[kach22i]

FYI: I think this Tuesday night PBS is lookng into Mr. Rove, should be interesting.

Back to energy, here is an interesting website:

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

In May 2004, Simmons explained that in order for demand to be appropriately controlled, the price of oil would have to reach $182 per barrel. With oil prices at $182 per barrel, gas prices would likely rise to $7.00 per gallon.

If you want to ponder just how devastating oil prices in the $200 range will be for the US economy, consider the fact that one of Osama Bin-Laden’s goals has been to force oil prices into the $200 range.

http://www.nationalreview.com/robbins/robbins200406020835.asp

To be fair, al Qaeda doesn't really want us to stop buying Saudi oil, just to stop stealing it. Osama bin Laden has argued that the price of petroleum — even at $40 barrel — is so low as to constitute extortion. It is kept at this artificially deflated price through U.S. coercion and Saudi complicity. Osama argues that the fair price of oil is somewhere above $200/barrel.

http://www.nationalreview.com/robbins/robbins200406020835.asp

By attacking energy sources al Qaeda is hitting two targets. First, they are attempting to damage our economy. Osama bin Laden stated in December 2001 that incapacitating the U.S. economy should be the primary objective for al Qaeda fighters, and disrupting the oil market is a form of flank attack. This is not to say that they might not also target the homeland — note the recent threat alert directed to U.S. oil and natural-gas terminals, processing facilities, and pipelines. However, attacks on the global energy infrastructure are likely to have more lasting effects on the economy than dramatic 9/11-style operations, and are easier to pull off. The physical damage they can inflict is less important than the fear they can promote in the marketplace — which leads to higher prices without keeping a single barrel of oil off the market. Furthermore, they not only hope to send our economy into recession (though no sign of a slowdown yet) but create a crisis of confidence in the political leadership.