April 24, 2005

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What is wrong with this picture?

This is how a communist country secures access to oil it desperately needs.
Canada - Russia - Sudan - Indonesia - Iran - Australia

This is how a democratic nation secures access to oil it desperately needs.
Iraq - Iran - Venezuela

Any questions?

Using force to get what you want usually ends in unintended consequences. Peaceful negotiation is better for everyone involved. Which country looks better in the eyes of the world?

posted by JackH on 04.24.05 at 09:04 PM in the




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Comments:

If mere oil was America's objective, why bother with the decades-long embargo on Iran? Why the long history of oil embargos generally (Iraq and Libya)?

posted by: Dan on 04.24.05 at 11:26 PM [permalink]

To the extent that Iraq is about oil (geopolitics/grand strategy is the other plausible rationale) it is not about getting oil next week or even next year. It's about long term control; ensuring access to an increasingly scarce commodity.

There have been several concurrent motivations for taking on Iraq over the past 10-15 years: Israel, Russia, China, South Asia, Anti-US Terrorism, Oil, failed Arab states, US domestic politics, US grand strategy, et al. Of those, do not discount the importance of Israel, US oil interests and good old fashioned geopolitics. Those motivations happened to coalesce under the current US Administration.

It will eventually come out that during these heady times, the current US President was/is susceptible to persuasive arguments from trusted advisors. So, it's not abhorrent ideology or incompetence; it's simplemindedness (aka "clarity" aka "vision" aka "leadership") or weakmindedness. Whether for better or worse, we'll never know. History is cruel that way.

posted by: because on 04.25.05 at 12:38 AM [permalink]

Oh dear, there are so many false comparisons and wrong headed assumptions in these 73 words it is hard to know where to begin. Communist nation negotiating? Democratic nation (what, taking oil by going to war?) Holy mackerel! China is simply making deals to get oil just like it should. The US, in addition to making deals as it has for decades, also stands up to tyrants from time to time. As for the oil a country “desperately needs,” there is only one global oil market regardless of who buys or produces the barrel. One more barrel for one means one more barrel for all. All China is doing is buying what it can because it can. As for which country looks better in the eyes of the world? Hmmm. Would the “world” and its oil customers prefer to the let the Chinese Communist Party and PLA handle security so the world’s oil customers can have reliable supplies and stable prices from now on? Oh my. Bring back Simon!

posted by: quillnews on 04.25.05 at 12:50 AM [permalink]

Any questions? For starters, doesn't seem so meek and mild when it comes to the South China Seas. Many feel that the current demonstrations are an attempt to gain an advantage over Japan in the underseas oil ranges that exist between the two countries.

And perhaps one should not credit a country for doing what it has to do and not doing what it could not do...until recently.

posted by: John Ziemba on 04.25.05 at 07:27 AM [permalink]




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