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It is not all about the oil

Photo
Illustration by Cody Angell
By Daniel Cucher
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday September 5, 2002

The single most common response I've encountered from my peers regarding U.S. military action in the Middle East is expressed with an apathetic shrug and the cynical remark: "It's all about oil." Generally, this implies the belief that the United States seeks power in oil-producing countries to nurture well-lobbied multinational oil corporations and, secondarily, to keep domestic gas prices down a few dimes.

While it's true that oil is a major factor in global politics, suggesting that oil is our only interest in the Middle East indicates a gross misinterpretation of world affairs.

Undeniably, Middle East countries produce most of the world's oil ÷ almost half ÷ and the United States tops the charts by consuming more than a quarter of oil production worldwide.

But this does not mean that the United States is entirely reliant on Middle East countries. We are heavily reliant upon them because their oil is cheap and plentiful.

But one must not mistake oil reliance with an oil crisis. In fact, our trading relationship is so comfortable that the United States sits on massive untapped oil fields to avoid disturbing the fragile habitat of grizzly bears.

The issue, then, is oil-price stability. As long as oil is fairly cheap ÷ but not too cheap ÷ the market thrives, and people on both ends benefit: The Arabs sell us 30 million barrels a day and we use the stuff to power our economy. The problems arise when megalomaniacal tyrants decide to take over the world and start by invading oil producing countries. (Saddam, I'm looking in your direction.)

Suddenly, the supply of oil becomes unpredictable, and so do the prices. Let's say some guy takes over the entire Middle East, renames it Husseinville and cuts oil exports by 20 percent. Immediately, the world has to make up for the deficit by tapping oil reserves.

But because the oil reserves must last, they can only minimally buffer the shock of a drastic drop in oil supply. The prices at the pumps skyrocket to over $5 a gallon, which, needless to say, is a very bad state of affairs.

Given this scenario, financial losses would not be limited to just oil tycoons and SUV drivers. The U.S. economy would suffer terribly. And when the world's wealthiest superpower suffers, so does everyone else. Worldwide, economies would sink into a deep recession and the average earthling's woes would be greatly compounded. Thus, even the oil issue has more to do with keeping the world economy stable than it has to do with selfishly seeking black gold.

It doesn't take an economist to see how someone like Saddam could destabilize oil prices and why it would be a bad thing, not just for the Bush family, but for all of us.

While oil is a means to industry, power and wealth, there is a limited supply of it ÷ and when it is depleted, the world will go on. The strongest motivation that brings the United States to the Middle East is the desire to survive and to survive well. And, yes, this includes economic survival.

While many of us are disillusioned by our country's greed and misdeeds, we should not deny the powerful ideology that empowers America: We strive for life and liberty.

When we identify an enemy of this ideal, we destroy it in order to ensure our own survival. Currently, the Middle East is virtually bankrupt of these ideals.

The citizens of most Arab oil-producing countries are brutally oppressed by corrupt leaders who disparage civil liberties and human rights. Their problem is not the stability of oil prices ÷ it is a lack of freedom.

Oil may lure the United States to the Middle East, but it is not necessarily greed that motivates our actions abroad. I think that America, represented by so many conscientious Americans, has a sense of morality and feels an obligation to uplift the downtrodden.

Maybe America is the world's most charitable nation because it feels guilty for its prosperity. Perhaps it makes us feel better to take an oppressed people and teach them how to live free.

Or, maybe America wants only to survive the terrorist threat while prospering, and this necessitates staging a democratic revolution in the Middle East.

If so, it's an amazing thing. And it has nothing to do with oil.

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