"So Noam is an idiot" - I think that was his point. :-)
Thanks for taking the time to post your reactions to the article. But it's very difficult to separate your comments from the text. Please consider using italics or html blockquotes to separate the original from your comments. Especially in long articles. Thanks.
You quote and write:
"Noam Chomsky bent facts to claim that Bill Clinton's misguided attack on a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant in 1998 was worse by far than the massacres of September 11."
So Noam is an idiot.
I think that example sums up the author's argument pretty well. I was thinking of Chomsky during the early part of the original article. It would (potentially) be interesting to read Chomsky's rebuttal.
I want to address one other part of your long post. You write, at the end:
And, once the flaws are found, we must strive to correct the situation and work to remove those flaws from our national character.
The first requirement is removing our dependancy upon their oil.
I'm sure you're aware that Saudi Arabia is fortunate to have a huge fraction of the world's proven oil reserves - 26% according to the [link|http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sa.html|CIA Factbook entry for Saudi Arabia]. It's also extremely efficient in pumping and processing crude, so its cost of production is very low.
While the US is the [link|http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/oilgas/wep/mission.htm| world's largest energy producer], it's also a large importer - especially of crude oil. But we aren't primarily dependent on oil from Saudi Arabia for our imports. About half of our imported oil comes from Canada and Mexico according to [link|http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/petroleum_supply_annual/psa_volume1/current/pdf/table_29.pdf|this] PDF table from the EPA. Net US imports in 2000 from Arab OPEC countries totalled 2.410 M barrels/day, non-Arab OPEC countries (mainly Venezuela) totalled 2.143 M barrels/day, and non-OPEC (primarily Canada and Mexico) totalled 4.476 M barrels/day.
Most of the OPEC oil goes to [link|http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/ipsr/t38.txt|Japan] - 4-5 M barrels/day, and [link|http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/ipsr/t39.txt|OECD Europe] - 5-6 M barrels/day.
The US is a big importer of oil from OPEC and non-OPEC countries (we're averaging around 9 M barrels/day now). But the US isn't the primary market of Arab OPEC oil.
But as we all know, oil is a commodity which is strongly driven by supply and demand. Saudi Arabia has a large fraction of the supply, and low production costs, so they have a large influence on the market. Only huge new discoveries outside the region will change SA's influence - something that may not be very likely.
So, when you write:
The first requirement is removing our dependancy upon their oil.
I have to ask: 1) How do we - the US - get Europe and Japan to remove their greater dependency on Arab OPEC oil? 2) What do we do to change the fact-of-nature that a large fraction of the world's proven reserves are in the Middle East? 3) What can the US do in the near term to dramatically reduce our dependence on imported oil?
These questions can't be answered simply, IMHO. Like you, I wish for a time when the world economy isn't so dependent on oil, and for a time when the US isn't dependent upon commodities from unsavory regimes. But the conventional approaches to this problem - conservation, increased fuel economy standards, etc., won't lead to dramatic near term improvements. The world economy will be greatly dependent upon oil for at least the next 10 years. I'd guess it's more likely to be dependent upon oil for at least the next 25 years.
If you accept my guess that the world economy will be greatly dependent on oil for the next 25 years, what do you suggest be done to mitigate its adverse impact in our relations with the Middle East?
I personally feel the region will continue to be unstable - e.g. I expect upheavals in Saudi Arabia in the next 10 years - and that the political situation there will continue to deteriorate. But I don't know what can be done about it if moderate democracies don't take root there.
My pessimism doesn't mean that I think we shouldn't try. Of course we should try to reduce our dependence. But I've yet to see concrete proposals that I think will have much impact on the oil dependency situation. Have you?
Cheers,
Scott.