>USA are in a hurry, because waiting 6 month to a year, will probably make >any attack on Iraq much more difficult, the excuses might >be depleted and the risks more obvious. It is probably a go or no go >situation within the next 6 month. For US it is extremely important to >secure oil supplies from Iraq. Especially if Professor Hubbell was right >and US have to compete for a declining Middle East oil supply.
I think that a Bush Administration is a worst-case scenario in one respect, for proponents of untangling and understanding US priorities, because it gives too much credence to the idea that it is ok to see US policy in the simplistic terms of going for Oil, and to heck with other points. This evening in San Diego there were protesters on TV claiming (with signs and such) that we should not fight "for oil" and that is what this war will be all about. I do not agree with this view of things. I do agree that understanding our Oil Dependencies, and our irrationalities both past and present, would be good and would improve US foreign policy and our ability to sell foreign policy, but there is another matter here, which I think is the pressing matter of some countries' leaderships showing, credibly, that they are working toward killing millions of Americans. There is no question but that understanding how Oil fits into this picture would be wise. We have, for example, funded much of the long-standing attack which is being waged against us. It is undoubtedly the case that much of Iranian wealth (some of which goes to funding the fight against us) is derived from Oil Sales on world markets (it does not matter, at all, that the US boycotts the oil, if other countries with good currencies such as Japan will buy it), and that much of others' roundabout support for so many of our conflicts is funded by our own Oil Purchases fourth-hand (witness some Saudis and their support for attacks on Israel and the United States). For me, understanding our present situation vis-a-vis Iraq is not as simple as saying "we want their oil and that's it", although, I must admit, it is disgusting to me to watch the Bush Administration turn down opportunities to improve our oil dependency situation. If one is going to attack a dictator and those who follow him, one might as well have the decency to stop doing business with him first, and if one finds this difficult, one might as well have the decency to ask why and follow up as much as possible on the matter, permanently changing US policy and doing everything humanly possible to de-claw the monster via means additional to bombing him. As to the Saudis, we have failed to do many of the things that I think would have been advisable during the years of "good" relations with them (while they were fostering the hate that seemed to exist within those 15 hijackers) and now we still seem to be rejecting real true earnest followup. Where is the Bush Administration and Congress on Alternative Fuel Vehicles, overall energy independence, etc? All they seem to want to do is pretty much what they wanted a year and a half ago: drill for oil, give tax breaks to the oil drillers, claim that Electric Vehicles and Solar energy are for loonies, bomb people who have used our own dollars against us, etc. Where are they on asking why we never demanded (as we should have) that the Saudis get off their fat monarchistic backsides and be an active force for peace with the Israelis rather than tacitly tolerating "drive-them-into-the-ocean" rhetoric? >For Israel it is a difficult situation, they have to create a peace very >quickly, but the current regime does not seem to realize this. A war with >Iraq would probably buy them some time and I will not be surprised if they >provoke it, if US procrastinate. I'd like to have seen some of the more moderate Middle Eastern Muslim nations do more to have brought about a permanent compromise as regards Israel. Never mind my naivete, their complaints with Israel, Israel's stubborness, etc. I may not have agreed with the wisdom of founding Israel in '48 had I been around, but they're not going anywhere, and I think there have been some missed opportunities to find a compromise solution that no one would have liked but that would have forestalled most of the carnage we now see. Instead, during those periods where some initiative might have made headway, everyone just seems to have fallen back on the status quo, waiting to see if they could drive Israel into the Sea. I guess they couldn't. Meanwhile, so much suffering has occurred, through several generations of Palestinians, as well as Israelis. Couldn't someone on the cushy side of the Arab equation have swallowed some pride and sought some compromise more aggressively? Maybe they'd claim they had. I don't know. I guess they didn't try hard enough. Or I guess they'd say that Netenyahu and the like have been too intransigent. >It might be good times ahead for bio fuel and energy saving proponents >under all circumstances. Well, I that seems true enough. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> 4 DVDs Free +s&p Join Now http://us.click.yahoo.com/pt6YBB/NXiEAA/MVfIAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
