quote:

ORIGINAL: MissSCD

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081025/ts_nm/us_iraq_raid;_ylt=AmM2KAxW7M3.mWexKYDCNDJh24cA

Why are we still there?  They are breaking ties with the US over raid.   We have lost over 4,000 troops, and they turn on us?  We need our folks back home. 
 
Regards, MissSCD

quote:

ORIGINAL: slaveboyforyou

Whether we should or should not have went is a moot point now.  We're there.  It's a vital region of the world in terms of energy supplies.  Despite what you may believe, we can't run our country with wind and solar power.  We need petroleum to keep things running.  A massive civil war would destabilize the entire region in ways that have not been seen in modern times.  It could potentially halt oil supplies from the Middle East.  It wouldn't be good; it would be catastrophic.  It's why we are still there, and it's a valid reason. 

quote:

ORIGINAL: corysub

On the other hand, it's interesting to see people blame the USA for countless deaths and never bring up the genocide of the Sadaam regime of the Shite'.  I guess the interpretation of genocide for some is like a buffet, you pick and choose the horror palatable to ones agenda.

quote:

Haven't you figured out that they are holding oil over our heads at gun point?  If we leave, they will have to put it back into oil production.  It is all about the black gold.  In the beginning, I did not think that it was because I was still emotional towards 9/11; however, as we get deeper into this war, we seriously need to be free from it because we are accomplishing nothing by being there.  We are broke because of it.
 
Regards, MissSCD

quote:

ORIGINAL: slaveboyforyou

quote:

Haven't you figured out that they are holding oil over our heads at gun point?  If we leave, they will have to put it back into oil production.  It is all about the black gold.  In the beginning, I did not think that it was because I was still emotional towards 9/11; however, as we get deeper into this war, we seriously need to be free from it because we are accomplishing nothing by being there.  We are broke because of it.
 
Regards, MissSCD

How are they holding it over our heads?  We are the ones that need oil to maintain our way of life.  If a huge civil war erupts in Iraq, it will eventually draw neighboring countries into it.  It's hard to pump and ready oil for export when there is a chaotic war going on.  Iraq can't survive without the international community.  You won't find people willing to do business there if a war like that erupts.  It will be a disaster of epic proportions.  We undertook this little adventure, and we can't just pack up and leave before the job is done. 

quote:

slaveboy:
 
I am keeping my distance from you because you keep showing up attacking my threads.
 
Regards, MissSCD

quote:

ORIGINAL: slaveboyforyou

Whether we should or should not have went is a moot point now.  We're there.  It's a vital region of the world in terms of energy supplies.  Despite what you may believe, we can't run our country with wind and solar power.  We need petroleum to keep things running.  A massive civil war would destabilize the entire region in ways that have not been seen in modern times.  It could potentially halt oil supplies from the Middle East.  It wouldn't be good; it would be catastrophic.  It's why we are still there, and it's a valid reason. 

quote:

Just wondering slaveboyforyou...sense Iraq supplies us with a very small percent of our total oil imports couldn’t we do without imports from them altogether?

As far as that goes couldn’t we…with a little hardship I admit…only use Canada, Mexico, friendly South American supplies, along with our own and not worry about Middle Eastern oil at all?

Perhaps temporarily relax some of our clean air standards and use some of our soft coal for power and release some oil reserves until we get our alternative energy sources on line.

Then pursue our diplomatic endeavors based on right or wrong not who has oil?

Just a thought…I’d pay $8 a gallon or more for this to happen.

Butch

quote:

ORIGINAL: slaveboyforyou

Butch, you're older than I am.  I know you don't want to go back to the days of burning coal without standards.  I'm too young to remember it, but I heard the stories about how horrible it was to live around those plants.  I'm all for building new nuclear plants, but you know the resistance that gets.  In my opinion, nuclear energy is the only way we can drastically reduce our dependence on oil. 

Oil prices would go up if there was a disruption in supply out of the Middle East.  It goes up anytime there is the slightest hint of instability there.  Terrorism wouldn't stop if Middle Eastern countries lost their primary income.  When young men don't have any work, they tend to gravitate towards activities like terrorism and crime.  It would be bad all around. 

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sanity


The problem with your idea is that the oil market is global, and so any serious cut in production anywhere causes prices to spike everywhere. And you can't just call out, "Stop gas prices at eight dollars a gallon" and have that happen, it could as easily go to sixteen dollars a gallon if the conditions are right. As we've all recently learned, a lot of the price of the barrel of oil is speculation, and so if there were domino wars in the Middle East causing a serious shortage prices could potentially skyrocket and we could all be screwed bad.

And the problem isn't as much as what you as an individual think you can can afford to pay, it's more a question of what society can afford. Farmers need fuel to run their equipment and to ship their harvests, and a lot of their fertilizers and other necessary chemicals are oil dependent. Anything that is mined or harvested or manufactured, everything that is transported... in other words everything becomes more expensive. Fishing trawlers become more expensive to operate... just name it.

So essentially our money becomes less valuable. People on fixed incomes suffer terribly when fuel costs skyrocket - imagine what double digit inflation does to the poorest people in third world countries, living on around a dollar a day... or even people here, getting by on minimum wage, or the elderly trying to get by with just their social security. Even the "middle class" obviously feel the pinch with any serious cut in the oil supply.

We need affordable energy, and like it or not oil is going to be a fundamental part of any energy equation for the foreseeable future.