Imagine if, in the middle of World War II, the U.S. government and its people gave Hitler billions of dollars, to train troops and build new weapons. Sounds impossible, right? But that’s more or less the situation we find ourselves in today, former CIA director Jim Woolsey recently told the Naval Postgraduate School.
The U.S. is in the opening stages of a “Long War” with Islamic extremists. And these adversaries — whether they’re found in madrassas in Riyadh or the government in Tehran — are funded, in so small part, by oil revenue. Petrodollars go, more or less directly, to training radicals. Petrodollars get funneled to those who make and plant bombs.
“Except for our own Civil War,” Woolsey notes, “this is the only war that we have fought where we are paying for both sides. We pay Saudi Arabia $160 billion for its oil, and $3 or $4 billion of that goes to the Wahhabis, who teach children to hate. We are paying for these terrorists with our SUVs.“
And we are paying for them with our tanks, our Bradleys, and our fighter jets, observes Defense Technology International, which has a special issue out on “The Military and the End of Oil.” In 2004, the U.S. military gobbled up 400,000 barrel of fuel a day, at cost of $6.7 billion. A year later, those costs had climbed to $8.8 billion. In 2006, the price tag is expect to total $10 billion.
“Meanwhile, advanced green technologies like hybrid drive vehicles [despite their limitations] offer both fuel economy and stealth benefits in combat, a significant plus in the urban warfare scenarios that appear to be such a big part of future wars,” writes Joe Katzman, who’s been all over this issue.
The truth is that the military can’t live without fuel, but every gallon of it is both a logistics burden and a financial burden… Now add the fact that diversified “green infrastructure” lowers vulnerability to the kind of “system disruption” attacks one sees in Iraq, and the military/security benefits become compelling.
It sure does. Throughout the military today, there are lots and lots of individual R&D efforts underway to find alternatives to funding our enemies. But a collection of engineering projects is not enough. If we’re serious about fighting this Long War, breaking the military’s addiction to oil has to become a top priority.
Do as the Germans did in WWII, Coal Oil. Plenty of coal in North America.
It’s Naval Postgraduate School, not National.
Do’h! Of course, JJ. Fixed.
Your article is pretty one dimensional — we trade with the Middle East, therefore, we support terrorism. So when we trade with China, we’re only fueling the rise of a military competitor? It may appear pretty ironic, but it is not that simple.
One thing is for certain, the kind of nationalist rhetoric thrown about in your article helps no one. Especially not the brave men and women of our armed services.
You know, Henry Ford DID sell tank engines to the Germans.
So now we are in a “Long War”, eh? Could you remind me when this war was declared by Congress? When it was discussed in a presidential campaign or included as a plank in a presidental platform? Who exactly are we fighting? How will we know when this war is over?
And will we get our Constitution back when the “Long War” is over?
Is it possible — just possible — there there is some segment of American society that is pathologically hardwired to fight someone, anyone, at all times? And that if there is no real enemy to fight must create one? I mean, terrorists are bad news, but the British and Spanish, among others, have managed to contain and control terrorist movements for many years without fighting a “Long War” or destroying their society.
Cranky
Is Woolsy AKA Yoda suggesting America nuke Saudi Arabia instead of Iran? I can live with that! Way to go Jimbo! Peace!
islam and “the west” are like oil and water. We need a strict policy of total isolation from the middle east INCLUDING israel. ONLY way to prevent another 9/11.
Colombia is a another example of a “war” where we fund both sides.
If only it were so simple! Unfortunately the nature of commodity markets is such that refusing to buy from one source means other buyers go there instead, and nothing changes.
Cranky– if you check the news (and certainly the Congressional Record) you’ll find that Congress granted all the required authority to the President well before Iraq was invaded. War hasn’t been declared since WWII because a literal declaration of war legally invokes a number of emergency measures which would only get in the way. Instead it is simpler and more effective to grant the same Presidential authority under other terms, such as was done in 2001 and again in before Iraq. Not that I’m so naive as to believe you’ll be satisfied with this. I’m not; half the country seems to prefer the Ostrich Principle anyway.
TBV:
Switching from one oil-producing country to another would be the shortest of short-term fixes. The real solution is to find alternate means for producing power.
nms
lester before spitting out stereotype comments and to the rest of you talking about the problem America and the Middle East are facing, think again.
Put yourself in the place of an Iraqi or Afghani and get members of your loved ones killed and have massacres like Haditha and abu gharib and think again
Yoda should say “Racket war is! and Hell too war is” and that the CIA made Usama into what he is today and keeps him free and the Company always played both sides of every war and profited from it too i.e. Drugs ALA north with help from the crips and bloods! Coke is it Baby! Jimbo please put on the hooded robe for me and use the force, please!
i stopped reading when it said this is the only war where america has played both sides. also that thing about funding hitler? we sold them patented goods (by the rockefellars) that they absolutely needed in order to fight their war, as well as helped set up their communications systems, their veichles had ford engines in them, etc…
We also fund by International aid, theyre “non profits” alone.
SO CUT Funds in all directions.
Quit bowing to the Saudi princes & lets Drill for more OIL & then expand Alt Fuels R&D.
IE Hybrid M1A2 Abhrams tanks, Fuel cell N subs etc.
ALL doable.
Or face another worse OPEC crunch from 1970s?