Gaddafi's useful idiots.

[Caustic Logic]

Thanks. Indeed, telling.

At the same time, companies that had made such expensive commitments in Libya'sEPSA-IV licensing rounds were facing a big problem: there was little oil. Firms drilled nearly 600 wells in Libya from 2006 to 2009 and made just 27 oil discoveries, mostly small, according todata from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

While probably not based on fiction, it's also a fact that the article clearly states that [the dude] and his quacky state was only part of the problem.

McHrozni

I predicted you would do that - that article is full of facts that point one way and characterizations that point another. Now go back and look at where they were allowed to drill and not allowed. Is this an example of Gaddafi's system limiting foreign oil companies, in such a way as might be fixed with regime change, or is Libya almost out of oil, to the point where no one cares?

Or was I misreading the counter-point? If Gaddafi's only part of the problem, what in your mind is the remainder, or the large part you think you've identified? Low oil reserves, poor drilling techniques, what?

 

[McHrozni]

I predicted you would do that - that article is full of facts that point one way and characterizations that point another. Now go back and look at where they were allowed to drill and not allowed. Is this an example of Gaddafi's system limiting foreign oil companies, in such a way as might be fixed with regime change, or is Libya almost out of oil, to the point where no one cares?

A bit of both. Libya certainly isn't as full of oil as some suggest, and Quackdaffi is, well, Quackdaffi and abuses what power he has for his own good. Certainly bad, but also quite certainly not worthy of a military intervention - especially not worthy of one where you'll have little say about what happens in the country after your side wins.

You were implyingthat the intervention happened because of oil interests, right?

McHrozni

 

[Caustic Logic]

A bit of both. Libya certainly isn't as full of oil as some suggest,

Not to argue further down this side-track, but you haven't shown that and I still suspect oil bulk IS there as always and IS therefore a factor one can't help considering if one considers the factors at stake.

You were implyingthat the intervention happened because of oil interests, right?

McHrozni

In part only, I should think. I agree a gripe like that is no cause for war, or at least not strong enough a one to have pushed near as hard as they have. I'd guess that it would go into a mix of considerations I should think.

There are a host of other issues, economic, political, geo-strategic, by which the overall mood towards Libya would be measured. Would we mind if it fell under a bus? Should we give a little shove, a big shove?

And this is all a side-point, but still related. That "it's about oil", that "we've been misled into a cartoon narrative of good vs. evil", and so on, are the kinds of things those Virus considers useful idiots tend to say. Plus "the people of Libya support Gaddafi," and "Gaddafi has ensured a high standard of living for them," and "he didn't order a massacre of protesters," "he's been a staunch ally against al Qaeda in the region," and so on.

Never mind for a moment the details of motive, flattery, advantage. Idiot suggests wrong. Duped and lying suggest saying things that are untrue. None of those things is clearly untrue. We've only had a few months to sort out the facts, and only a few people who get ignored have even started. (I refer to experts here, not myself).

That's the gist of what I'd like to add. Thanks.

 

[McHrozni]

Not to argue further down this side-track, but you haven't shown that and I still suspect oil bulk IS there as always and IS therefore a factor one can't help considering if one considers the factors at stake.

Believe what you want, it's a free medium.

There are a host of other issues, economic, political, geo-strategic, by which the overall mood towards Libya would be measured. Would we mind if it fell under a bus? Should we give a little shove, a big shove?

If oil interests were crucial, a big shove would be called for, to ensure the control of the interests. This isn't what happened.

McHrozni