Lazy Al

Oil Will Only Fall So Far

Old Wizard,
The Saudis did in fact welcome the American military in 1991, as did other the Arab countries. Saddam Hussein had made a career out of killing his fellow Muslims, and the Americans were certainly seen as the lesser of two evils at that time. The problems arose when we stayed long after the war had ended.

I certainly don’t mean to portray Al Qaeda as “noble guardians” of Islam. They are radical extremists who twist moral and religious principles to suit their own narrow vision of a new world order. Nor do I think that the American military presence in Arabian Peninsula was remotely sufficient to justify the attack on the World Trade Center.

For a brief time after 9/11, world opinion was largely in the American court. Even the Muslim world was horrified by the hatefulness of these attacks. But in the seven years since, the United States has squandered the opportunity to win hearts and minds, attacking first Afghanistan, then Iraq. The result has been untold suffering and uncounted thousands of deaths in these two unfortunate countries--in addition to another four thousand Americans lives lost.

All for what?

Oil Will Only Fall So Far

Mr. Old Wizard-
Yes, Bin Laden and an overwhelming number of Saudis and other Muslims viewed the American military presence in close proximity of their holiest shrine as an outrageous and blasphemous provocation-- on the equivalent of a large, well-equipped Al-Qaeda training camp based in northern Virginia.

Oil Will Only Fall So Far

Debka’s armada is tinker toys compared to this one…

www.taphilo.com/histor...

Oil Will Only Fall So Far

Mr. Fitzsimmons, you say “US/Israeli policy to secure Israel is almost assuring the destruction of Israel in the long run”.

In 1938, Adolph Hitler opined, “Today I’ll be a prophet again. If international Jewry in Europe and abroad should succeed once more into plunging the people into a world war, then the consequence will not be the Bolshevization of the world and therewith a victory of Jewry, but on the contrary the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe.

I don’t mean to imply anything; just a historical parallel.

Oil Will Only Fall So Far

Gerrymandering,

Yeah, in fact I’ve sent numerous communications to my elected representatives on this very subject.

They’ve either been ignored, or answered with a form letter--sometimes comically inappropriate. I wrote Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana to suggest I’d rather see the oil industry regulate the government than vice-versa and received an email which began, “Dear Fellow Hoosier, I fully understand your concern about rising gasoline prices”.

Vox populi.

Oil Will Only Fall So Far

I agree, the sector has become ridiculously undervalued. But even as I write this many energy stocks are probing new lows--again. It seems most investors would rather not try to catch the proverbial falling knife.