The Full-on Oil War of 2008 : by Byron King I want you to imagine this: You've just left a café. A sickly 19-year-old steps out behind you, pulls a gun and fires five shots into a passing sedan. You would have had no way of knowing, in that instant, that four years later, 9 million soldiers would be dead... four royal families would disappear... or that a mountain of debts and destruction would collapse a 300-year legacy of European hegemony. All because of that event, the assassination in Sarajevo that sparked World War I. Fast-forward to Feb. 14, 2005. You've just stepped out of the luxury St. George Hotel. A caravan of black cars passes. Suddenly, there's an explosion and one of the cars is thrown off the road. Inside, an extremely popular multibillionaire is dead. Like other isolated events, maybe you read the headlines and forgot about it. But what I'm about to show you is that this event - an assassination of an already retired, very wealthy politician - will also mark the beginning of a history-making crisis. A time of radical change and power shift that will immediately impact the way you live, the world you live in and the way you invest and protect your wealth. It is, in fact, a whole chain of events... and an unholy alliance... centering around the collaborative desires of four extremely powerful, and potentially dangerous, men.
Even more, you'll feel the true sting. Oil that soars past $150 per barrel...skyrockets through the $175 ceiling... and careens toward a shocking, history-making $200. The dollar gets destroyed. Energy-dependent industry goes bust. Many stocks go down. That's the bad news. The good news is when energy is under the gun, the soaring oil price itself opens you up to all kinds of soaring investments. Just on energy shares alone, we've helped our readers do extremely well... Like the 174% gains we chalked up on PetroChina... 160% gains on Western Oil Sands.... an impressive 182% gain on Talisman Energy... plus 87% so far on Tesoro Petroleum... 1,010% so far on Suncor Energy... and another 355% and climbing on Valero... But there's a lot more money waiting to be made. You can discover how just by following the simple, effective three-step strategy I lay out for you in the paragraphs below. It's all there. Not only how to protect your money, but how to use paradigm shifts like these to actually BUILD yourself a cushion of wealth. Money you can fall back on, even as the chaos unfolds. I'll give you this strategy free, as part of a full five-report special investor's library. Along with up to a full year FREE of what was ranked the #1 Performing Investment Advisory Letter Over a Five-Year Period in 2005 and again in 2006. This is also, I'll remind you again, yours free. Should you decide to accept it. More details on that in just a second. For now... Let Me Introduce Myself... My name is Byron King. And when it comes to oil, gas, energy, war and politics, I think I can politely tell you — I know what I'm talking about. First, I'm what you'd call an "old rock hound." Which is my way of saying that, years ago, I graduated with honors from Harvard, with a degree in geology. In the 1970s, I took that background to the oil industry, and I worked as a geologist in the exploration and production division of a major oil company. But I'm the restless type. So, when flaring natural gas whipping out of a 21,000 foot well got too routine, I joined the U.S. Navy, logging over 1,000 hours of flight time in tactical jets. I've even pulled off more than 127 carrier landings.
But oil and energy dynamics are still my passion. I read and write about these subjects, study them, and give speeches about them every chance I get. I've done more radio shows and have written more published articles on the topic than I can count. Years ago, I was even lucky enough to meet M. King Hubbert himself. If you know anything about oil, you know he's the genius who predicted a Peak Oil crisis — for the U.S. and later for the globe — more than 20 years in advance. I'm not telling you all this to brag. I just want to show you how it is that I linked up, just a few years back, with someone you might already know — New York Times best-selling author Addison Wiggin. See, Addison is also a top dog in the world of energy market analysis. In fact, he's high profile in the world of investing and markets in general. He's been interviewed by Forbes, ABC Money Matters, CBS Sunday Morning, Fox, Bloomberg, CNNMoney, MotleyFool.com, TheStreet.com, Money, The New York Times Magazine and more than 350 different local and national radio shows about his books Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt: The Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis. What really drew me in, though, was that Addison also manages a nearly prophetic, multimillion-dollar financial research group. Long story short, when I realized just how much he and I saw eye to eye on many of these forces that both threaten the U.S. economy and make commodities such a brilliant investment, I jumped at the chance to join his international team of experts. That's why I'm writing you today. I've had plenty of venues in which I could talk about commodities and oil over the years. But none like the private network I'm going to let you in on today...
