Excerpts: “Wasn’t it just last year that we heard the invasion of Iraq would make oil cheaper, safer, more secure ? … By invading Iraq, American forces would remove one dictator… also stabilize one of the world’s biggest oil producers, and begin spreading democracy. More oil would flow to market and more freedom would flow to the region. Yet we’ve seen the opposite. The world’s autocratic and corrupt oil producers are richer than they have been in years.”
“The petrodollars we provide such nations contribute materially to the terrorist threats we face” said former CIA chief James Woolsey and other prominent neo-conservatives…
Summary: High oil prices are helping Saudis, Chavez and Iran to dampen protest and democracy, Putin to establish more control and also to keep Nigeria corrupt.
So instead of freedom… its autocracy that is spreading and strengthning. What saddens me most is Iran… that extra money must be a primary reason why democracy protests started waning… and Venezuela’s Chavez also used the extra dough to spend more freely.
The article doesn’t of course point out that Oil corporations are getting a piece of the high oil prices…
Well it helped remove Alberta’s provincial debt. Those damn western autocrats likely sleep well too.
You did notice that Putin was an autocrat before oil prices spiked right, SA was a theocratic state before 2001, Iran has been heavy handed for over 30 years, and that since Nigeria was corrupt before, the removal of its wealth would hardly fix that problem.
Yep correct... the money doesn't create autocracy... but it has helped them keep power and "pay off/bribe" dissent. Hardly a good beggining to spreading freedom.
No kidding. But to certain segments of our society “good” means “willing to sell us oil” and evil means “not willing to sell us oil”. The Saudis have always been one principle financing source for Al Queda, yet the very idea that we should stop pouring ridiculous amounts of money into their coffers almost never even gets mentioned in Washington or any ‘mainstream’ media source.
I do find it interesting that Hugo Chavez is now getting lumped together with the world’s despotic thugs, seeing that he’s the one who resisted an undemocratic coup attempt.
Venezuela is rich in Oil for starters and because the Bush government wanted to see him lose the recent voting… but with the extra cash from high oil prices Bush has caused… Chavez financed a lot of populist programs and managed to get a good majority.
Chavez might have been elected democratically… but I think he is a creep. Increasing his slush funds is never a good move. So accidently in a way Bush is hurting freedom in fact…
Nope… I read the news… check them out… judge his actions and then I consider him a failure and a bad thing for Venezuela. Naturally I wouldn’t support a coup d’etat or congratulate the coup people like a superpower did.
