When you understand how the recent attack on Lebanon fits into the "Grand Plan" for the Middle East, you have an immediate and substantial advantage over other investors in the Energy and Precious Metals sectors.

In order to comprehend what is going on in the Middle East and in the wider world for that matter it is necessary to have a grasp of certain realities. For reasons which we will not go into here, the countries of Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States constitute an "Axis", and they will hereafter be referred to as "The Axis". The elites who control these countries are one and the same, they have identical objectives and move as one. This is not to say, however, that these same elites don't control or partially control many other countries, they do, of course, as they also control many world bodies such as the United Nations, which they have effectively neutered and reduced to a costly talking shop. But their "centre of gravity", their "home turf" is clearly these three countries.

The UK has an interesting geopolitical role to play within the Axis power bloc. One of its main functions is to serve as the Loyal Lieutenant of the United States, and so give much needed credibility to the latter's policies and actions. Thus, when the United States forces invaded Iraq, the addition of forces from sidekick Britain, and token support from a ragbag of relatively minor states such as Australia and Poland trying to curry favor with the Axis, enabled CNN to label the invading force "The Coalition", a term used probably thousands of times in the weeks and months that followed, and which, from a propaganda perspective, sounds a whole lot better than "The US Invasion Force". The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair, has the distinction of being the leader who presided over the final stages of the transformation of the British Labour party from a party representing the interests of "the working man", as it did many years ago, to a party completely in the control of the Axis elites, which is not surprising really as Tony Blair himself has been initiated into the inner circles of the elites. An immensely ambitious man, Mr Blair found he had hit an "absolute ceiling" when he became Prime Minister of Britain. He could go no higher - the only way he could aggrandize himself any further was by rubbing shoulders with the leader of the most powerful nation on earth, the United States, which put him in the rather awkward position of chummying up to a man with an IQ of 92 who has difficulty stringing a sentence together and who makes most other world leaders cringe. Fortunately for Mr Blair, he has a hide like an Ox. Why the leaders of the Axis elites have decided to have a man such as George W Bush as President of the United States, a man who brings disgrace and ridicule upon his country, remains a mystery. Some think it was a result of chance, a bizarre accident of circumstance, but the elites aren't known for leaving such matters to chance. One possible explanation is that the outlandish policies of the past 5 years or so would seem more acceptable and normal with a man like this at the helm. While the Patriot Acts have laid the foundations of a Police State in the US, the UK is actually more advanced in this regard. There are 7 million and upwards CCTV cameras in Britain for a population of 60 million, and the average citizen is filmed by 300 cameras every day. The roads are bristling with thousands of speed cameras. Cameras are everywhere, on high rise buildings and on top of huge masts etc. It's an exhibitionists paradise.

So, what are the prime objectives of the elites within The Axis? One objective is to achieve complete control over their own populations, in a manner that enables them to concentrate as much power and wealth into their own hands as possible. Another objective is the creation of a world government, so that they can exercise control not just over a group of countries, but the whole world. It would appear that these particular elites have not infiltrated and do not control up-and-coming countries such as China, India and Russia, who could conceivably constitute an opposing power bloc, therefore these countries will have to be initially contained before later being forced to kneel before the might of The Axis. This at least partially explains three things that are otherwise inexplicable - the gargantuan US "defense" budget, which after the end of the cold war should have contracted, not expanded, thus yielding a "peace dividend" for US taxpayers, the astonishing proliferation of US military bases across the Middle East and Central Asia, and finally the rolling takeover of the Middle East. Ordinary voters within the Axis countries clearly would not accept or condone the actions of the elites if they knew the real reasons for them, and might get rebellious, hence the need to invent a story which they can believe in - "The War on Terror", which is a smokescreen of cartoon book simplicity, which is what the masses need, as they are unable to grasp complex concepts. The term "War on Terror" is itself ludicrous and is clearly a crude slogan designed to appeal to the masses. The attacks on September 11th 2001 served three principal purposes - they enabled the rolling takeover of the Middle East to get underway in earnest, starting with Afghanistan and moving on to Iraq, under cover of The War on Terror, and they enabled the passing of The Patriot Acts, which have turned the Constitution of the United States into nothing more than an interesting historical document. These Acts have created a full blown Police State in waiting. One more major "terrorist" attack and the numerous draconian clauses lying dormant within these Acts can be invoked and a state of Martial Law may be declared at will. "Holding Centers" for dissenters have been under construction across the United States for some time, for the benefit of those whose views do not concur with those of their rulers. The borders can be sealed instantly, unless you fancy strolling over into Mexico, that is. The third main "benefit" is that they allowed more power and wealth to be channeled to the voracious Military-Industrial complex.