The #1 Performing Investment Letter Over a Five-Year Period The service I now run is called Outstanding Investments. And I'm proud to say that unbiased and meticulous industry watchdog Mark Hulbert ranked Outstanding Investments the #1 Performing Investment Letter over a five-year period in 2005 and 2006. Sorry for bragging... but I'm thrilled to be on this team and I can't help but be proud. Especially with our #1 ranked track record. But enough about me. I'll let you hear what some of our Outstanding Investments subscribers have to say. For instance, guys like reader Jeff B., who wrote in:
Then there's reader Charles B., who says he's done even better:
I'm not cherry-picking these results. We get letters like this all the time:
Here's my point. Readers like you have done very well so far following our recommendations. Now, before this critical moment of upheaval, I'd like to invite you to join them. And in a very special way. I'd like to invite you to try Outstanding Investments for yourself... free for up to a full year. That's correct. No charge for as many as 12 months. Plus, to make it even more tantalizing, I've arranged for nine free gifts that are also yours the moment you get started. Including a new library of five special investing reports I've pulled together especially to help you protect your wealth and profit during the radical market shift ahead. I call it my Crude Awakening Crisis & Profit Library. Inside, you'll find a three-step strategy for safeguarding your money against the new oil war of 2008... brilliant alternative energy plays that will soar as a new wave of violence overcomes the Middle East... safeguard strategies, like a new and still undiscovered way to own "zero downside" gold... plus much more. It's yours at no charge, as soon as you're ready. Now... let me share with you the dire warning we talked about... A Collaborator Countdown: There's a good chance you'd never heard of Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. And least not until very recently, during the recent radical unrest close to the Israeli border. But famous in the U.S. or not, Nasrallah's stock is soaring in the world of Islamic radicals. See, it's Hassan Nasrallah who heads up Hezbollah, the known terrorist organization that dominates the southern half of Lebanon. It was Nasrallah who secretly encouraged his fighters to take on Israel with shoulder rockets. And Nasrallah, too, who more recently tried to overthrow Lebanon's non-Muslim government.
Here's where it gets complicated. Lebanon isn't a major oil power. In the late 1960s, it was even known as the "Switzerland of the Middle East." Modern. Moderate. Beirut was a playground for the rich, a beach town dotted with discos and exclusive hotels. Very different from what you see today. And a large and very driven group of Muslims want to keep it different. For 16 years, in fact, they fought a civil war with Christians and others in their country. It got so rough Syria stepped in to end it. When Rafik Hariri, a self-made billionaire, became prime minister and tried to rebuild Lebanon into a modern state all over again... this activist group of Muslims did what any voter would do. On Feb. 14, 2005... it blew up his car with 1,000 kilograms of TNT. What Does This Matter to the Price of Oil? Insiders, the CIA and just about everyone else believe that the group behind the murder of the ex-prime minister... and the backers of the Hezbollah terrorist organization... are not Lebanese at all. They're Syrian. And Iranian. Hariri wanted Lebanon for Lebanon. Both Iran and Syria want to use Lebanon, and especially Hezbollah, to stir up fights with Israel. When Israel fights, the Middle East gets hot. And oil prices go up. Iran sends over $100 million a year in secret financing to Hezbollah. Along with guns and shoulder rockets and other sophisticated weapons. And most of these get shipped secretly through Syria, one of Iran's few real allies in the Middle East. The bigger Hezbollah gets, the further Iran's reach across the region. Tel Aviv wants to send missiles into Tehran? Go ahead. Iran will unleash Hezbollah on northern Israel. Just as it did that summer. And in propaganda terms, it was a huge success. Hezbollah doubled its victory by handing out bags of money to fellow Muslims whose houses were destroyed by the bombing. Today, that's made Hezbollah even more popular across the Middle East than al-Qaida. Hezbollah's gaining strength. And that's the problem. Edward Walker is a Middle East expert. He heads up the Middle East Institute and was once ambassador to both Egypt and to Israel. "Hezbollah," he says, "is more popular than sliced bread." All the "wrong guys" are getting a boost from the current situation. Keep in mind, before Sept. 11, the FBI considered Hezbollah an even bigger terror risk to the U.S. than al-Qaida. Today, Hezbollah has taken terror mainstream. Imagine al-Qaida, but with seats in Congress. Hezbollah has done almost that. It's recently won seats in Lebanon's parliament... it's now hugely popular with a certain large group of Lebanese... only the biggest danger about Hezbollah is that it doesn't really work for Lebanon at all. No, it serves a much bigger, more dangerous master... The Middleman: While almost nobody on the international scene pays attention, Syria — next to Lebanon —plays a dangerous game. To understand, you need to know Syria's young president, Bashar al-Assad.
Bashar was an eye doctor, trained in the U.K. When he was 34, his dictator father died. He took over and pretended to be a moderate. But he quickly changed his tune. Syria also has no real stake in the Middle East. What it does have, however, is a long-lasting friendship with all the wrong kind of people. In 1985, Syria helped finance the terrorists who hijacked the Achille Lauro cruiseliner. In 1983, Syria helped pay to bomb a military bunker in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. servicemen. Again in 1985, it also funded the hijackers of TWA Flight 847. Syrian backing is even linked to the Munich Olympic massacre in 1972. And investigators say they can directly link Syria to killing Rafik Hariri in February 2005. Though of course, Syria denies it. Why? Syria wants the Golan Heights. The Golan is a key fresh water source in the parched Middle East. It's also a perfect lookout into Damascus. And Syria doesn't want anybody but itself to own that advantage. But it lost the Golan to Israel in 1967 and 1973. Iran has promised to help Syria get it back, even if that means throwing its military might in a future war with Israel. In fact, days after Hariri was killed in Lebanon, Iran's foreign minister flew to Damascus and forged a "united front" with Syria, including military support. What does Iran get in exchange? Syria lets Iran use Syrian territory as a land bridge over the border into Lebanon... so Iran can keep Hezbollah fully armed. As another part of its role in the new Middle East alliance, Syria also feeds support to new resistance fighters in Iraq... The Radical: Democracy rarely happens overnight. The U.S. Civil War came along 85 years after the nation got started.
