La più grande industria del Pianeta: Il Pentagono

Sohbet Karbuz è un cittadino turco che ha lavorato presso l'International Energy Agency (IEA). In questo articolo, riassume i consumi di petrolio e materie prime di quello che è il più grande sistema industriale planetario, il Dipartimento della Difesa (DOD) degli Stati Uniti.

Il DOD da lavoro a tre milioni di persone e occupa un'area pari a circa metà della Gran Bretagna (ovvero circa metà dell'area della Gran Bretagna, leggermente meno di metà dell'area dell'Italia). E' il più grande ente consumatore di petrolio al mondo (che paga, fra l'altro, scontato). Anche la sua capacità di combattere guerre dipende strettamente dalla disponibilità di petrolio. "Un impero che vive di petrolio" lo definisce Karbuz. Una lettura decisamente interessante.


Published on 13 Oct 2006 by Energy Bulletin. Archived on 13 Oct 2006.

Long live the Pentagon

by Sohbet Karbuz

The US military oil consumption is generally regarded to be a small amount compared to the country’s gigantic consumption. Since oil is and will remain a strategic vital commodity, the Pentagon does not have a luxury of turning its back to oil.

Is the US Department of Defense an empire?

Consider the following points:

1. The DoD is the only department that has departments within it: The Departments of the Navy, the Air Force, and the Army.
   
2. The DoD is one of the world’s largest landlords. It owns or leases nearly 4,000 sites, on more than 30 million acres (half of the UK if you like), spread over 130 countries worldwide. If we include the unreported ones (for example the military bases overseas, which the DoD uses at no cost) that number would be even bigger. Is the US version of colonialism?
   
3. The US Military Expenditures is over $500 billion a year, the largest in the world with its more than 50% share. As Martin Luther King once said “A nation that continues year and year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
   
4. The DoD is the world’s largest employer directly employing more than three million people.
   
5. The US is the world’s biggest arms supplier, with over 50% share, or almost $20 billion.
   
6. The US has world’s largest nuclear warheads stockpile (10,104 warheads, of which 5,735 is operational). Indeed, I still do not understand why DoD does not change its name to its old name “Department of War”.
   
7. The US military is the biggest purchaser and consumer of oil (as well as biodiesel) in the world. Also, the US Navy is the largest user of diesel fuel in the world.

If the US is an empire, then Department of Defense is an empire within an empire. And that empire runs on oil.

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