What
a Mid-East War Would Mean to the U.S.
The vast majority of the population in the United States were too young
to remember the 6 day (1967 war) and the 1973 Yom Kippur War in the Mid-East.
The Yom Kippur war resulted in the Arab oil embargo which devastated the U.S.
economy for a decade.
Gasoline went from .20 wholesale to over .80 cents. If supplies were
available, there was an odd-even day scheme imposed by the government when you
could get gas and you were often limited to 10 gallons. Thermostats were
mandated to be set at 68 degrees in the winter and 78 in the summer. The speed
limit was reduced from 70mph to 55 mph to conserve energy.
Twenty-seven years later we stand on the precipice of a new war with the
possibility of the use of tactical, land based, and submarine based nuclear
weapons in the region. The consequences of such a conflagration are
unimaginable.
The U.S. has failed miserably in formulating a energy-independent policy.
Eventhough our import from the mid-east have stabilized around 30%, we still
import more oil than ever, the difference being closed by imports from
Venezuela and Nigeria - both countries that are inherently
unstable.
Given a best case scenario, a war in the mid-east without the use of
nuclear weapons would drive wholesale gas to at least $4.00 per gallon and
electricity would triple. This would effectively cripple the U.S. economy
since we are so heavily dependent on all types of imports - not just energy,
but manufactured goods as well. Inflation could easily rise to 25 to 30% per
annum which would devastate the stock and bond markets into which investors
are now being herded.
If the war should go 'hot' (nuclear) then it would be TEOTWAWKI (The
End of the World as We Know It.) Global markets would completely crash and you
would see the largest liquidity scramble in history. Japan would in all
likelihood pull all of it T-Bills and Bonds out of the U.S. just to meet it
oil costs. This would bring the global economy to a standstill.
You would see concomitant chaos in the U.S. as the federal deficit would
balloon to keep social programs afloat. Unemployment would skyrocket to over
30% with the social problems that high unemployment brings.
Cities and counties would have to cut back on services and at the very
least, your garbage pick up would be once a week. These are the things we take
for granted.
There is currently a program on UPN called FREEDOM, in which the U.S. is
turned into a police state after a mid-east war. Could this be another case of
art imitating life?
RJ Lewis
Director
Agence Internationale de Presse Libre
The International Free Press
Agence Internationale de Presse Libre (AIPL) - North
America
International Free Press Agency
10878 Westheimer
#293
Houston, Texas
77042
==============================================
IF YOU'RE NOT PARANOID, THEN
YOU'RE NOT PAYING
ATTENTION!
==============================================
==============================================
NOTE:
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107,
this material is
distributed without profit or payment to
those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving
this information for non-profit research and
educational
purposes only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
==============================================