War and Big Oil: Iraq and Exxon are riding high

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Thursday February 01, 2007 · 9:19 AM PST

2007/02/01 · 09:19

I think that we can all agree that we wouldn't have fought the Gulf War in '91 if it hadn't been for the oil that lies underneath Kuwait and Iraq. Similarly, we're in Iraq this time around for essentially the same reason. So whether this is a war "for oil" or a war "about oil," well, that's a distinction without a difference.

Fact is, every time you fill up at the pump you're paying a war tax -- and, worse yet, it goes directly to those people against whom we keep saying we're fighting the "war on terror." C'mon! Everyone knows that Saudi Arabia is the largest funder of international terrorism -- except, perhaps, for Iran. And I haven't even mentioned Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and our friend, Vladimir Putin in Russia.

Then, of course, there's global warming.

Now, if you have any common sense at all, maybe you're wondering: "What's it going to take to stop this?" Maybe not.

But don't you think that that future generations (translation: our children and grandchildren) are going to look back at us and wonder "What the hell were they thinking?"

Or maybe you think there isn't anything one person -- you -- can do about it. Besides, if you live in the outer suburbs of your community, or if you own an SUV, you might figure that the trade-off is OK: you don't want a smaller car, you don't want to move closer to your job, and so forth. You like your freedom and flexibility -- such as it is.

Not only that: if you believe in the free market, if your 401k or pension plan owns stock in, say, Exxon Corp., well jump-back-jack and let the good times roll. After all, $40 billion in profits for one year by one corporation -- who's going to argue with success?

And so you're thinking that if someone has got a better idea you'd like to hear it. But until then, don't rock the boat.

A gas tax? Wouldn't that just hurt the domestic producers of oil and gas? And besides, the Saudis would just increase production and drop the price anyway. And don't we pay enough taxes already? Why send all that money to Washington anyway -- it's MY money. I should get to spend it the way I like.

Electric cars? You want me to drive a golf cart? How fast (and how far) do those things go anyway? Get real.

Hybrids? I heard that if you do any highway driving at all, you don't save anything in the long run.

Fuel efficiency standards? What's next -- the government tells me what car I can (and can't) buy? No way. Besides, the everyone knows that the auto companies have gotten every drop of fuel economy out of their car designs already. There isn't anything left to improve on.

And yet.

Here we are. Fighting another war for oil. Doing everything we can to give government handouts to an industry that makes tens of billions of dollars in profits already. Finding excuses for why we can't do the obvious thing, the common-sense thing, the American thing: which is to become self-sufficient and free -- free from the outside forces that would enslave us and have us dance to their tune. Or, as Lenin once so famously said, sell us just enough rope so that we can hang ourselves.

You know, we fought the Cold War and proved them all wrong. So why, this time around, are we waiting in line to buy just enough oil so we could drown ourselves?

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