The United States is an unusual country in that it does not have a government in the normal sense of the word. This is because many politicians who ostensibly represent the people are primarily answerable to, and therefore controlled by, the big business interests who ultimately determine their fate. These interests are collectively known as the Military-Industrial complex and this power grid is the effective government of the United States. The Defense, Oil and Pharmaceutical lobbies in particular have immense power in Washington. This state of affairs explains why the food supply in the United States is adulterated with genetically modified crops and harmful additives such as Aspartame, and other substances that promote obesity.

When the Cold War ended in the early 90's, the people had a reasonable right to expect a "peace dividend" - reduced defense expenditure, because the United States no longer had any enemies of significance. The defense industry didn't like this at all, they were getting a big slice of the pie, and it is reasonable to suppose that they would bring whatever leverage they could to bear to ensure that their cut did not decrease, and if they could get it increased, so much the better. It is therefore obvious that the events of 11th September 2001 were like a Las Vegas jackpot to them. Barely had the victims been buried than big increases in the Defense budget were announced. Big defense budgets require an enemy to justify them, and if there is no enemy, well, you just have to invent one, hence the "War on Terror". Clearly, it is not enough to have an enemy in name only, you need, in addition, to get them stirred up and energized, and hence readily identifiable to the masses back home as an enemy. This is achieved by perpetrating atrocities and outrages against them, and making sure that these are publicized sufficiently to get the populations of the target countries or racial or religious groups sufficiently incensed to take to the streets and want revenge, the goal being to foment as much polarization as possible. This is the underlying reason for the interrogation and torture of prisoners, and for the recent pulverizing of Lebanon by Axis forces emanating from Israel. The elites within the Axis powers, who, to whatever extent they are religious, are either Christians or Zionists, view Arabs and Muslims in the same way that a gardener regards ants or termites - at best as an irrelevance to be tolerated, perhaps utilized as a source of slave labor, and at worst as a pest to be exterminated. When you understand this point you can readily appreciate why the Axis powers would be quite happy to foment an inter-Arab war, Shiites versus Sunnis, for example, and then stand back and watch with satisfaction as they wipe each other out - as long as they don't damage the oilfields. Not that they have much more respect for citizens in their own countries, who they broadly class into two groups. One is civilians who are farmed for their labor and tax revenue; the working classes of course, but also the broad swath of the middle class, the stewards of the system, who like to think that they are in control of their own lives, but are in reality just operatives for the elites. The other group is military personnel who are the unwitting henchmen that do their dirty work in far flung lands, putting their lives on the line to serve their master's geopolitical ambitions.

