediate response to the February ministerial meeting the Council of Canadians is organizing a letter-writing campaign, calling on Prime Minister Harper to “cease all talks leading towards deeper integration between Canada and the United States” that exclude the citizens of Canada or their elected representatives.
There is more, much more to do, though, if the people of North America are going to mount an effective challenge to the “stealth” campaign of corporate interests and ideologues to usurp the sovereignty that properly belongs to all citizens. And more is being organized:
You're invited to a teach-in March 30 to April 1, 2007Free admission Saturday and Sunday. En anglais avec traduction simultanée en français.
Integrate This! Challenging the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America will be a chance to discuss an important issue our government wants to keep under wraps: continental economic and security integration. The gathering, being held March 30 to April 1, 2007, is sponsored by the Council of Canadians, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Canadian Labour Congress and will be held at Ottawa Technical High School (440 Albert Street, Ottawa).
Integrate This! will bring together activists, academics, workers, politicians and journalists from Canada, Mexico and the United States to challenge the big-business vision of North American integration contained in the Security and Prosperity Partnership – a vision that has yet to be debated anywhere but which will have major impacts on citizens across the continent.
...
Saturday Panels
Democracy and human security: How has the definition of “security” changed post-9/11? Why is Canada integrating its security and immigration policies with the United States and what are the risks of such cooperation? Why is corporate Canada intent on trading Canadian sovereignty for greater access to American markets? Why has the SPP not been debated by any government? And why does the corporate sector have a formal role in the SPP where there is none for civil society?
Resources, the environment and military integration: How will continental integration impact the environment? Why does the U.S. insist on a North American resource pact within the SPP? How will regulatory harmonization between Canada and the U.S. affect our ability to regulate industry to protect the environment and public health? What does military integration and a common North American foreign policy have to do with prosperity? Why should we be worried about Canada’s water?
Political Panel: Find out what Canada’s major parties have to say about the Security and Prosperity Partnership, and Canada-U.S. relations in general.
Media Panel: Find out why the media has paid so little attention to the SPP, why the government is making it hard for them to do so, and what civil society can do to draw more media attention to the issue of continental integration.
Tri-National Panel: Hear from progressive politicians and activists from Mexico and the U.S. about opposition to the SPP in their countries, and why the corporate vision of “security and prosperity” fosters inequality and poverty in North America.
Saturday WorkshopsAs well as the panels, attendees at the teach-in will have many workshops to choose from covering a wide variety of topics related to the Security and Prosperity Partnership as well as the broader corporate agenda behind it. A list of the topics covered in these workshops includes:
1. The oil sands and the environment
2. Water – commodity or right?
3. The future of public services
4. Atlantica, Pacifica and regional integration
5. Security certificates and Canada’s “war on terror”
6. Corporate power and democracy
7. Media concentration and foreign ownership
A teach-in! Gosh, that takes me back ... If you’re lucky enough to be in Ottawa that weekend, please go and report back.
A depressing thought: Alison ends her Sunday post at Creekside with this provocative comment from the garrulous Mr Covais:
Covais figures they've got less than two years of political will to make it happen. That's when the Bush administration exits, and "The clock will stop if the Harper minority government falls or a new government is elected.”
It would be pretty to think so, wouldn’t it. Given the heavy investment of Liberal party elders like Manley and McLellan in this process in the past, I suspect it will take a lot more to stop that clock than Mr Covais was admitting last fall, and I also suspect that Mr Covais and his ilk know that.
With several tips of the hat to Holly Stick and Toedancer at breadnroses.ca.
Gahhhh!
Deep Integration is a revolting idea at the best of times.
Right now it's like people on a lifeboat saying "Let's lash the boat securely to the Titanic--it has much larger engines and all the news says it's unsinkable!"
Speaking of hitching yourself to a sinking ship, it *can't* be the case that our elite is entirely sold on the idea. They aren't 100% *that* stupid. At least, I'd like to think that.
Of course, they almost certainly know something that we don't.
So does that mean that Maude will not be forming a coalition during the not-to-far federal election for strategic voting, which becomes code to vote liberal, since like, the libs are doing evolution by steath for deep intregration? Just curious, since there were other big name libs there, and a turn coat lib (in name only)like Emerson. Sounds like a great teach in. She needs to quit advocating for electing Cats; they never make policies that work for mice!
I wonder if TILMA could be an end run to achieve integration by stealth? Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement between Alberta and BC.
"...This deal extends NAFTA-like privileges to Canadian corporations, allowing them to sue provincial and municipal governments for any regulation deemed harmful to their profits. Under TILMA, even policies designed to protect the environment and public health are vulnerable to attack from corporate lawsuits.
Not surprisingly, the United States is interested in signing on to TILMA, and talks are under way to bring U.S. states, and more Canadian provinces, into its reach. This would lead to massive deregulation in Canada, as we harmonize policies with the U.S., which makes TILMA an urgent issue of deep integration..."
Council of Canadians about TILMA
Thanks for the link, Skdadl.
Covais is quite the caution, isn't he?
In addition to being a former advisor to Cheney and President of the Americas for Lockheed Martin, Covais is also US Chair of the North American Competitiveness Council [read : WalMart and General Motors write public policy] created during the Harper/Bush Cancun meeting in March, and as such he was a chair at the Banff meeting.
