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May 06, 2005
Saudi Arabia
Today, we remain dependent on oil from Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia remains an “ally” of ours in the war on terror. But the Saudi government continues to push it’s own sectarian, fundamentalist, and Whabbist interpretation of Islam upon its people (small wonder so many 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia), making the idea of Saudi allies on the war on terror about as plausible as calling Mussolini an ally in the war on fascism.
Still, we’re stuck with the Saudis because we need their oil and because they blackmail everyone into accepting their regime, despite its authoritarian, seventh century ways. (The blackmail scam works something like this: “You know we’re a ruthless dictatorship, but we’re the only ones able to stop the Osamas from taking over here. Without us, imagine what terrorist horrors would emerge.”) Depressingly, it works.
But though our government is unable to distance itself much further from Saudi Arabia, we, the American people, can. If we were free to chose out oil, we could lessen our dependence on Middle Eastern and Saudi oil ourselves.
Traditionally, petroleum is considered a fungible resource. Oil of a certain grade pulled out the ground in Saudi Arabia is worth the same as a comparable amount and grade of oil taken from the North Sea. This is a problem. All oil is not the same. Oil bought from Saudi Arabia funds a government whose human rights record and ability and willingness to restrain anti-American terrorists remains shaky at best. (You can see the State Department’s latest human rights report for Saudi Arabia here.)When’s the last time you heard that said about Norway? Exactly. North Sea oil doesn’t fund terrorists. Wouldn’t you like the freedom to decide what you gas money bankrolled?
Posted by James Fichter at May 6, 2005 09:57 AM
