Chapter 697: Ready to take action

Across the Pacific.

An important meeting is also being held here in Lao America.

With the capabilities of the U.S. intelligence system, except for a very few countries in the world, it would be difficult for most countries in the world to hide their actions from the U.S. intelligence system if they make any big moves.

Not to mention, the United States is also behind this.

Since Operation Prairie Fire and Operation Golden Canyon, the United States has been licking its wounds for more than four years and nearly five years.

America's broadsword has long been thirsty.

In recent years, the U.S. military-industrial complex has performed poorly in the international market competition. Facing the competition from the Panshan Group, except for NATO countries and U.S. allies, it has been completely defeated. The weapons sold by the U.S. military-industrial complex every year are not NATO allies are allies of the United States.

Other than that, there are few achievements.

However, the largest customer of the U.S. military-industrial complex is not overseas customers, but the United States itself.

The U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force are the largest customers of the military-industrial complex, and the second largest customer is the National Guard of each state.

"Iraq is constantly protesting against the expansion of our rights in the Gulf region, which has seriously affected our national interests. Once Iraq successfully negotiates with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and both parties reach an agreement, Iraq's oil reserves and oil production will increase significantly, and Iraq will have a strong military. , then global oil prices will rise sharply, which will have an immeasurable serious impact on the slow-growing economy of the United States."

The White House's senior economic adviser is reporting on the severe impact on the U.S. economy.

With the end of the Iran-Iraq war, just when everyone was optimistic that the international crude oil price would drop significantly, they did not expect that Iraq would actually make such a move and blow up the Abadan Port and Khomeini Port in Persia. The destruction of oil fields and production facilities in the occupied areas means that Persia will not be able to become a major oil-producing country in a short period of time. In order to rebuild Persia, it will need to invest two to three hundred billion US dollars or more.

Although the United States has lifted a series of sanctions against Persia, the two sides have not yet restored diplomatic relations. It is difficult for the United States to provide support, and it cannot make big moves in Persia in the short term to avoid accusations and dirt from competitors. .

To be honest, high oil prices make the United States miserable.

Because it’s about inflation!

Since the first oil crisis, the United States has been de-industrializing. In just a dozen years, all low-end manufacturing industries in the United States have been transferred out. The mid-range manufacturing industry in the United States is facing the challenges of Japanese and European manufacturing industries. The impact is also shifting, and only high-end manufacturing can still make relatively good profits.

But this also makes the United States uncomfortable, because the unemployment rate remains high and continues to hit new highs. In the past ten years, the United States seems to have a rapid GDP growth, but the income of Americans has actually remained at the same level, even after leaving the country. Regress.

In the past, a blue-collar worker could easily support a family, live in a big house, and drive a car.

But look at how Detroit, once the world's automobile kingdom, has declined.

According to think tank research, after the Iran-Iraq war is over, Iraq will quickly regain its strength, become stronger and stronger, and then continue to challenge US interests in the Middle East.

Once the negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait are successful and Kuwait becomes Iraq's 19th province, Iraq will control more than 40% of the oil in the Gulf region, and Iraq is fully capable of causing global oil prices to rise significantly.

This will cause a very heavy blow to the already weak economy of the United States.

"There is news that Saudi Arabia will also support cooperation between the two parties. Once Saudi Arabia joins, international oil prices will rise even more, and may even remain at a high level of 50 US dollars per barrel for a long time, which is not in line with my country's economic development. According to the analysis of experts, oil prices will remain at A price of around US$20/barrel, or even lower, is most conducive to our economic development."

The economic adviser continued to introduce, his words full of worry.

He is very worried about the possible rise in oil prices.

A big reason for the difficulties that the United States has encountered in economic development over the past decade or so is the rise in oil prices!

In the past decade or so, due to rising oil prices, the United States has paid at least trillions of dollars more!

Why did the United States ‘deindustrialize’?

Isn’t it because oil prices are rising, labor costs are high in the United States, and mid- and low-end manufacturing industries are not making money or even losing money? No one wants to do a loss-making business!

In addition, many people turn to finance and make money through finance, which is much easier than making money by opening a factory.

"Currently, the interest we have to pay on the national debt every year is very high, plus we have to repay the maturing national debt." The economic adviser said this with worry.

So far, U.S. debt has never defaulted. It is precisely because of this reputation that U.S. debt has been converted into assets and subscribed by investors as financial products.

Once the U.S. debt defaults, it will be a huge blow to the credibility of the U.S. debt. U.S. debt will be a product full of risks from high-quality assets, which will severely damage the U.S. debt.

If the U.S. debt is all overseas, it would be a shame to cheat. The key is that overseas U.S. debt only accounts for about one-third, and the other two-thirds are domestic.

If they let the U.S. debt default, they would all be doomed. Angry domestic investors would tear them into countless pieces, and even their families would suffer.

They have all reached this position, thinking about how to benefit the family and how to implicate the family.

The United States is Americans' America, and it is not their own, so why should they do bad things?

Others all frowned.

They did not issue more US debts this term, and their life was so hard and aggrieved.

Look at the previous government, which issued trillions of US debts in two terms, and military spending had to increase every year, and their life was so comfortable.

In their term, they have to live a hard life and feel aggrieved.

And look at the previous government, which beat Greensda and Libya, but they have only beaten Panama so far, and they are still being ridiculed.

They are still being ridiculed until now.

As the elites of American society, they are not stupid people, and they would not be in this position if they were stupid. They all know very well the importance of the Middle East to the United States.

The Middle East is now the world's energy center! There is abundant oil there, and oil is the "blood of industry"!

Whoever controls the Middle East controls the world's energy, and whoever speaks has the confidence and can speak loudly.

Since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, after the efforts of the United States, the US dollar has become the international settlement currency for oil. The US dollar has found a new anchor, so that the US dollar can not depreciate significantly and become waste paper.

So everyone present knows that the United States cannot lose the Middle East.

Since the overthrow of the Pahlavi Dynasty in Persia, the United States has lost its most important ally in the Middle East. At that time, Persia was the most important grip of the United States in the Middle East. At that time, the United States had Persia in its left hand and Saudi Arabia in its right hand, and Israel as a nail. In addition, the US military bases in the Middle East had a strong influence in the Middle East.

However, since the overthrow of the Pahlavi Dynasty in Persia, the influence of the United States in the Middle East has continued to decline.

This decline in influence is very obvious. More and more Middle Eastern countries no longer regard the United States as a scourge, and their awe has greatly weakened. The United States has less and less weight in the Middle East.