I nag on endlessly about deep integration in the hope that eventually there will be sufficient groundswell of public opinion that it will become routine for reporters to begin their questions to NAU advocates by saying, "When you were with the Task Force on the N.A. Union, you were quoted as saying...." and "Do you still stand by your 2005 SPP statement that sharing water is an integral part of N.A. security?"
Well, I can dream.
Another great resource on deep integration is the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, who have been in on every stage of deep integration and who crow openly about their influence on their website.
An excerpt :
"Sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and composed of 26 leading figures from government, academia, business and the non-profit sector, the Task Force strongly endorses the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) announced at the March 23 summit in Texas, and proposes building on and extending that initiative by creating a new community by 2010 with a single market, common external tariff, and an outer security perimeter.
In January 2003, the CCCE embarked on a multi-year project to develop a strategy for shaping Canada's future within North America and beyond. In launching its North American Security and Prosperity Initiative (NASPI), the CCCE said that a Canadian strategy for managing its future within the continent should be based on five pillars: reinventing borders; regulatory efficiency; resource security; the North American defence alliance; and new institutions. All five areas are addressed in the final report of the CFR-sponsored Task Force."
They like the SPP, you see, because they wrote it.
Elsewhere on the same site they also cheerlead shamelessly for Canada joining the US ballistic missile defense.
Quislings.
They like the SPP, you see, because they wrote it.
Indeed, they did. Except I believed they called it New Frontiers.
New Frontiers! Right. Odd how they keep changing the name...
Holly : Definitely.
TILMA is a difficult read, but one of the things that clinched it for me is that an agreement called Trade, Investment, and Labour Mobility did not include input from any actual labour leaders.
As usual.
"and the type of damage these groups could inflict would be minimal and easily repaired, he said. Margolis cited unsuccessful attempts by Iran and Iraq to destroy one another's main oil terminals during the Iran-Iraq war."
Alister Maclean wrote a book called Athabasca published about 1978. I do not really recall the plot (it is that memorable) but in it he has some 'terrorists" go into one of the big plants near Fort McMurray and blow a hole in one of the reactors. It is repaired by the next day.
WRONGO
These darlin's do not begin to operate until the internal pressure is about 1,400 psi. The pressure being supplied by the various partial pressures of hydrogen, H2S, hydrocarbon and perhaps some nitrogen. Most of them work above the 'auto-ignition' temperature of their internal constituents.
MAJOR BOOM. SERIOUS FIRE. (That means write off miles of instrumentation conduit and impulse lines.)
As well .... the shells of these reactors are cast from exotic derivitives of steel. Cast - as in just welding on a patch won't cut it. They gotta be recast all over again (usually in Japan). Cast in Japan means they have to be done, shipped through Panama to the east coast and then taken overland to northern Alberta. The passes through the mountains will not allow such large loads to traverse.
These are hydrocarbon processing units, not shipping terminals. Shipping terminals are a bunch of pipes .. with bypasses and alternate routes and secondary paths. You can bomb terminals all day and there is always some way around any damage.
The maintenance staffs at the big plants are very impressive people - talented, trained and dedicated - but you can see the water marks on their legs when they try to walk across water.
If some bunch can steal three of four airliners and crash them, attack a US Warship in a dhow, power by Evinrude, and flummox most of the western world trying to catch them, it can be done.
To dismiss that possibility with a ppfffttt.... and toss it aside with: "would be minimal and easily repaired" - now THAT IS irresponsible.
I've got the teach-in marked on my calendar, and I'll let you all know how it goes. Should be interesting.
Thanks, KiaRioGrl. Give me a heads-up, and I'll set up a new post for reports and comments.
Good hive mind at work here -- obviously much needed. Covais (and guys like him) would be funny, wouldn't they, Alison, if they didn't have some reason to believe that their surpassing arrogance is backed up by a lot of power that isn't going to be countered soon? The guy obviously feels so confident that he will say almost anything in public. That in itself is a worry.
When I read John Manley saying things like this --
-- I just want to spit. There's a mindset right there broadcasting the self-loathing of some Canadian elites and their betrayal of other (non-self-loathing) Canadians. And yet he just keeps truckling along. It is hard to see what would stop guys like him.
This SPP agreement will cause Quebec & the "Quebecois" to cease to exist within years. Will be rather hard to influence anyone when a population of 5 million goes against over 400 million. All agreements that are now controlled by Provinces will be overridden by SPP binding agreements that replace current Provincial programs.
No wonder "Harper" is on a give everything away campaign.
NDP Trade Critic Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster)on the SPP meeting today :
"The previous Liberal government engaged Canada in a slow merger process with the United States and Stephen Harper is accelerating the agenda,” said Julian. “The NDP demands a full debate in Parliament on this issue. Everyday Canadians have the right to know what is being negotiated."
and
"Canadians should know that the SPP process supports a North American Union (NAU). The NDP rejects the secretive process surrounding these ongoing discussions. Canadians will never support a political ideology which aims at turning North America into a fortress for corporate interests and neglects the interests of ordinary Canadians. Canadian sovereignty is not for sale to the highest bidder and the federal government has no authority to push for a NAU without a mandate from Canadians." said Julian.
He is calling for a full public debate.
What can we do to help him get it?
Thanks, Alison. Holly Stick poked me over to your place last evening, and I see that you're nagging at me there, so ... I'll do it, I'll do it. ;-)
Well spoken, Peter Julian.