In listening to this portion on Klare takes a stance on his opinion of post 9/11. He begins by mentioning the focus of the Bush administration before and after 9/11. Before 9/11 he feels as though the Bush administration was focused on procuring more energy and resources for the United States. After 9/11 the focus turned to controlling terrorism and how to prevent terrorism from happening. Klare then turns his focus to the history of American Presidents and how their actions have impacted the current time.
He first mentions the great President Franklin D. Roosevelt and how he realized that the US was running out of a supply of oil and as our supply diminished we would loose power and prosperity. So he began to seek other countries with a great deal of oil to help the US out. In 1943, he decided that Saudi Arabia was the country with an abundant amount of oil and he made a pact with Saudi that the US would protect the “Royal Family” in exchange for privileged access to their oil supply. Up through the rankings of Presidents this agreement has withstood. Klare’s main argument here is that the US never seemed to be worried about the supply of oil until it was almost gone.
Then when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, this threatened our supply of oil. The US was not the only offer to help save Kuwait. Osama Bin Laden offered to help Kuwait protect them from Saddam Hussein, which is a major shock to me. It seems weird that Bin Laden was the other offer to help out Kuwait and that we have had so many run-ins with Bin Laden. The permanent military presence of the US made Osama Bin Laden an enemy of the US. It all plays out and comes together to explain the reasons for 9/11. Klare explains 9/11 as a “natural consequence” to the US. He explains it as just a chain of events over time. I agree with Klare in this aspect and feel that over time the US paid the consequence for the price of oil. It all comes together in the end....
1 comment:
I think you overlooked the most important thing: Hypocrisy is in the personal level, not govermental. Have you ever heard Mother Teresa criticized the Government for not being magnanimous enough to other countries? She does everything for the poor by "herself" and thus, forcing others to open up. The US government is for the US interest, they will do anything to bring more interest to the people "inside" the country. You can debate if Bush is helping the Rich more; but by getting more oil, "you" or the lowest level citizen inside America benefit too. Don't forget that. On the other hand, The people inside Saudi Arabia benefit from US greed for their oil too. By "buying", not "robbing" oil from Saudi, the US put a lot of investments and technologies in Saudi. No arguing that the Saudi royal family get the most of it; but in turn, they have to use the dollars to support their people in avoiding any uproar or revolution. Thus, the Saudi citizens get a part of the pie in the equation. The average Saudi citizen income level is among the highest or the highest in the region. Well, they hate the royal dictatorship, so what? Now, take a look at Iraq, Saddam did not deal with the US. Were Iraqis citizens better off than Saudis? Saddam got the money from selling oil to other countries in exchange for..."weapons", ladies and gentlemen. The truth is that as long as the Middle East does not have democracy, to have the US greed is better than have not. Lastly, you may ask "what if" the US were not there. Would you think the Russians or the Chinese leave that region untouched? Would you think Russia and China will offer better bargain than the US? Would they care more for the people there than the US? And what if Russia or China took control of the oil there and overtook US in economy as well as technology? You don't know them because you don't know your reality, ladies and gentlemen
Post a Comment