As the sea ice melts in the Arctic, conflict heats up over who it belongs to. The Russians wasted no time at all in sending a submarine to to plant the flag on the ocean floor.
There are five nations with Arctic claims - Russia, Canada, United States, Denmark, and Norway. According to the Struck article, these nations had ten years (1982-1992) to agree on the boundaries. They have not, and Russia claims that it the Arctic is theirs.
Of course, Canada claims it is theirs. Further, that Russia is trying to claim territory beyond the 200 mile international limit. The Canadian response is to announce that they are building two military bases in the region.
Not to be outdone, Denmark is launching an expedition to see if they have a claim to some of the region.
Once again, we have the merging issue of hydrocarbons (oil and gas) and global warming. The Arctic ice is retreating rapidly. This is making accessible portions of the ocean floor that have not been accessible for thousands of years. The decreasing global supplies of oil and gas raise the stakes on any of those resources that might be claimed.
The irony of the burning of hydrocarbons causing increased CO2 which is a major contributor to global warming is unavoidable. Using fossil fuels accelerates global warming which causes more ice melt exposing more of the Arctic for exploitation of potential oil and gas reserves. It is nuts, but it is a sure indicator that:
there is no near term plan to move away from fossil fuels, and
there is no serious commitment to addressing global warming.
Can there not be any place on the planet that belongs to everyone (or no one)?
Some might laugh at the "quaintness" of planting the Russian flag on the ocean floor. However, be assured that military conflict over who claims what in the Arctic is not a far fetched fantasy.
I have been preparing an article on this for two weeks for OpEd . the news comes in faster than I can publish it! Glad someone has started posting on this so everyone at least gets a chance to get up to speed on the fastest growing news item in the world ....
SHOULD the Law of the Sea been adopted for the Arctic which might have stopped mineral exploration and created a demilitarized zone ...? Absolutely, but the Canadian elite has been playing very fast and hard (with American/transnational investor and military backup) with their plans for decades!! No one saw fit to stop the Canadian militarists, who posed as "peacekeepers", at any stage.
It is heartbreaking to see the inuit being exploited (it's THEIR sovereign territory, guys) and their strong people coopted into being Canadian Rangers as the resource wars/age of genocide heat up.
This is why Canada did the flipflop on the UN Convention of Indigneous People came up for ratification. Can't have THEM halt development or control their own resources. Score another point for genocide .... of course, reading the Canadian government's site in regard to this is meant to obscure the issues involved. They are acting at the suggestion of Australia's John Howard, incidentally who has his own plan for swarming the aborginals in OZ. Is there a Commonwealth PLOT afoot, you bet there is!!
The US Northern Command, welcomed in with open arms by the Canadian Liberals post 9/11 is going to make a right hash of this. The SPP is just gonna give the guidelines as to how far the transnationals can go in turning everyone involved (save investors, and that includes politicians who continually "drink from the trough") in the future of the Arctic into SLAVES.
The nukes are arriving daily . from Russia, the US and now the Canadians are right into the act as of Friday. The Danes will have THEIR Day, and perhaps the Norwegians and everyone conned by the peak oil scenarios (sold to YOU by Royal Dutch Shell) are gonna to make this one hell of a battle.
I know I sound like some "tinfoil" hat person, but I dont' really care .. the Bilderbergers met this year to discuss the Arctic CANADA development and what would happen in TURKEY. Whatever they "discuss" is always, always cause for concern for any progressive -- in the immediate future.
by
ladybroadoak (37 articles, 20 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 391 comments)
on Sunday, August 12, 2007 at 11:12:08 AM
I agree that this is a MUCH bigger issue. The First People are already being pressured by global warming and truly don't need oil and gas exploitation. Further, neither do the marine, mammal, and bird life that are being pressured toward extinction.
I would't put you in the tin hat group at all. This is big and it could get nasty very fast.
I look forward to seeing your article. Mine was largely to draw people's attention to the issue - not an exhaustive examination. Thanks for the comment.
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Rowan Wolf (62 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 80 comments)
on Sunday, August 12, 2007 at 12:09:51 PM
It's very hard to know how to organize so much material for OpED as this isn't like Atlantic Magazine was in the 1920's where you had PLENTY OF SPACE to make your point. And this forum is way behind in understanding they've already been done in by the SPP . .a done deal in May, 2005!
The ruling elite's plan for the Arctic is proceeding at break neck speed!! I am having trouble just finding time to research all the new military equipment arriving up there no a daily basis. They are WAY WAY WAY ahead of us on imlementing their plans and our ability to "catch up".
People who ignore this do so at their own very real peril, imho. Much of the anti SPP activity is ALREADY co-opted and strategy is hard to come by in the organizing meetings here in Toronto. Toronto is KEY as two national newspapers are here .. instead of concentrating on THEM to ensure accurate reporting (and reporting on key issues at ALL) is highly strategic! Yet, the demo of the Coalition is going to be at the US Consulate which is a nonstarter and DANGEROUS as pics will be taken of everyone and no strategic purpose will be served. Honest people are being run out of the coalition and demonized as they leave .... what is supposed to be a consensus organization does not call votes showing dissension.