He's young. But he can trace his family lineage directly back to the prophet Muhammad. That gets him a lot of credibility. al-Sadr heads the Mahdi Army. It's not an official army. It's a band of 10,000 Shiite militiamen, vying for control of Iraq. His followers battle coalition troops in Baghdad. They've taken control of cities in the south. They run police stations, holy sites and political offices. His own father, two brothers and father-in-law were all murdered by Hussein's secret police. In a U.S.-run poll in Iraq, al-Sadr ranked more popular than Iraq's "elected" prime minister. Then you've got the Badr Brigade. The brigade is also Shia. It's the armed wing, in fact, of SCIRI, the party of Shia Muslims who dominate the elected Iraqi Parliament. Shia Muslims - or Shiites - are a sect of Islam. Around the world, there aren't many of them. But in the Middle East, the 140 million Shia Muslims make up more than half the population of the entire region. The other half is Sunni Muslim. Shiites and Sunnis hate each other. They have been at war in Iraq ever since Saddam fell. They have been at war across the Middle East for the last 1,376 years. The 40% of people supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon are also Shia. President Assad in Syria is Alawi, which is a Shia subgroup. The new president of Iraq is Shia. In fact, 60% of the Iraqi population is Shia. Sadr City, Karbala and Najaf, Iraq... they're all jammed with Shia Muslims. The oppressed Shiites partied in the streets when Saddam fell. Today, they terrorize the coalition troops and take potshots at their Sunni neighbors. They call it the "Balance of Terror" - a cycle of violence and counterviolence between Sunnis and Shias across the region - that's supposed to keep Shia populations from being marginalized ever again. This virtually guarantees the Iraqi civil war will happen. In fact, even though Washington says we don't have to worry, our own top generals, CIA insiders and Middle East experts all say it's already begun. Gen. John Abizaid was our top U.S. military commander in the Middle East. Here's what he had to say in 2006: "I believe that sectarian violence is probably as bad as I have ever seen it." And William Patey, the U.K. ambassador to Iraq who just retired, says, "The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy." Bush and his advisers have turned a deaf ear. They're in denial. But that doesn't mean you should ignore the writing on the wall. Think about it. Shias dominate the new Iraqi government. This is a "New Middle East" all right. Just not the one anyone ever hoped for. The Iraqi Highway Patrol, run mostly by Shias, doubles as a not-so-secret Sunni Arab death squad. When Sunni's bombed the Shias' Golden Mosque, Shias bombed eight Sunni mosques and killed over 50 Sunni Arabs in retaliation. Gunmen spraying worshippers with automatic fire during morning prayers... blasts in a crowded marketplace... over 1,000 Shia dead in a stampede, on rumors of a Sunni suicide bomber. The last time Shia militias threatened to blow up oil fields in southern Iraq, they shut down - cutting off 90% of Baghdad's oil revenue. This is the seat of world oil wealth on edge, worse than at any other time in history! And behind it all... The Mastermind: How a Blacksmith's Son Just Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the son of a blacksmith.
In the late 1970s, he graduated as one of the top students from Iran's version of MIT. He joined the Revolutionary Guard. During the Iran-Iraq War, Ahmadinejad trained 12-year-old boys to march into mine fields, sacrificing their own lives, to make way for the Iranian army. After his election, he said in his speech, "Thanks to the blood of the martyrs, a new Islamic revolution is arisen..." He's doing everything possible to make sure he's right. Take Iraq. The Iran-Iraq war was one of the bloodiest battles of the 20th century. Iraq was run by Sunni Muslims then. Now it's run by Shiites. And Iran, also nearly 91% Shiite, is sending electricity to Iraq. It's sending wheat. It's sending $1 billion in foreign aid. Ahmadinejad knows what he's doing. Iran just offered to pay for three pipelines running across Shia territory in Iraq. Iran has offered to open its ports so war-torn Iraq can use them for shipping. And every day, Iraq will ship 150,000 barrels of light crude directly to Iran for refining. Remember, Iran also funds Hezbollah in Lebanon. And it's busily buying influence in Syria. Don't look now, but... |
The most immediate impacts are just now coming to bear. By the time this is fully under way - as early as September 2008 - you'll know better how this happened.
And after I left active duty I became a practicing attorney in Pennsylvania.
What's behind it all? Ten years ago, Nasrallah's son was killed in a battle with Israelis. He's angry to the core. He's also very powerful.
His family has ruled Syria for more than 30 years. They hold "elections." They win with 99.99% of the vote every time.
How's democracy taking hold in Iraq? Not too well. Meet Muqtada al-Sadr , son-in-law of a grand ayatollah.
He's smart. With a Ph.D. in engineering. He's also ruthless.