A very brief history oil and war.

[JohnyCanuck]

This is excerpt from a response to a post at www.theoildrum.com by poster "reddot"

The Oil Powers (dominated first by Standard and soon RoyalDutchShell and later BP) were able to guarantee that the now RoyalChieftanFamily stayed on the Royal Throne, in exchange <1> for the Chieftan depositing his oil revenue monie$ into the Oil Power's banks; and equally strategically, <2> the Oil Powers led by Standard would retain overriding control of wholesale and retail distribution policy to extent of who would/would not receive the ultimate use of the petro products (oil and gas) and at what terms.

What was the OilPowers' guarantee? The US Military was (somehow under the control of The Standard) to be made available to guarantee continuity of the Royal Throne as long as the Throne deposits the bulk of their revenue$ in OilPowers, banks and does not withdraw said deposits; and obeys any production/distribution/marketing directions. Oil became denominated in US Dollars. As for the Throne's leverage, just their mere hint that $ deposits would be withheld or withdrawn would undermine credibility of banking systems. As the magnitude of flowing oil rose, the partners next agreed the USDollar would be the exclusive trade-currency. Each party had equal and credible leverage to enforce its position.
That is what happened in Saudi Arabia.

SNIP

Wherever oil was made available, it could easily dominate as the source of HLP demand. Thus he who controlled its distribution could control whoever needed it...or whatever nation needed it. You want Heat? You want Light? You want Power? Either be compliant or be coldly in darkness and powerless.

A super tool to compel cooperation from any ruler. Or to find another who will. Control the ruler or create the new ruler, and let the ruler control the population. Best to select a Royal Family, as that means a predictable line of succession. The plan is old, but the plan has had many successes.

Early on, Standard's Rockefeller and Royal Dutch' Dietermann and the English Crown understood all of this. (England's Shell and RoyalDutch merged about 1900.)*

It is critical to include the fact that the OIL-game was merged with the BANKING-game. * *

As with Saudi Arabia, the similar deals made with Kuwait and other ruling-family-type governments. He who partners with the family controls the oil/gas as long as that family stays on the throne.

The deals all involve Standard (American) and Royal DutchShell/BP (Anglo) et al, who have similar, effective, covert control over their respective governments' forces (military and/or other contributions to the required force) to guarantee longevity of the ruler's status and similar production/distribution/marketing rights from the ruler.

So explains the saga of Iran's Shah. Democraticly booted out in early 1950's, quickly reinstalled by Anglo-American force, then booted again 25 years later. No more Royal Line = end of deal = OilPowers attempt in ANY WAY to stop/ruin any oil production/marketing they cannot control.

So explains the saga of Saddam. Non-cooperating and no Royal Line.

So explains the saga of Kuwait when Saddam briefly took over. Who reacted very forcefully to put the Sabah family back on the Royal Throne? You can bet the Saud family was watching nervously to see if, in fact, Standard et al would make good the guarantee; after all, the Saud clan held the same guarantee with the same partner. The Saud clan breathed easy when Kuwait's Sabah family was returned to their throne (followed by abrupt end of military operation).

http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/2222#comments (I can't link directly to the post, but you can use your browser's search or find function to look for a few key words from the above once you are on the thread. Page up to read the post that started the thread).