The Solution To Our Economic Woes Lies In Iraq
By Dave Gibson (05/31/08)
The ongoing war and reconstruction in Iraq is being completely financed by the American taxpayer. We have already been forced to spend over $500 billion for the Iraqi cause. Iraq has become a money-pit and we seem to be the suckers holding the note.
The Iraqi people are sitting upon the second largest oil reserve in the world. Once upon a time, we were told by President Bush that the Iraqis would pay for their liberation and reconstruction with that oil. In 2003, as Bush was still selling the invasion of Iraq to the American people, he sent Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz out to spread the word that Iraq “can really finance its own reconstruction.”...So what happened?
Americans are now paying an average of $3.91 a gallon for gasoline. Oil prices are now 400 percent higher than they were the year we invaded Iraq. The price of a barrel of crude is now hovering around the $130 mark, while Saudi Arabia recently refused Bush’s request to increase production. An analyst for Goldman Sachs, recently predicted that oil could reach $200 a barrel within the next two years. If that happens, we will be paying more than six dollars a gallon.
With fuel prices breaking records on a daily basis, the bank accounts of U.S. businesses as well as families are being strained as never before. For instance, as a result of the rising cost of jet fuel, American Airlines has announced that they will cut 11 percent of their routes and begin charging $15 for the first checked piece of luggage. One only need to make a trip to the grocery store to see how high diesel fuel costs are now taking a bite out of families’ food budgets.
One would never know that we currently occupy one of the most oil-rich nations on earth.
After World War II, the Allies uncovered large amounts of Nazi gold bars and stolen artwork. The treasures had been hidden all around the German countryside, much of it ending up in salt mines. Most of the artwork was returned to the countries from which it was looted. However, much of the gold was sent to the United States in the form of war reparations.
In addition to gold assets, Germany had large coal reserves. The coal was used to help rebuild the war-torn nation. I am quite certain that if Germany was a major oil-producing nation, it would have been utilized by the Allies. I am also certain that if the price of coal shot through the roof during our post-war occupation of that country, German coal would have been requisitioned by President Truman.
However, our current president seems to be under the impression that the American taxpayers can be perpetually robbed, without ever recouping a cent from Iraq. Is it that he is so out-of-touch with his own people that he doesn't truly realize the harm the current gas prices are causing? Or is it that he just does not care?
We currently have about 150,000 U.S. troops inside of Iraq. Those troops are acting as police officers, border patrol agents, and even school teachers for the Iraqi people. All of which are desperately needed in this country. Yet Bush continues to place the needs of Iraqis above those of his own people.
The latest estimation has the United States spending an incredible one trillion dollars in Iraq, before it is all over. The war in Iraq combined with the incredibly wasteful spending habits of our corrupt congress have ballooned our National Debt to an astounding $9.3 trillion. It is the reason our dollar is losing so much value, as our income taxes now only go to pay the interest on that debt to nations such as China and Saudi Arabia. A shrinking dollar is also greatly contributing to high consumer prices.
The ever-growing National Debt as well as the soaring price of oil threaten to destroy our economy. A solution to both lies under the sands of Iraq.
Here is my proposal…We should create a taxpayer-owned oil company (Perhaps, call it U.S. Oil?). It would require a long-term (maybe a 99 year) lease on a portion of Iraq’s oil fields. The price of such a lease?...The spilled blood of American servicemen!
Once the oil fields are up and running, that oil should be sold on the open market for $20 a barrel. The revenues from the oil sales would go directly and solely to pay off our debt. In addition, with a large volume of the world’s oil being sold at $20 a barrel, the price would plummet worldwide, translating into affordable fuel prices once again.
The taxpayers would be repaid for the treasure we have lost in Iraq, and a long-term solution to our growing need for oil would be accomplished without any further drilling in this country. It would also provide time to increase long-overdue and meaningful fuel efficiency standards in our automobiles, as well as making alternative energy solutions practical to most Americans.
It is an unconventional solution and certainly one which our current President would never have the wisdom nor the courage to carry-out. However, we are living in increasingly desperate times and the creation of a taxpayer-owned oil company could prove to be just the solution desperate American families need right now.
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