Friday, September 09, 2005

1812-2005...WHY THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS WAS SO IMPORTANT!

1812 -2005...
WHY THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS WAS SO IMPORTANT!

By CliffMickelson
cmicke1065@aol.com

***
In the year 1812 one of the most strategically underrated battles ever fought on the North American continent took place a few miles from New Orleans.

The unsung importance of this battle was such that had Andrew Jackson lost it, he most certainly would have never become President.

Further, had the Battle of New Orleans not been an American victory, the Imperial Whitehall government would have successfully placed a stranglehold on perhaps the most vital geographic choke point to be found anywhere in the world.

It is a matter of conjecture as to whether the British would have relinquished their prize despite the fact that the battle was fought "ex pax facto."

Today, a new "Battle of New Orleans" has produced a little noticed casualty.

Barely reported in comparison to the high profile flurry of "oil based" economic news over the impact of Katrina is the more ominous story of the loss of subsystem infrastructure.

The importance of this weave of subsystems is comparable to the importance of a cornerstone. Without it the building above it is no longer viable yet this key stone it is rarely noticed when in place and it is always taken for granted.

On July 4, 1863, Confederate general John Pemberton surrendered the bastion of Vicksburg to Major General Ulysses S. Grant. At that very moment, the Mississippi Valley passed into the hands of the North and the nation of the South passed into history.

It was for good reason that historians call the loss of Vicksburg the "death knell of the Confederacy."

General Grant and Mr. Lincoln were both well aware of the importance of the weave of economic subsystems that formed the spine of the Southern Nation.

What held true in 1812 and in 1863 is all the more true today.

Without the port of New Orleans, the produce and handicraft of the great American Midwest is placed in dire straits.

We call this upper Mississippi and Missouri basin the "heartland" of the nation. It is from this area that wealth is produced from the land and is exported to not only the rest of the nation but to the rest of the world.

Of course, substitute systems of transportation to market are available but none of them are as cheap or as efficient as river barge. This is particularly true when dealing with farm products and other high volume to low value items.

It remains to be seen as to whether or not the relatively unscathed port facilities of New Orleans can function efficiently without a supporting urban infrastructure to rest upon.

Cities are built to location. The location of New Orleans is a vital one. As a result, the city will be rebuilt. But such things take time. Nature waits for no one.

My sources report that many of the farms and industries along the lower Mississippi Valley are already reporting stress. Fall Harvest is now underway and there are few barges available for transport of produce.

Additionally, there is currently no place down river to economically offload the barges at the end of the line. Baton Rouge cannot absorb the full impact of the diverted traffic from the dysfunctional port of New Orleans.

The cost of gasoline for the combines is spelling the difference between solvency and insolvency for many of the smaller farms along the river. The dearth of barges for harvested produce may spell the difference between life and death for many other larger operations.

The point to be made here is that the true impact of Katrina and the loss of New Orleans may, at first blush, appear in the initial shock wave that blasts American consumers at the gas station.

However, the more telling impact upon hearth and home may be the fireball of an imploding subsystem infrastructure that follows hard on its heels.

Most fires are quenched with water. This type of fire however is usually fought with gallons and gallons of money.

Therefore, it may also be germane to ask just how much more paper money can Treasury inject into a system that is already mortgaged to the hilt and committed to papering over open ended foreign military expeditions?

-CliffMickelson

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