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Tuesday, February 25, 2003


More on "blood for oil"
Ken Adelman offers another rebuttal to the protests that the coming Iraq campaign is really just an oil-grab by Bush et.al.:

One last point on "blood for oil." Iraq's having substantial reserves - and the whole Middle East holding much of the world's oil supply - is a legitimate factor in our concerns in the region. Even the recent Noble Peace Prize winner, President Jimmy Carter, understood the importance of oil to the development world when president. In 1979, after the Soviets brutally invaded Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter asserted the Carter Doctrine, which offered U.S. protection of Gulf states precisely because of their abundant oil.
The "Carter Doctrine" was enunciated by Jimmy Carter in his 1980 State of the Union address. It was a clear declaration that the United States would use military force, if necessary, to secure its access to Middle East oil:
Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.
This declaration was directed specifically at the Soviet Union, which had invaded Afghanistan the year before. But the broader implication was clear: the United States would oppose by force any attempt at hegemony over Middle East oil by any country.

by Donald Sensing, 2/25/2003 10:07:40 AM. Permalink |  





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