Dr Josef Goebbels, the godfather of propaganda, who was head of propaganda in Nazi Germany in the 30‘s, would have thought he had woken up in heaven, had he found himself suddenly transposed to being in charge of the Axis propaganda machine in our times. The greatest mind control machine in the history of the human race, the television set, is to be found in virtually every home in the developed world, sometimes several of them, and the people weren't forced to accept them, they went out and bought them of their own accord. The seductive allure of the screen is much more attractive to most than the effort involved in reading. Nowadays the television is the main source of information for the vast majority of the population - if you can gain control of its throughput you can control the minds of the masses. In the United States, almost all Newspaper and Television stations are controlled from above by the process of syndication, which means there is in effect no such thing as an independent local press. A pyramidal structure controls editorial policy and any reporter who steps out of line by not adhering to editorial policy will find his chances of promotion blocked, and if he persists, will suddenly find himself with plenty of time for gardening. This is why, although complicity by various elements within the government in the attacks of 11th September 2001 is glaringly obvious, you won't find much serious questioning of the episode in the mainstream press. The plentiful evidence that it was an "inside job", such as Norad, the air defense network, being stood down to allow the attacks to proceed, the sequenced detonations within the Twin Towers that brought them down, the thermite used to melt the steel to guarantee the towers would collapse, the complete collapse of WTC7 many hours later, although it was relatively untouched by debris - this building was used as the command and control center for the entire operation, and was brought down to destroy the evidence, and was also heavily insured by its new owner before it was destroyed, the airline Put option scam, the rapid and systematic destruction of evidence at Ground Zero, all of this is covered in detail on various websites devoted to the truth of what went on at that time. Despite the mainstream media coverup, surveys reveal that 30% of US citizens believe that the government had a hand in the attacks, and this figure is rising all the time. This must be worrying for the perpetrators, who could face impeachment and a firing squad if the truth became more widely known, and it is a reason that they are thought to be contemplating another "spectacular", to rally the majority behind them and drive opponents and disbelievers into the shadows - and also to invoke the draconian clauses lying in wait in the Patriot Acts, one of which is that if you oppose them you are a terrorist and can simply vanish, never to be heard of again. Many years ago, if the population at large realized that elements within the government had murdered 3,000 of their fellow citizens in this way, they would have marched on Washington, dragged the perpetrators out of their lairs, and strung them up from the nearest lamp posts, but this is not considered possible these days, even if the majority do realize it, because after many years sat on comfy sofas watching the television, people just don't have the stomach for it. That might change, however, if the sofa and TV set suddenly vanish.

In the intervening years since 11th September 2001 there have been various other "terrorist" attacks; the Bali bombing, which killed about 200 people, many of whom were Australian tourists, was intended to ensure Australia's full commitment to The War on Terror, and was a successful operation. The Madrid train bombings backfired (this is not an attempt at humor). The intention was to ensure the re-election of Jose Aznar, an ally of Bush committed to The War on Terror, in the upcoming Spanish general election, and it was assumed that the people would want to re-elect a candidate who was strongly aligned with the US and The War on Terror after the bombings, but instead the electorate blamed Aznar for aligning himself with Bush and thus making them a target, and threw him out. The London bombings, on the other hand were a complete success, as they swept Tony Blair, who had been flagging in the polls, back into power in the election soon after.

Having outlined the general context, we will now return to the central theme of this article, which is how the recent attack on Lebanon fits within the Grand Plan for the Middle East and the implications for the prices of Precious Metals and Oil going forward.

The Axis powers have had big plans for the Middle East for a long time, for the obvious reason that they have coveted control of the immense oil wealth contained within the region, and the power that complete possession of this resource would bestow. These plans predate the September 11th 2001 attacks by many years, although it was these attacks that acted as a catalyst, enabling the Middle East takeover juggernaut to move up swiftly through the gears. With respect to these plans the creation of the state of Israel can almost be described as the creation of an Axis "bridgehead" in the region. After the September 11th attacks, the outraged public were baying for blood, and quickly swallowed the Al Queida/Osama bin Laden story, which gave them a focus for their wrath, and were heartened by the swift invasion of Afghanistan. The Axis elites had a big green light, and they weren't about to waste the opportunity. President Musharref of Pakistan has revealed that Pakistan was threatened with "being bombed back to the Stone Age" if it did not cooperate in The War on Terror. Soon after Afghanistan, Iraq was in the crosshairs, and the ludicrous story about the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" was hatched as justification for an invasion. Big demonstrations against this invasion around the world were ignored, and the invasion went ahead, and of course, no weapons of mass destruction were found, but by then it didn't matter, they were in, and sat on the 2nd biggest oil reserves in the world, and able to position themselves for the eventual attack on Iran. On the chessboard of the Middle East, states like Dubai and the UAE would rate as pawns, Afghanistan would be the equivalent of a bishop or a knight, with Iraq being a castle or rook, a major prize that will not be given up lightly. Iran is the Queen, and then its check-mate world!

