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Originally Posted by loquitur
As a national security strategy I'd slap a $2/gallon tax on gasoline, immediately. Of course, it will never ever ever happen. But that would be the single best thing we could do to straighten out our foreign policy. It would bring many alternative energy sources suddenly within the realm of economic feasibility.
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That will certainly not happen under Bush/Cheney, who came into office with a plan to expolit Iraqi oil as evident from documents from Cheney's Energy Task Force, which incliuded execs from Exxon, Conoco, Shell, BP ...and no one representing alternative energy sources.
Documents turned over in the summer of 2003 by the Commerce Department as a result of the Sierra Club’s and Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, concerning the activities of the Cheney Energy Task Force, contain a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as two charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects, and “Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts.” The documents, dated March 2001, also feature maps of Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates oilfields, pipelines, refineries and tanker terminals. There are supporting charts with details of the major oil and gas development projects in each country that provide information on the project’s costs, capacity, oil company and status or completion date.
Documented plans of occupation and exploitation predating September 11 confirm heightened suspicion that U.S. policy is driven by the dictates of the energy industry.
http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2005/8.html
http://www.judicialwatch.org/iraqi-oil-maps.shtml
I agree with you on an energy tax, particularly with the record profits of the oil companies. Kucinich sponsored a windfall profit tax bill in 2005, The Gas Price Spike Act, (
link) that, IMO, would have been better if the profits were directed to alternative energy, rather than mass transit...but in any case, it never received a committee hearing under the Repubs.
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Originally Posted by mixedmedia
The real irony is that, with all of this posturing and condescension, we could be fucking up the one real chance we have for pulling a success out of our ass in Iraq. I believe that Iran is the key.
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MM.....Bush/Cheney fucked it up 4 years ago, shortly after the fall of Baghdad, when Iran, through the Swiss, offered to meet with the US to discuss, among other things, working to stabilize Iraq.
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The document lists a series of Iranian aims for the talks, such as ending sanctions, full access to peaceful nuclear technology and a recognition of its "legitimate security interests." Iran agreed to put a series of U.S. aims on the agenda, including full cooperation on nuclear safeguards, "decisive action" against terrorists, coordination in Iraq, ending "material support" for Palestinian militias and accepting the Saudi initiative for a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The document also laid out an agenda for negotiations, with possible steps to be achieved at a first meeting and the development of negotiating road maps on disarmament, terrorism and economic cooperation.
That's pretty comprehensive, all right. And why did we turn down the offer? Kessler tells us that too:
Top Bush administration officials, convinced the Iranian government was on the verge of collapse, belittled the initiative. Instead, they formally complained to the Swiss ambassador who had sent the fax with a cover letter certifying it as a genuine proposal supported by key power centers in Iran, former administration officials said.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/arc..._06/009033.php
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Would it have accomplished anything? Who knows...Colin Powell and the State Department supported the talks. Cheney vetoed it, and the only thing accomplished in the subsquent 4 years was strengthening Iran's position in the region and within the Iraqi government.
I couldnt agree more with this conclusion....great diplomacy at work, huh?:
That demonstrates some savvy foreign policy insight, doesn't it? Turn down an unprecedented offer from Iran when they're weak and we're strong, and then three years later reluctantly agree to much narrower talks when they're stronger and we're weaker. Great job, guys.