BP, Bhopal, Bahaving honourably and being American

Of all the many things I fail to fully understand, high on the list is the confusing observation that the many US citizens I know (and those I am proud to call friends) seem to be an entirely different species to those prepared to launch into hysterical behaviour at the drop of a hat (such as the ill-informed hysteria about the Islamic centre in New York) and those that accept the shamelessly duplicitous and unapologetically hypocritical actions of their government. Please note, I am most certainly not holding up any European governement as a shining beacon of integrity, but I believe we are not told black is white so openly by our governments as US citizens are. (Actually I suppose all mentions of black and white are now no longer politically correct in the Obama White House.??). I don't understand how this could have happened - how long before those wonderful folks that gave you waterboarding and Guantanamo Bay are ousted by their own people? I fear that this is our only chance as, in the way I alluded to above, the collective ability to close ranks in that middle bit of North America is astonishing. To be branded as "anti-american" is the worst they can do - but they apparently fell that is a great punishment.

Am I Anti-American? -  most certainly not, but I do find it sad that a country founded in liberty is now a pariah state in most of the world. The White House is trusted as much as the "Dear Leader" from North Korea. The only reason this is not broadcast more is because of political expediency - or to put it another way, they have a bigger stick than us and recent history tells us they use it fairly indiscriminately. What is saddest of all is that most Americans do not realise the way they are regarded.

Two relevant aphorisms are firstly that "Power Corrupts, Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" and "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel". With regard to the first one, history is seemingly dealing with that for us. The EU now has a bigger GDP that the United States and within 7 years so will China. With the US on track to be the Number Three economic power, one can only hope they will revert to what I hope is their true type.

Why do I lead off on this path? I do so because of the horrific treatment meted out to BP by the lame ducks quacking around behind Obama. Despite the Gulf Oil crisis being caused by a US rig, owned and operated by US companies and almost entirely under the control of US  legislation, the rapacious, mendacious and totally integrity-voided "system" swung into action to find someone to blame and if possibly sue. The same ambulance-chasing legal system laughed at thoughout much of the world had their collective little faces light up with joy when BP stepped up and admitted their element of responsibility from the very start.

BP - That is the name of the company, live with it!!! It has not been called British Petroleum for many years and quite rightly so. Since it bought Amoco, the company has been roughly 30% US operated and has around 40% of its shares owned in the US. Unfortunately Obama saw a way to swing attention away from his own manifold failures and decided it was British Petroleum who were to blame. Can we tell a lie and get away with it? All together now "Yes we can!!". It was regarded as a public relations failure when the Chairman and Chief Executive stood up and said they would make good any damage. Oh no - not the American way! That would require an identical silver-haired avuncular figure making a lengthy speech without phrases like "our fault" and "we will make good damage". Never before have I seen such totally one-sided and dishonest behaviour from an allegedly friendly government. The gloves seemed to be slipped off at last and the truth told. "This is just about making money - nothing else matters".

As the dust settles - a little reflection is in order. The total spill is (if the Gulf were a closed system and it is not - it washes through from the Atlantic) equivalent to a half a teaspoon of oil in a full Olympic-sizes swimming pool. All the other spill problems - The Torrey Canyon, The Amoco Cadiz and the Exxon Valdiz come to mind - were "ecological disasters" that Mother Nature quietly dealt with in weeks if not months. The main pollution to be found in 12 months is more likely to be from the shrill voices of shyster lawyers than tar balls.

As for doing the right thing - I note in today's press that the compensation claims include one for $4000 for a Florida florist twenty miles from the sea on the grounds that "Some of my clients used to get married on the beach and that business has been hit by all the oil". Bad enough in isolation, but the thing that upset me most was the way that at the same time, indeed the very same few days, corrupt US politicians were trying to get their snouts in the BP trough and the same people were trying to weasel out of reponsibility for the Bhopal tragedy - with over HALF A MILLION people injured and many, many thousands killed.

From today's Times:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/article2693184...

A senior White House official has warned India that it risks damaging its investment relationship with the United States if it seeks justice from the American company behind the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy in which many thousands died. Michael Froman, President Obama’s deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, told an Indian counterpart in an e-mail: “We are hearing a lot of noise about the Dow Chemical issue. I trust that you are monitoring it carefully.”


http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/article2694291...


The e-mail written by Michael Froman makes for galling reading. An Indian official had asked for US backing to ensure that India could have access to World Bank loans. Mr Froman, a close friend of Mr Obama who is regarded as one of the most powerful behind-the-scenes technocrats in Washington, promised to look into the issue. He then sought assurances that India was monitoring pressure groups calling for the American commercial interests behind the Bhopal tragedy of 1984 to face fresh legal proceedings. The implication was that India needed to quash such initiatives if it wanted US help.

The e-mail was written last month as the White House was berating BP for its role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The victims of Bhopal, as many as half a million, say that America has not applied the same levels of accountability to Dow Chemical.
As one writer put it -."Put bluntly, the message from the White House seems to be that the lives of Indians are not as valuable as the livelihoods of US fishermen."


There is something very. very rotten in the state of US politics - and especially with regard to its relationship with business. You have lost a lot of friends in the last few years and are losing more fast. To play the playground bully is unworthy.

I still admire the US enormously - but how long can anyone justify this?

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