Unmasking the “Gods of Finance & Dogs of War”

Dr Reza John Vedadi

In a recent podcast, Alex Krainer exposes how a small circle of financial elites drives today’s endless conflicts. His analysis, drawn from decades of research, cuts through the usual rhetoric of democracy and human rights to reveal a far darker incentive: profit. Below, I unpack Krainer’s key points, so we can see how banking interests have shaped modern geopolitics and why we must reclaim our sovereignty.

Perpetual Warfare Is Not Public Demand

Krainer begins by shattering the myth that Western publics thirst for war. He cites an American Journal of Public Health study showing that “the United States launched 201 overseas military operations between the end of World War II and 2001, and since then, others, including Afghanistan and Iraq.” Despite US voters consistently choosing anti-war candidates, wars proliferate.

“For a democratic society, one would have to conclude that the American people are irredeemably bellicose,” Krainer observes wryly. “But as we know, that’s exactly contrary to the truth.”

In other words, perpetual war must serve another master.

Banking Cartels and the “Collateral” of Oil

At the heart of Krainer’s argument lies a decades-old trail of breadcrumbs pointing to international banking interests. He writes:

“All wars are bankers’ wars. It has never been about democracy nor about freedom. It is strictly about banking and about the collateral.”

His evidence comes from political economist Regan Boychuk. Boychuk’s forensic study of Alberta’s oil reserves shows that when the US invaded Iraq in March 2003, it was not to seize Iraqi oil but to keep it off global markets. By doing so, Washington inflated the value of 175 billion barrels of Alberta bitumen as “proven reserves,” collateral for massive private money creation. As Krainer puts it,

“The same day Marines pulled down Saddam Hussein’s statue…the US officially recognized 175 billion barrels of bitumen reserves as legal collateral for private money creation.”

This single act seeded a credit boom that fuelled the housing bubble.

From Oil Collateral to Financial Crisis

Krainer traces how this new collateral helped “inflate the giant housing bubble” of the 2000s. He notes:

“The bulk of the new credit was used to inflate the giant housing bubble…Less than a year after the US takeover of Iraq, the FBI warned publicly about an ‘epidemic’ of financial crimes that could become ‘the next Savings & Loans crisis.’”

When the bubble burst in 2008, eight million American families lost their homes, yet no high-level banker faced criminal charges. Instead, banks received at least $16 trillion in bailouts. Other studies put the figure as high as $29 trillion—“more than £22,000 per person in the US,” Krainer calculates.

The Experts Who Failed to See the Conspiracy

Why did mainstream analysts miss this story? Krainer recalls his time as an oil-market analyst. He found that no report from leading institutions considered the financial angle. He writes:

“The world’s leading oil market forecasters were collectively stuck in a groupthink echo-chamber…Forecasts for 2005 clustered between $19 and $24 per barrel, yet crude shot to over $66 bbl.”

This collective blind spot, Krainer argues, reflects a broader problem: “If prices are going up, you go long—that’s it. Perhaps in another 20 years we’ll understand why.”

Power Behind the Throne

The podcast also highlights startling admissions by prominent leaders. Krainer quotes former UK prime minister Liz Truss, who told Steve Bannon in February 2024:

“I discovered I was not holding the levers. The levers were held by the Bank of England…you can sack the prime minister, but you can’t sack the BOE officials.”

Likewise, Glenn Beck recalled George W. Bush admitting to Tucker Carlson that “whoever sits behind this desk…will realise the President’s hands are tied.” These revelations confirm that elected officials serve at the whim of unaccountable financial authorities.

A Call to Reclaim Sovereignty

Krainer closes with an urgent demand for systemic reform:

“The financiers and their minions will never relent unless and until they face accountability…We, the people, must demand sovereignty and empower ourselves to plan a future rooted in a genuine love of humanity.”

He warns that the scramble for resources—now visible in Ukraine and across Africa—will only intensify without fundamental change.

Why This Matters for West Asia

In a decolonial light, Krainer’s analysis underscores how Western powers have weaponised financial systems to extract wealth from resource-rich regions, including West Asia. The oil-collateral scheme is not an isolated incident but part of a centuries-long pattern. From colonial extraction of spices and rubber to modern oil politics, the same financiers have profited at the expense of local populations.

For readers in West Asia, understanding this history is crucial. It shifts the narrative from cultural or ideological conflict to a struggle against transnational economic forces. As Krainer insists,

“This place—this planet—is our birthright; we do not need anyone’s permission to claim it.”