It was never exactly rocket science. You didn’t have to be Einstein to figure it out. In early 2003, the Bush administration was visibly preparing to invade Iraq, a nation with a nasty ruler who himself hadn’t hesitated to invade another country, Iran, in the early 1980s for no purpose except self-aggrandizement. (And the Reagan …
Continue reading “Whatever Happened to Iraqi Oil?”
The United States claims to be pivoting its martial involvement toward Asia, but one can truly discern the U.S. military’s priorities by looking at where it warehouses military weapons for war. When these stockpiles are examined, it looks like the future will be similar to the 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium. …
Continue reading “US Pivot to Asia Promises More of the Same”
George Santayana wisely said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Oblivious to history and its lessons, the United States and its Western allies are repeating their actions from the 1950s by imposing an oil embargo on Iran. The U.S.-led alliance has forgotten the past. Iran remembers. When, under the leadership …
Continue reading “Strait History: Iran’s Options”
Petroleum is always in the news, especially in an election year, when politicians fear that voters angered by high gas prices will do them in. In addition, much attention has focused on upcoming economic sanctions on imports of Iranian oil (which will soon be imposed by the Europeans) and on financial institutions in other countries …
Continue reading “Smoke and Mirrors in Energy Policy”
There has been much discussion recently about the Obama administration’s "pivot" from the Greater Middle East to Asia: the 250 Marines sent to Darwin, Australia, the littoral combat ships for Singapore, the support for Burmese "democracy," war games in the Philippines (and a drone strike there as well), and so on. The U.S. is definitely going offshore in Asian waters, or put another way, …
Continue reading “The Energy Wars Heat Up”
ThinkProgress, the online semi-official apologists for all-things-Obama, touts the news that “even” the War Street Journal and the libertarian Cato Institute say “it’s not Obama’s fault gas prices have increased.” In their typical oh-so-superior tone, these unabashed Obama-cultists sneer: “How obvious is it that oil prices, set on a world market, are all but impervious to …
Continue reading “Obama, Iran, and the Price of Gas”
U.S. policymakers and pundits continue to treat energy as a “strategic” commodity, which is just a way of justifying inefficient government meddling in the industry sector. Before the 1973 Middle East oil crisis, the federal government tried to keep oil prices high to subsidize the oil industry. Ever since the Arabs wrested control of their …
Continue reading “Energy Protectionism Is Not Good Policy”
Vlahos on the push to stay in Iraq beyond 2011
When the United States begins to draw down overseas military forces from trouble spots, the American media, and therefore the public, assumes the show is over and loses interest. This waning of attention and interest has happened in Iraq and is dangerous. This phenomenon occurred even during the Vietnam War. President Richard Nixon told the …
Continue reading “US Out of Iraq. Really.”
So, you thought the economic crisis we are currently experiencing was caused by loose monetary policy, loose economic regulation, or just plain loose morals by the likes of Goldman Sachs and associated plutocrats? Wrong! It was really all part of a nefarious plot by Ay-rab terrorists – and now we’re heading for “phase three”! The …
Continue reading “The Protocols of the
Learned Elders of OPEC” 
