[MRM]

It's not good news. We're putting pressure on Saudi Arabia for minimal short term gains, putting them in a bad position vis a vis their neighbors and competitors. We're making it look like moderate Arab states are lackeys of the US who will cave in to us whenever Bush asks them to dance, which raises resistance to America across the Middle East and strengthens the argument of countries like Venezuala and Iran, whoi have been saying this for years. All in return for a symbolic increase in production that will have no measurable effect on US consumer prices.

A better idea would be a foreign oil tax or any of a million ideas on developing real alternatives to imported oil. The problem is that these would be long term solutions that would take some real effort, but would pay off for decades. But our country is currently not looking beyond November or January.