Some more innocent folk back home in the United States seem to think it matters how many ordinary US soldiers are killed in Iraq - seem to think the mission is a failure if thousands of them get killed. As far as the ruling elites are concerned this is of no concern whatsoever - what matters is that the territory is secured, and even if the oil can't be pumped out in quantity, it is controlled, and can be denied to countries like China. The end justifies the means, and if thousands of Iraqi civilians and US soldiers are killed, then that's a necessary sacrifice.

So, how does the attack on Lebanon fit into all this? You may recall that the reason cited for pulverizing Lebanon was that Hezbollah had captured two Israeli soldiers. This was obviously a very poor excuse, but the emboldened Axis elites, who control the syndicated global media, no longer feel the need to make up a convincing excuse for anything. Now for the real reasons. Some of you will recall that, about a year ago, Syrian troops were pressured out of Lebanon. This was a preparatory move, designed to make the premeditated attack on Lebanon go more smoothly. Now, we know that an ultimate goal of the Axis powers in the Middle East is to overrun Iran, or at least neutralize and subjugate it. Without the attack on Hezbollah and Lebanon of the past few weeks, any attack on Iran would obviously have resulted in a hail of Hezbollah rockets raining down on northern Israel, as Hezbollah in southern Lebanon has been a kind of "front line" for Iran. Axis military planners have clearly calculated that the damage caused by Hezbollah rockets and missiles would be considerably reduced in conditions where they were under attack from Israel, rather than if Axis forces attacked Iran, and then unmolested Hezbollah forces launched a sideswipe against northern Israel. For this reason, in preparation for the assault on Iran, Axis strategists have decided to "take the sting out of Hezbollah" and let northern Israel "take the heat now", rather than leave them with a full arsenal when the time comes to go after Iran. Israel has aimed to inflict as much damage as possible on Hezbollah, and is actually glad that they are firing many rockets into northern Israel, as this depletes their inventory. It is true that many Lebanese civilians have been killed and made homeless by these attacks, but in the eyes of Axis planners this was justified as the target was Hezbollah fighters, and if these civilians happened to be too close to them, that was their misfortune - they are expendable, as are ordinary US soldiers in Iraq. Furthermore, the pulverizing of Lebanon was designed to demonstrate to the world at large and the Arab world in particular the ruthless might of the Axis, and to further foment polarization - to incense and outrage the Arab world and thus raise their profile as an enemy.

Moving on now, let's assume the Axis is successful in eventually defeating Iran and Syria and assimilating them, what are their eventual plans for the Middle East? This is easy to extrapolate. The entire Middle East will be run as a sort of medieval fiefdom, whose purpose is to pump oil for the benefit of the Axis. If China is allowed any of the spoils, it will have to pay through the nose for them - this will be a principal tool in the Axis goal of weakening and subjugating China. The Arab Sheiks who have "done deals" with the Axis in the past and run their countries as virtual franchises, such as Saudi Arabia, will booted out of their palaces and reduced to subordinate roles. These people might do well to study the lives of their Filipino servants, as preparation for their future circumstances. Arabs generally will become an underclass, and will be forced to kneel before their new Axis Masters. Israel's dream is to attain suzerainty over the entire Middle East, which would include a major expansion of its own territory, and it is using the US military machine and military hardware, which it receives from the US in effect "free and gratis", in pursuit of this objective. An obvious example of this was the smashing of Lebanon, and Israel's ambitions are a big reason behind the Axis invasion of Iraq. Israel clearly feels emboldened by its access to the US arsenal, and invincible. The use of the sledgehammer on Lebanon was a clear demonstration to the Arab world in general of who is, or intends to be, the boss of the region, and was meant to send a clear message not just to those already in the crosshairs, i.e. Iran and Syria, but also to the good lifers in the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia.

