MSI,
I don't know who wrote this piece, but IMHO, he is at best extremely biased. The truth is, if it were just about oil, the United States would be drilling along the entire North Slope of Alaska, instead of a relatively small strip (between the National Petroleum Reserve and the ANWR - the portion of the ANWR on the North Slope, is a small percentage of ANWR).
If it were just about oil, the United States would have never supported Israel. The fact of the matter is, that U.S. oil companies lost their ownership shares of ARAMCO because, of American actions (to save Israel) during the 73 Arab/Israeli war. The author also doesn't mention that another result of America's direct support of Israel (during the 73 War) was the oil embargo, and the beginning of the large oil price increases seen in the 70's and early 80's - which resulted in the large amounts of excess Petro Dollars that(the author mentions) were placed in U.S. banks.
The writer makes a big deal about how the Saudi's nationalization of oil was a non event because American oil companies purchased and refined Saudi oil - ignoring the fact, that the United States was (until possibly very recently) was probably Iraq's largest purchaser of oil.
re:"On the environmental [sic], global warming, prescription drug plans for the elderly, the right of HMO patients to sue in court, campaign-finance reform, corporate oversight and every other major public question, Americans back the approaches preferred by the Democrats…The president always has the power to control the subject of the national debate. As Bush uses this power to focus on the dangers Saddam Hussein poses for the U.S. and for Israel, what other issues will really matter?"
"Each time Saddam has provoked a crisis, we've tried hard to find a
peaceful solution, consulting our friends in the Arab world and
working through the United Nations. A month ago, we joined the other
14 members of the U.N. Security Council in demanding that Saddam come
into compliance immediately. We supported what Iraq said it wanted --
a comprehensive review of its compliance after it resumed full
cooperation with the U.N. weapons inspectors. And we were gratified
when eight Arab nations -- Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,
Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman -- warned that Iraq would bear the
blame -- Iraq alone would bear the blame for the consequences of
defying the UN."
"Now, I canceled a military strike when, at the last moment, Saddam promised to cooperate unconditionally with the inspectors. But this month, he broke his promises -- again, and again defied the U.N. So we had to act. Saddam simply must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear arms, poison gas or biological
weapons..."
Bill Clinton, Dec 1998 |
