Posted by ms. kit han ne on September 12, 2002 at 20:20:33:
In Reply to: Re: The politics of WHOOP ASS .. posted by jim on September 11, 2002 at 20:49:20:
Ok, I did state that my post was just my opinion. No need to tell me that I am clueless. I know about the religious conflicts-to me, this is not a war to be fought in the name of ANY God, but to be fought in the name of HUMANITY. But I digress.
I would like to point out the Gulf War. Seems to me that our men and women were sent there (primarily) to protect the oil. We keep a strained, dare I say 'covertly civil' relationship with the Saudi Royals. Where do we import most of our oil from? Saudi Arabia.
The Taliban and Al-Queda are indeed engaging in what you termed a 'holy war.' But-when you read the papers and watched the news, you may have heard that certain wealthy Saudis have been linked to providing financial support to the Taliban/Al-Queda. The Taliban/Al-Queda then use this money to fund some of their training camps. I bet some of this money was also used to pay for the hijackers to attend flight school in Florida.
Where do the Saudis get their money? From the sale of millions and millions of barrels of oil to the USA.
The above example is rather simplistic, but I feel that it illustrates my reasoning.
Yes, I drive a car. One that uses oil. I am too poor to afford the $23,000 hybrid car that runs on gas and electric. I believe it is made (in Japan) by Honda. Bit of a catch-22, you see. The government needs to put more effort into developing/refining alternate fuel sources (whatever happened to Gasahol?), and they need to do it now. Then, perhaps, hybrid cars or even cars that run on NO oil will be mass produced by American car manufacturers and readily available to us economically challenged tree-huggers. I will do my best, however, by buying fuel-efficient cars and staying away from the latest trend of driving 'gas-hogging' Sport Utility Vehicles.
Ahh, but if we develop and refine the alternate fuel sources, the politicians (that hold decision-making powers) who have made their fortunes in oil will lose significant income. And around we go.