Our Moslem Allies, Energy, Terrorism, ANWR and Israel

One of those is an oxymoron.

There are no Moslem allies in the war against terrorists and their supporters and there are no Moslem allies on energy. In those crucial areas, the United States has to make policy without regard to any potential positive input from the Moslem states. Therefore, the more self-sufficient we are and the less reliant we are on the opinions or the natural resources of problematic dictatorships halfway around the world, the better off we are.

One of those is an oxymoron.

There are no Moslem allies in the war against terrorists and their supporters and there are no Moslem allies on energy. In those crucial areas, the United States has to make policy without regard to any potential positive input from the Moslem states. Therefore, the more self-sufficient we are and the less reliant we are on the opinions or the natural resources of problematic dictatorships halfway around the world, the better off we are.

Vice President Cheney’s trip through the Middle East was a huge, gaping failure. Not only did he not seem to impress upon his Arab hosts that we are serious about a regime change in Baghdad and our expectation that Arafat will control violence against Israel, but when they met in Beirut they announced their solidarity with a charter member of the Axis of Evil. A collection of nasty despots suddenly thought it was NATO. – “An attack on one is an attack on all,” they said. Money for the Palestinian war against Israel was promised, and talk of an “oil weapon” was rife.

Of course, there is no oil weapon on their side. The Saudi Foreign Minister admitted that his country needs to export oil, and even if the others didn’t say it, they need to export as well. Bribes to stay in power, weapons to purchase at least the temporary loyalty of the military, funds for the families of suicide bombers – all of these things cost money.

But even if they have no “oil weapon,” as such, the fact remains that the United States spends considerable money buying oil from countries that would be better off bankrupt -including Iraq from which the US is the largest single purchaser. How comfortable should we be considering going to war against Iraq with tanks filled with diesel fuel made from Iraq oil? How comfortable will we be if OPEC stops pumping for even a short time while our soldiers are deployed in the region?

The oil weapon is ours.

Complete energy independence may not be possible, but vastly increased energy self-sufficiency certainly is. Or it would be if the Senate would pass a comprehensive energy bill. The United States needs a balanced energy policy that includes conservation, alternative fuels, and increased domestic exploration and production- including in ANWR in Alaska.

What does this have to do with Israel?

In the last six months we have learned that there are countries that stand with us when we need them, countries that want to look like our friends while undermining our interests, and countries with interests inimical to ours. Israel is in the first group. The Arab oil-producing states are in the last. And it seems to us, countries in that last category threaten the security interests of both the United States and Israel. American policy should be to limit their ability to do damage to either of us.