Some have said that an attack on Iran would bring about World War 3. This suggestion raises two questions. The first is that, in order to have a World War, you have to have an adversary or adversaries with sufficient strength to fight back and have a chance of winning. The other is the question of when a World War become a World War. Just who would fight back in the event of an attack on Iran? The Arab world certainly, but in comparison with the Axis military machine they have little more to fight back with than sticks and stones - bombs and rockets for the most part is all they can muster, while the Axis has the military capacity to vaporize the entire region. Although the Axis predations in central Asia and the Middle East are clearly contrary to the interests of Russia and China, it is doubtful that Russia and China would want to risk the consequences of confronting the Axis directly, even though they have nukes. What is therefore likely to eventuate will be proxy wars, with Russia and China arming Central Asian and Middle Eastern factions to the teeth with advanced weaponry, and this, in combination with relentless and widespread guerrilla warfare waged on Axis forces by resistance fighters in occupied countries, who have the great advantage, militarily speaking, that they believe in what they are fighting for and are willing to die for it to the extent that they are prepared to blow themselves up, would eventually wear down the attenuated Axis forces by attrition, until they pack up and go home. This is already happening to some extent in Iraq. With regard to the question of when a World War becomes a World War, it is illuminating to consider briefly the runup to World War 2. Did this become a World War when Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, or Austria, or later Poland, France or Russia, or after Pearl Harbor? The answer to this question is the point at which he had aroused opponents with sufficient power collectively to bring him down. So it can probably be said to have become a World War when the Japanese allies of Hitler attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States entered the war. Therefore, when the Axis attacks Iran, what determines whether the situation develops into a World War will be the reaction of other states in the region and across Asia. Iran can be expected to fight back, but will fall and eventually be consumed, but as with Iraq, it will prove to be highly indigestible. Should Russia and China counter with nuclear weapons, or fight a proxy war with the Axis via states in Central Asia and the Middle East, in collaboration with guerrilla fighters in the invaded lands, it will probably be fair to describe it as a World War, because there is a good chance that the Axis will eventually be overcome and forced into retreat.

With mid-term elections approaching in the United States, it's time to curry favor with the voters again. Although the Axis elites and the Military-Industrial complex control both the Democratic and Republican parties, who are their puppets, they favor the Republican party, for reasons which are not entirely clear. This is why they went to the trouble of developing electronic voting machines which are strategically placed to rig the vote as necessary to ensure a Republican victory, which is what happened at the last election. These machines contain software that self destructs after it has made the necessary adjustments to the results. As Stalin once wryly remarked "Voters don't control the outcome of elections, those who count the votes do". A steep drop in the oil price has been organized to bring some good cheer before election time. Although an attack on Iran and Syria before the election would be politically expedient as it would result in the country rallying behind the GOP and the flag, it is not thought to be possible within the available timeframe for logistical reasons, although it certainly can't be ruled out. Another major "terrorist" attack, on the other hand, would be just the job.

The title of Leo Tolstoy's epic tome "War and Peace" implies that wars are cyclical events that come about as naturally as night follows day. This is probably because a prolonged period of peace breeds apathy and indifference, a situation made immeasurably worse in the modern age due to the fact that most peoples' free time is frittered away with worthless trivia like ball games, computer games, movies and soaps and fiddling with their mobile phones. These distractions might be fun, but after most of them you've learnt nothing of any value, and remain ignorant, malleable and suggestible, which is just how the elites want you.

For all the social and technological progress of recent years, people remain essentially the same as they were 1,000 years ago. Most men remain at their core primitive and egocentric, and most women instinctively know this. A classic example is George Bush's "You're either with us, or you're with the terrorists" statement shortly after 9/11, which was a crude threat. Thus the nightmarish scenarios depicted in the Mad Max series and The Terminator remain real possibilities.

