In George Herbert's science fiction novel, Dune, a character declares, "He who controls the spice controls the universe." Is that a summary of the role of oil in the world today? Oil, and oil products, are of enormous importance. They not only fuel cars, trucks, airplanes, boats, and trains, but are used in agriculture, all forms of manufacturing, and almost every product we consume. Natural gas and coal, related to oil, heat and cool our homes, provide light and run our appliances. They pump the water I drink out of the ground. The primary component of the computer I am typing on is plastic, an oil product, and oil products generate the electricity that power the internet and let you read this.
Access to oil has been critical to almost every modern war. 1/3 of the entire American oil supply was spent in World War II, and Hitler and the Allies raced to control oil resources. It has been calculated that one gallon of gasoline is roughly equivalent to 500 hours of human work. Control over this awesome resource is extremely unequal. Some citizens of the world have far more access than others to oil and at cheaper prices. Empires are driven by their source of energy, the Roman empire by the need for slaves, the American empire by the need for oil.
We have been given many justifications for the War in Iraq. Revenge for 9-11 (But Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9-11; in fact he was the enemy of Osama Bin Laden!); Weapons of Mass Destruction (But Scott Ritter, Republican head of the UN inspection teams in Iraq made it clear before the invasion there were no such weapons there!); Free Iraq from Saddam's Despotism (But there are other despots in the world, why this one?); Create a democracy (At the point of a gun? By an invasion?) The documentary "Blood and Oil" explains what common sense already tells us: the invasion of Iraq was about the control of oil supplies.
Best estimates put the Iraqi death toll at 1.3 million. Millions more Iraqis are internal refugees, millions of the most educated middle class have fled the country. American soldiers, too, are killed, maimed, and traumatized. Is this the way our country should conduct its business?
4 comments:
I also get upset when people use the final excuse of freeing the Iraqi people from Sadam Hussein. If this was so important, why weren't we in North Korea first? Not only do they have a terrible humanitarian crisis happening under a dictator arguably worse than Iraq, they have developed nuclear weapons! No, "we think they might have weapons of mass destruction," they parade them in front of the United States and the world! So why didn't we start there for our "preemptive strike?" I only need one guess...
Further evidence of your argument is the Iraqi gas crisis. Those remaining in the country are forced to wait all day in unimaginably long lines to fill their tanks. Iraqis know what's up. They are living in an oil rich country that after the American invasion has suffered from major gas shortages. Where is this issue covered in the American media?
After reading your blog, it does make me wonder what exactly we are doing over in Iraq. To some extent I understand what we are trying to do and to help stop terrorism, but it does seem as though we have taken care of many of the problems and still are in the country. The oil issue is also one that at least for me, I take for granted. Of course, everyone thinks about it in terms of putting gas in their car, but no one, even myself, thinks about how many other things are actually made from oil products or use oil!
Why are you the only person I can post comments for??? Am I crazy? Is technology turning against me? Why is it like this? Should I move into a cave and eat rocks and wear bear fur around my waist cuz I will!!!!
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