By Thierry Meyssan (edited by Steve Brown and additional material by Steve Brown)…
1976: President Carter believed oil was the most important component of US global hegemony, and that access to Middle Eastern oil was paramount to the maintenance of US national security. Carter’s mandate stated that Arab states and Iran must sell oil to the USA, and must not inflate the cost by means of their cartel. Carter created the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force to enforce Carter’s oil doctrine.
1980: Like Carter, Ronald Reagan believed that oil was essential to the operation of the US economy, so superseded Carter’s RDJTF with CentCom; the “centre” of CentCom being the location of major known oil fields at that time. While Reagan appeared to oppose the policies of his predecessor, Reagan fully adopted the Carter Doctrine and negotiated permanent military bases and installation of US troops in the Middle East, including Lebanon, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.