The dark forces that have risen to the ascendancy in the Axis countries are the enemies not just of Arabs and Muslims, who find themselves on the front line, but equally of their own populations and of free peoples everywhere. History has shown repeatedly that when such forces are not recognized for what they are and confronted and contained, the results are usually catastrophic, the starkest of examples being Nazi Germany. What makes the present situation potentially apocalyptic is the extensive and sophisticated propaganda matrix that is keeping the majority of the population worldwide in a severely dumbed down state so that they will not be aware of the danger until it is too late, and the awesome military machine at the disposal of these forces, which emboldens them and encourages them to attempt to impose their will on the rest of the world. The danger is even more acute in the immediate future because the Neocons are getting their backsides well and truly kicked in Afghanistan and Iraq, although it is not their sons and daughters returning home in body bags, they are hiding away safely in their war rooms. Just as Hitler would not stop until he and his country was completely destroyed, which was in a way a good thing as the evil was pulled out at the roots, the Neocons are not expected to back down. Their pathology will not permit it. Like a drunken gambler on a losing streak, they can be expected to raise the stakes by possibly launching tactical nuclear strikes on Iran. The supreme irony of the whole situation is that it is upon the success or failure of the "insurgents", as they are labeled, which ordinary people in western countries have been trained by the propaganda matrix to view as terrorists and an enemy, that the future lives and welfare of billions of citizens around the world depends.

Finally, we will now focus on the ultimate purpose of this article, which is to outline the effect of these geopolitical developments on the price of Precious Metals and Oil. Clearly, as we have figured out where we stand with regard to the Axis battle plan for the Middle East, we have more idea than most where things are headed. It is considered to be only a matter of time before some kind of attack on Iran and probably Syria occurs. It is likely, because of the present unity of Iran and Syria in the face of the enemy, that they will attack them both more or less at once. What form this attack will take is unknown, and it is unclear whether it will involve Israeli forces, US forces, or forces drawn from all the Axis countries. It may well involve the use of tactical nuclear weapons. There is a fair chance that Iran will succeed in closing the Straits of Hormuz, using advanced missiles supplied by Russia to sink any enemy vessels near their coast, including US aircraft carriers, which have no effective defense against these supersonic, low-flying, precision accurate missiles.

The outcome of such an attack may not be a foregone conclusion. Hitler thought he knew all the answers and look what happened to him. With what is going down in Iraq these days, Axis forces may find themselves spread a bit thin - and they certainly will if they ever go in on the ground. One thing is for sure though, if Iran is attacked all hell will break loose, and we can expect massive convulsions in financial markets. Precious Metals and Oil and their related stocks can be expected to spike dramatically. The Axis powers have got Iran in their sights, and one way or another they are going to go after it. The world at large can only hope that the more hawkish Axis elements are reigned in and they go for the less risky strategy of trying to lay siege to Iran, by isolating it, imposing sanctions, and economically starving it into submission over a long period of time. However, as the Commander-in-Chief of the United States is known to be mentally challenged and unstable and to have severe personality problems, anything could happen.

From the standpoint of timing the markets, we have 2 things to consider - the possible timing of an attack on Iran, and the possible timing of a major "terrorist" attack, both of which may be influenced by the upcoming US mid-term elections. To whatever extent either or both of those are deemed by the Neocons to increase the chances of the Republican party doing well in the elections, they become that much more likely. It is not known, however, if it is logistically feasible to mount an attack on Iran within the time remaining before the elections.

The Resource sector has been in corrective mode, and may remain in corrective mode for some time yet, as discussed in the article THE BIG PICTURE on www.clivemaund.com, although a near-term rally to alleviate the current deeply oversold condition is currently underway. However, if there is a spectacular "terrorist" attack before the US mid-term elections, which is very possible, we could see a sudden spike, or at least a major blip, particularly in the Precious Metals sector, as happened following the attacks on September 11th 2001, however if Iran is attacked the spike in Resources and Resource stocks can be expected to be much more dramatic, and we should not lose sight of the fact that both of these possibilities could become reality before the November elections.

The writer of this article is not a member of any religion or philosophical or political group or movement of any kind, and has no financial interest in connection with what is set out in this article, and also has no bias one way or the other towards any country, political party, religion or towards any individual or group or entity alluded to in this article. This article is founded on facts, and on reasonable deductions and extrapolations based on those facts. Please feel free to forward it to as many people as you can think of.