Hello Mojave :-) I gave the address for, and advised reading of, that report, in the thread " Did Wizard survive the Burning Dude Festival ", last post date 10-6-05. As you suggest Mojave, the government has done its best to keep that kind of info, out of the hands of the general public. The major financial institutions could be impacted in a very serious manner, if the news of this looming energy crisis, gets permeated into the minds of the US population. The administration is trying to keep the house of cards they have built, standing, as the sand erodes away, at its base. Also, I have been reading information, that suggest that, higher ups, in the CIA, past and present, are basically in control of the stock market, and, the market has been substantially supported by the laundering of huge amounts of drug money, The Big Corportions need borrowed cash to support thier enterprises. They can pay the rates of legal, above board, lending entities, or, they can pay much lower rates to get the cash from the illegal drug industry, which is a win, win for both of these parties. It is also mentioned, that the CIA is heavily involved with drug trafficing, and with facilitating the movement of these funds. Afganistan, was one of the main producers of Heroin, then, the Taliban began to cut back on production of this crop, affecting greatly the flow of this drug money supply to the US Stock Markets. The US Stock Market is another shaky " House of Cards ", and any major disruption, like a big loss of this laundered drug money, could send it into a tail spin. So, afganistan was first on the list to be invaded after 9-11, for this reason. Since the invasion, the old war lords, who were held at bay by the Taliban, have been put back in business, to produce that much needed, Stock Market supporting, Heroin Drug Money Cash! The other equally important reason for Bush and his comrades choosing Afganistan as thier first target, was thier wishes to build a supply pipline to the sea, from the burgeoning oil and gas fields of the " Stan " countries, north of Afganistan. This pipline planned to go through Afganistan, south, through Pakistan, then to the ocean, for supplying the US with oil and gas. The Taliban were also getting in the way of this, with thier un-cooperative ways. The Administrations war cry, and supposed reason for invading Afganistan " remember 9-11, get Osama ", but interesting, that they never seem to quite catch up with him. Is Osama lucky, or, is he a very convenient tool, creating Terroist Trouble at benificial points in time, which can be used to rally the invasion troops when necesary. Got to have someone to hate, a target to create ire, in the US masses! And of course Iraq, having the second largest reserves of oil, of any country, was another piece of the puzzle, of the administrations plans, of trying to maintain dominance in the world, and to stave off the dark cloud of oil and gas depletion. From before 9-11, when the Caspian Basin oil prospects went from promise, to bust, the realization grew in the minds of Bush, Chenney, Rumsfeld, Rice and others of that " special circle ", that something drastic would have to be done, and done quickly. They had thier " secret " energy meetings, looked at an array of oil maps, and the rest is history.