United States: 'Terrorist 4x4s' ad provokes fury. A US TV advert suggests
that the owners of 4x4 'sports utility vehicles' or SUVs are helping to
finance terrorism through their excessive petrol use has split the country.
The adverts, produced by a lobby group campaigning for a cut in the United
States' huge consumption of oil, target the popular jeep-style luxury
vehicles for their poor miles-per-gallon rate, which they say makes America
vulnerable to those countries which control the supply of oil.
Parodying an existing government advert that links drug use to terrorism in
Latin America, the anti-SUV ads show an average American filling up his SUV
and a soundtrack linking this to the funding of terrorists who are shown at
a training camp: "These are the terrorists who get money ... every time
George fills up his SUV."
The adverts have already been banned by some local TV stations and national
networks. The money for the campaign, about $200,000, was mostly raised by
voluntary donation.
The idea of newspaper columnist Arianna Huffington and her Detroit Project
lobby group, she says that the goal of the campaign is "to point out how
our driving habits at home are fueling oil money to Saudi Arabia". This
money, she argues, being redirected to groups hostile to the US, even if
Saudi Arabia is a nominal ally of Washington.
In 2001, the United States imported more oil from Saudi Arabia than any
other foreign country - 588 million barrels worth. Saudi Arabia has been
accused of doing little to prevent wealthy families from supporting
charities that funnel money to terrorist groups, a charge the Saudis deny.
"What is your SUV doing to national security?" asks the advert. "Detroit,
America needs hybrid cars now."
US car manufacturing giant General Motors have announced plans to start
producing hybrid SUVs running on a mix of electricity and petrol/gas, as a
challenge to the Japanese car manufacturers who are currently leading the
way the development of such vehicles.
CBS News, citing a 2000 report by the Government Accounting Office, noted
that gas prices fell 60 percent from 1981 to 1999 and the transportation
sector's oil consumption rose from roughly 10 million to nearly 13 million
barrels a day.
Reuters news report and the CBS News version.
A link to the ads themselves... .
Friends of the Earth review the ecological case against the SUV.
The Ultimate Poseur's Sport Utility Page.
About the SUV-Hybrid.
Join Arianna Huffington's webpage and The Detroit Project.
http://www.indexonline.org/indexindex/20030114_unitedstates.shtml