We have the Lake Sharbot standoff just outside Ottawa, whereby a stand is being made against nuking the Ottawa River .. we have Shawn Brant held without bail AGAIN, we have the continuing stand at Caledonia/Six Nations where the presence of US agents on Canadian soil had to be exposed, we have the shut down of the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights signing by Canada, we have TWO New nuclear military outposts being set up in the Arctic... and the arrests of opponents to The Regime has started IN EARNEST THIS WEEK. The Plan is to arrest us all, keeping us eternally tied up in the courts and costing us all great sums of money, tieing up resources to post bail.
What is diabolic, considering no one is found guilty (Shawn Brant qualifies in this too) is that no one is allowed to associate with each other!! as part of the bail conditions.
In Shawn's case, he just cannot even get out even though his mother remortaged her home to get him out! He is a man of his WORD and a man of principal, NOT a criminal. What he is actually doing time for is helping get money INTO the pocket$ of the people on reserves through the sale of tobacco that is competing with Big Bizness .. There was no criminality at all in his 29 June action and the powers that be know this ... CN Rail and the Ontario Provincial Police set him up. Hunter Harrison of CN Rail is a member of the Competitive Council WHO are the folks bringing in the SPP, and will eventually this Council will be made a executive branch of the North American Union .. Shawn may well be the first prisoner of the illegitimate NAU government and he KNOWS this ..
In the Ottawa case, the press refuses to release what two people were demonstrating about and is holding a kangaroo court against them in the press while refusing to tell people what they were demonstrating about!! I know what they were demonstrating about, the public does not and how do we get them to find out ..?
One cannot even imagine the roadbumps ahead for the inuit as they try to stay alive! Cooptation is really a strong possibility and pics have been released of the Prime Minister this week showing him with the Arctic Rangers. I have found, as I "work" in the urban rez here in TO with drug addicts and alcoholics, that the inuit really cannot survive in Toronto once they get here. This is GENOCIDE. Even having money to survive doesn't help at all.
As long as I am on here posting ... and perhaps some soul will come by and read this ... I must mention that regardless of what people think, the Russians planting that flag has LEGAL VALIDITY. The battle for the Arctic is ON! Another done deal like the SPP, another part of the annexation and militarization of Canada has been accomplished. I believe that the Russians were ALLOWED TO DO THIS as a pretext to justify ever more war expenditures. The Russians have their own reasons for what they are doing and Putin is no fool - but the fact is Canada has had decades to plant a flag in that swirling "sea" and did not do so!! Why? With US help, it certainly could have done so.
A read of how Newfoundland came into US/Canadian hands during WWII is highly instructive ...
The Canadian ruling elite has now sold out ALL Canadians .. Harper just being the face of tar sands/transnational money, NOT a representative of western Canada at ALL .. and the slimy Peter MacKay who SO desperately wanted to become more elite with his courting of Brenda Stronach, seems to have fallen completely under Condi Rice's spell... He has begun publically LIEING as I predicted here on OpED. The story of The Disappearing Video antic makes a riveting good read, but not one you will find in the Mainstream media ... the guy who made it was compromised by his drug usage.
As Linda McQuaig suggests the ruling elite has totally adopted US values for all time now. This all got really complicated while Paul Martin was in power and "inked" the SPP deal.
The coming election is gonna be full of lies and distortions; we/Canada are just like Poland being annexed under National Democrats ... where this will all lead is not pleasant to contemplate and life could change in less than half a day for EVERYONE on the planet.
PLease, please keep posting! I cannot keep up with it! Other Canadians I know who know what is going on are also just so highly busy! using their knowledge to shine lights on dark places.
Right now, alot of energy is being used to highlight the coming pandemics and get people knowledge of WHAT TO DO when they, inevitably, are used as chemical warfare tools against people. Behind the scenes, manyactivists are forming new alliances to combat all the potential abuses.
ALL inuit peoples are at high risk of having them used against them .. the pollution of all their rivers haasn't been quite enough to wipe them out.
A whole, new breed of highly paid SLAVES is being prepared to work in the Arctic ... it cannot be long before the "draft" is reconstituted and the drugs hit the urban streets in Canada. This will mean many young people will be seriously "compromised" and given the military service "option" ...
The ruling elite plan is working too well! I assure everyone. And THEY ARE alowing the Arctic to be melted, militarized and exploited by Big Business.
Watch the mining, "defense", gas and oil stocks SOAR, despite the instability of Wall and Bay street "investing" ... The price of a pound of uranium is getting to be astronomical in just one year.
by
ladybroadoak (37 articles, 20 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 391 comments)
on Monday, August 13, 2007 at 5:00:39 AM
