Petrodollars Vs. Petroeuros!

This is a complex issue that many, no doubt, will find hard to understand. The reason for war in the middle east boils down to economics and the devaluation of the U.S. dollar. To understand the beginning of this tale one must go back to the 1960's and the formation of an organization known as The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC.

"The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was established in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1960. It's Members are Algeria, Ecuador, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Socialist People's Libyan Jamahiriya, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela."
(http://www.opec.org)

Since the sixty's the member nations have fluctuated and today it's member and potential members are as follows: "Angola (January 1, 2007), Libya (December 1962), Nigeria (July 1971), Algeria (1969), Iran (September 1960), Iraq (September 1960) (Excluded from OPEC production quotas since 1998), Kuwait (September, 1960), Qatar (December 1961), Saudi Arabia (September 1960), United Arab Emirates (November 1967), Ecuador (1963-1993, since 2007), Venezuela (September 1960), Indonesia (December 1962; membership under review as Indonesia is no longer considered a net oil exporter by OPEC). Former Members ,Gabon (full member from 1975 to 1995). Prospective Members, Bolivia, Mexico, Sudan and Syria have been invited by OPEC to join. The Sudan is currently seeking membership." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC)