Daniel Yergin, author of the Pulitzer-winning history of the petroleum industry, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power, was recently invoked by New York Times columnist Bob Herbert to drive home the point that the Persian Gulf oil reserves are "the greatest single prize in all history"—and at the root of George Bush's Iraq adventure. On July 31, Yergin had an op-ed in the Washington Post (online at the website of Yergin's own group, Cambridge Energy Research Associates or CERA) raining on the morbid parade of the "peak oil" apocalyptoids. Yergin argues that the current price spike is due to "above ground" factors like political instability, not the "below ground" factor of dwindling reserves. But he fails to consider that the driving forces behind this instability—the US military grab for the Gulf reserves, and the jihadi imperative to resist it—may, at least, be driven by the perception that reserves are running on empty. And even Yergin admits that that world energy consumption will explode over the next several years if current trends continue, providing what he perhaps somewhat understatedly calls "a very big challenge." WW4 REPORT has always argued that the price spike could be an intentional creation of a White House strategy to boost global production—which is exactly what Yergin argues it will do. It should also be kept in mind that from the standpoint of the health and stability of the biosphere, continued high oil production is probably the worst thing imaginable, as signals mount of global ecological collapse.

From the Aug. 1 AP. Rights groups are protesting that 15 Uzbek refugees are to be forcibly repatriated from Kyrgyzstan. But this is after 440 were flown to Romania to seek asylum in Europe last week over the objections of Uzbekistan's government. This happened immediately before Uzbekistan announced it was giving the US military the boot—and may have helped precipitate it...

From yesterday's Newsday:

LONDON -- Bombers in the botched July 21 attacks here were avenging the deaths of Muslim civilians in Iraq, one suspect reportedly told authorities, as British and Italian police seized eight more suspects yesterday and extended their probe to Saudi Arabia.

The startling admissions by the suspect, Osman Hussain, during a closed-door hearing in Rome were published in Italian media yesterday as Britain and Italy remained on high alert for attacks.

The July 21 bombers were shown hours of footage of dead Iraqi civilians and grieving Iraqi widows in preparation for their attacks aboard three subways and a bus, Hussain, 27, was quoted as saying at the hearing in Rome, where he was captured Friday.

"We were told we must do something big," Hussain reportedly said.

John McCain—who knows a thing or two about what it is like to be a prisoner of war—steps up to the plate. And it is revealed that even Pentagon legal staff had warned that the current policy would invite abuse and violate law. But Bush insists on complete unaccountability and impunity, and no fixed definition for the continuing legal fiction of "enemy combatant" designation. Marjorie Cohn writes for TruthOut, Aug. 1:

Is there a draft in your future? That is the obvious implication of this July 23 story from Economic & Political Weekly, tho the author does not mention it.

Unravelling of the US Military
Newspapers describe the US army as facing one of the greatest recruiting challenges in its history, despite the enormous incentives now being offered to join the military. A study commissioned by the army found that resistance to recruitment was due to popular objection to the war in Iraq, the casualties and media coverage of the torture at Abu Ghraib. Solutions include a bill that was introduced in the Senate but that has not yet been voted on: offering legal status and eligibility for citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants residing in the US. The nightmare of war is offered as the prelude to the 'American dream'.

Riots and gunfire are reported in Sudan's capital Khartoum following the death of the country's vice-president, former rebel leader John Garang, in a helicopter crash as he was returning from Uganda. Garang had signed a deal to end 21 years of civil war in January and was sworn in as vice-president three weeks ago. Roadblocks have been set up and access to the airport has been cut off; there is a heavy military presence on the streets, while burning cars are sending plumes of smoke over the city. There are also reports of unrest elsewhere in Sudan.

President Omar al-Bashir said, "We are confident that the peace agreement will proceed as it was planned and drawn up." But Garang supporters, mostly from Sudan's south, are protesting in the capital. Three days of national mourning have been declared.

Russia says it is outraged by an interview with Chechen guerilla leader Shamil Basayev broadcast by the ABC TV network, and the foreign ministry summoned a senior US diplomat in Moscow to express its "strong indignation" over the show. In the interview, the warlord—who claimed responsibility for the deadly raid on a school in Beslan, South Ossetia—admitted he was a terrorist but said the Russians were terrorists too.

More than 320 people—half of them children—were killed in the Beslan attack last September. Russia is offering a $10 million reward for the capture of the warlord.

From Weekly News Update on the Americas, July 31:

In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the Oral Criminal Court in the Chilean city of Temuco acquitted six Mapuche rights activists in a retrial on charges of "terrorist illicit association." The ruling was handed down at the close of the trial on July 22, and was officially announced at a brief hearing on July 27. The regional prosecutor's office had charged lonkos (community leaders) Pascual Pichun and Aniceto Norin, Mapuche activists Jose Llanca Ailla, Jorge Huaiquin Antinao and Marcelo Quintrileo Contreras, and non-Mapuche sympathizer Patricia Troncoso with forming an illegal association to plan and commit "terrorist" acts--including incendiary attacks, theft and other crimes--on behalf of the Arauco-Malleco Coordinating Committee (CAM), a Mapuche land rights group. Most of the alleged crimes were against property and none posed a direct threat to life. "The Chilean government should take careful note of today's verdict and stop using the country's antiterrorism law in cases for which it clearly is inapplicable," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for the US-based Human Rights Watch on July 22.