Exactly seven years and two weeks ago, the United States suffered the largest and most sophisticated terrorist attack in its history. Two thousand, nine hundred, ninety-nine people died, along with the nineteen terrorists and twenty-four people listed as missing. I'm not going to debate the merits of LIHOP vs. MIHOP; I'm relying on Occam's Razor, in that, "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." I'm assuming that the attack was conducted by al-Qaeda.
Ostensibly, al-Qaeda consists of radical Sunnis, mostly Saudis and Egyptians and led by Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawarhiri. They consider themselves defenders of Islam and its holy lands against Western infidels and their islamic puppets. However, an indisputable aspect of our problems with al-Qaeda run terrorism lies in the supply Middle East oil. That oil makes up a tremendous part of our energy supply. Swirling around that nexus of oil, the US and al-Qaeda are locked in a deadly struggle that pits our need for security and energy against their desire to be free of American cultural, military and financial influence.
Our footprint in the Middle East is gargantuan and this country has invested vast amounts of blood and treasure in this effort. The US has fought wars over this oil, we've garrisoned US troops in Saudi Arabia; home of the world's largest oil reserves. Troops that were attacked at Anbar Towers by a deadly truck bomb. The US deploys warships in the Persian Gulf to insure the safe transport of the commodity, and this country is now occupying Iraq, which now has become clear as day that the invasion was nothing more than a mission to control that country's oil resources for exploitation by the International Oil Cartel. Countless lives have been affected and lost, the seas and lands scarred, commerce altered and the human psyche cracked in ways that my own limited understanding finds incalculable.
Oil, America and al-Qaeda are inextricably connected. Al-Qaeda has made it's mission the use of oil as a tool in the war against America. They intend to use our dependence on oil to
attack our economy. It's our undeniable vulnerability.
Imagine what the world would be like without this tragic nexus.
Imagine the lives not lost.
Instead, we have dependence and all the consequences that come with it.
Despite the impending onslaught of Peak Oil, the terrorist threat, exploitation and speculation in the commodities market, America's inadequate domestic supply and the vulnerability of oil facilities to extreme weather conditions, the US has not invested sufficient time, capital and resources to ween itself from oil dependence and develop sufficient sources of alternative energy.
After all, our very security lies in the balance and one would think that we would have tried harder.
In weighing the cost benefit of developing an energy infrastructure with a diminished dependence on the oil economy, I posit that we have a designed addiction to the fossil fuel.
Since the vulnerability was clearly demonstrated during the oil crisis of the 1970's, this country has squandered precious time and money in order to maintain this status quo. There is obviously a vast degree of capital at stake and powerful entities occupying the halls of power who demand fealty to the way things are.
It's come to my attention, time and time again, that partisan politics is a primary tool to maintain oil dependence, in the US and subsequently the world. One party is the focal point with a symbiotic relationship to the international oil cartels. That party is, of course, the Republican Party. It's so connected that it's even fancifully named the "Grand Oil Party." There are many instances that show this relationship, from the policies that the GOP have sponsored to maintain oil dependence, to the way GOP pols and oil execs interact in a very obscene and incestuous manner.
I'd be here all day with even a smidgen of examples. But the knowledge is so common that we should stipulate it, shall we?
Most notably, I found out quite by accident that former GOP Speaker of the House and current General Chairman of the oil lobby American Solutions, Newt Gingrich, hired a troupe of child entertainers to fake a homegrown viral activist campaign named
"Youth for Oil." American Solutions is a front group bankrolled by the
same billionaires who helped bring George W. Bush to power. Armed with oil lobby provided talking points, manufactured tee shirts and placards, web space and orchestrated photo ops with GOP big wigs, such as presidential candidate John McCain and Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, the group appears to be a beard for Gincrich's "Drill Here, Drill Now" movement. "Drill Here, Drill Now" was the theme behind the GOP's staged protest during the recent Congressional recess. Despite the over one million signatures provided on a petition for increased domestic drilling to Congress, it becomes quite clear that it's the Oil lobby which is behind the campaign and it's not descended from any grass roots demand. During the recent Republican National Convention, GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele inspired a chant of "drill baby, drill" in the audience of true believers, who just happened to wave crudely drawn placards just at the time he made his point.
All carefully orchestrated, of course.The GOP and the Oil lobby are literally joined at the hip like siamese twins.
Despite these and other efforts by the GOP to create demand for domestic oil drilling in areas currently under moratorium, it's been proven by sheer mathematics, that domestic drilling won't even come close to giving the US energy independence or relief from today's high fuel prices. The entire GOP campaign for oil drilling is awash in a sea of lies; from threats that the Chinese are planning to drill off the coast of Cuba to the impact that drilling for this oil would have on oil dependence. It's a political tool to hold Sen Barack Obama and the Democrats feet to the fire of fake outrage. In the most exact terms, it's a cynical and shameless ploy.
Most of all and quite clearly, the GOP has sacrificed the security of the United States on the altar of big oil.
They have chosen the wealth of the Oil lobby against the best interests of the American people and international security.
They are primarily responsible for the wealth squandered in international oil exploitation.
On their hands, is the spilt blood of American servicemen and servicewomen and innocent victims of our Middle East wars.
They care more about their current position as guard dogs of Big Oil than their oaths to uphold the Constitution
No law too large or small, no truth too universal, or sacred institution too hallowed is inviolate enough to prevent the GOP from desecration in their drive to keep America hooked up to oil.
It's indescribable to think of these people as Americans, much less, human beings.
I say without reservation that the Republican Party is our greatest domestic threat and we'll do ourselves the greatest of favors by putting them squarely OUT of power.
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