Slippery Slope

Our topic, today, is oil…specifically our national dependence on foreign oil.

If you’re like me, you’ve been closely watching to see how our President intends to punish those responsible for bringing about the terror and tragedy that struck our shores little more than one week ago.

President Bush promised to track down and bring to justice not only the individuals and groups responsible but also the nation-states that offer those terrorists refuge and support.

As of this writing, our target list may include Osama bin Laden, Afghanistan, Iraq and, perhaps, Libya. Despite apparent links of at least some of the suicide bombers to Palestinian terrorist groups like Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad, neither they, Iran nor Saudi Arabia figure prominently on any such list.

Why?

The answer lies along the slippery slope of increasing oil imports.

It’s true that the father of Osama bin Laden is a Saudi Arabian billionaire. The media reports that several of those who skyjacked the jetliners were Saudi nationals. We know that life has become increasingly difficult for Americans in that allegedly moderate Muslim land over the course of the past year.

Just last weekend, I was listening to a nationally syndicated radio show. A middle-aged woman called in to share her experiences as the wife of a U.S. Army intelligence officer stationed in Saudi Arabia. She said she had experienced the personal humiliation of being verbally and physically accosted by Saudi men, who would spit on her as she walked down the street. Her crime? Being a westerner in this closed Islamic society.

The caller said that with all of America’s imperfections she had never been so happy to return home, one month ago.

One may wonder why President Bush would care to include representatives of the Palestinian Authority and Syria during the initial planning stages of its war on terrorism. These entities have a long track record of sponsoring madmen who target innocent Israeli civilians in random suicide bombings and sniper rampages. They should be targets…not allies.

It’s clear that massive financial support for the terrorist groups operating out of the Gaza Strip, West Bank and Syria is received from the wealthy oil producing states of the Persian Gulf. And President Bush is being forced to craft his foreign policy around the very real threat of an Islamic oil embargo.

We receive no oil from Afghanistan. Therefore, it becomes a safe whipping boy.

How can the United States dare to implement its "crusade" to set the world free from the threat of terrorism if pockets of the globe remain safe havens, international biospheres, where criminals are allowed to set up shop?

My suggestion is quite simple, really…and it’s not a new proposal.

The United States must undertake a crash program to free itself from the embrace of the Middle East robber barons who use our oil dollars to fuel their deadly agendas.

And let's not forget how vulnerable our economy has become to retaliation from militant Islamic states like Iran.  The mullahs and ayatullahs that run that country are in possession of attack submarines, capable of sinking our oil tankers and blocking the Straits of Hormuz or the Red Sea.

Months before three jet airliners devastated our American way of life, President Bush had called on Congress to untie his hands and allow the drilling and development of new oil wells in Alaska, moves that would allow much greater control and security of our energy resources.  He also requested permission to expand offshore drilling for natural gas. Environmentalists gasped in horror at the proposals and little progress was made.

The springtime threats of California blackouts seem like ancient history, now. But it wasn’t so long ago that we were debating the need for new power plants. At the time, the suggestion was made that we rehabilitate and reopen many of the shuttered nuclear power plants that went dark in recent years thanks to the efforts of Woodsy Owl and his friends.

We are now in a life and death struggle with evil. America’s people must take the front seat, even if it means some loss of habitat for a snail darter or red-legged frog. We don’t have the luxury of unlimited animal advocacy when we’re staring down the wrong end of an Arabian oil barrel.

A rapid, multi-faceted energy development and conservation program must win sweeping bipartisan support if our economy and this great nation are to survive. We could dramatically reduce the amount of petroleum we need if America could heat its homes, power its computers and light the night through the nuclear atom.  It's no fluke that France meets 78 percent of its energy needs by nuclear power, an energy source that avoids the risk of coal mine collapses and refinery fires.

Throwing open the spigots on domestically produced petroleum spearheads the second phase of our two-pronged attack. Once we reach the point where America no longer must cuddle up to its demonically motivated, double-minded Middle East business partners, we’ll be empowered to prosecute the crusade against Islamic terror wherever the chips may fall.

Until that day, we’re fighting with one hand tied behind our backs.

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