I am definitely one of the many people around the world trying to come to terms and understand the whole situation that currently exists in the Middle East. I am not extremely well educated when it comes to the history of the region. Yes, I do know the main facts but have yet to learn the nuances. I am hoping this blog will prompt many to have an open but healthy discussion and provide valuable insight as we all try to understand this complex issue. As I sit here typing this up, I acknowledge that this is a very sensitive issue and am thinking of the best way to pen my thoughts (I have been sitting on this since Friday).
I have read many articles whose headlines are screaming with questions of whether this is the beginning WW III. I would hope not. Somewhere, I am hoping that we as a world have learnt lessons from the past wars to know that war is not always the answer (but then again I am sitting here thinking of the Iraq war, and that’s a whole other issue). Coming back to the whole WW III issue, I do not believe that it will escalate to that level considering the fact that we have the UN and other figureheads of different countries that are trying to broker a peaceful solution out of this. I know many people believe that UN has no real power and that its power has significantly waned over the years (think of all the resolutions passed that have yet to be implemented..). We however have to realize that UN is not the governing body and the countries’ governments need to step it up.
As I was reading and listening to Washington Post/radio, a reporter was talking about how this was not about “land grabbing” but rather about the “existence” of Israel. This is very true. Sharon evacuated the Gaza strip. This should have prompted Hamas to relax on their rhetoric and cut out the violence. This would have put them in a better position to negotiate. They however did not stop their violent attacks. This makes them lose all their credibility (assuming they have any left to begin with). This makes me question their whole “We are fighting the occupation” stance.
Lebanon should dismantle Hezbollah, since they claim that they are not representing the common man in their country. The Lebanese government should reign in these terrorists and represent the “real” them (since they claim to be free of Syria).
a) Why are the Hezbollah still there, and why the hell are they in charge of the border?
b) Why is Lebanon allowing Syria and Iran to run their country (we all know they are!!)?
Israel has every right to defend their citizens and their country from harm. But why is it leading to more land grabbing? The wall is going up and it is cutting deep into the Palestinian territory (as affirmed by the Israeli High Court). The settlements in West Bank are expanding (per the approval of the Israeli Government). It’s almost like a tit-for-tat game. The political and economic agenda is taking over the humanitarian issues on both sides.
That being said, I still think we can prevent the escalation. Will it happen ASAP? No, I think this time it will take quite some time, a lot more civilian casualties, destruction of more infrastructure, for everyone to stand up and say enough is enough. By then, the militants will probably start feeling the wrath of their own people and hopefully a solution will be reached.
One cannot ignore the religious undertones of this situation. You already have many people screaming out saying that Islam is the cause; Islam is a violent religion etc. I beg to differ. Not one religion in the world abides by violence. This is just a gross misinterpretation by certain individuals that have manipulated religion for their own benefit. It is being portrayed as Islam vs. Judaism? Is this accurate? Honestly speaking, I don’t know.
1) The fighting will not stop unless and until both the Hamas and Hezbollah recognize and accept the existence of Israel. The chances of this happening: look at the history.
2) Israel step out of West Bank. The chances of this happening: slim to none.
The bottom line is: this feud is being fueled by outside forces that need to step away and mind their own business (Iran, Syria). Maybe I am an optimist, but I can see a peaceful Middle East, where Israel and Palestine coexist. For this to happen the Arab League needs to play a bigger peacekeeping role and the governments need to stop harboring these TERRORISTS.
The sad thing is, in conflicts such as these the people that suffer the most are the common men/women/children. It’s a shame that we are in the 21st century and still facing the same issues that we have faced in the past centuries..
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All of this started when Europe gave a chunk of land to the Israelis back in the mid ’40s, land that belonged to the Arabs. Then along came the Israeli bulldozers, and the uprooting of Olive trees (a dark time for Arabs known as Black ‘48).
The perspective of world leaders upon the Arabs have to change; Whenever I face news regarding the middle east, I’m reminded of Henry Kissinger’s words:
“… oil is too important a commodity to leave to the Arabs…”
While it is not a “one size fits all” answer, it does indeed explain a lot (’oil’ can be exchanged with other possessions, be it land, weapons, money, etc…)
The Bible proclaims that right before the final show takes place on Earth, Israel will be destroyed.
Destruction is not the answer!!!! We need to work towards a peaceful solution. I refuse to believe that God (does not matter what religion) advocates destruction and killing of people!
You seem to advocate that no religion could ever abide by violence… now that you move to say that you refuse to believe that “God… advocates destruction and killing of people”
What do you call the incident of “Sodomy and Gonorrhea”? The “Flooding”?
It’s Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodomy is anal penetration, and Gonorrhea is a veneral disease.
Did people back then know what caused disease? Did they know there were tiny viruses that can only be seen with a microscope? Since they did not, this is why they imagined God was an angry God. Who wouldn’t be horrified by what some diseases can do, such as Smallpox? Who wouldn’t have noticed that those who had frequent sex with multiple partners were most susceptible to disease?
This is why there are the insane notions that God is ashamed of sex, and that God angrily struck at people thousands of years ago.
This is why today’s religions are so confused that they engage in this endless violence. They are basing their morality on the understanding of thousands of years ago. They get so confused they think that God wants his right hand to kill off his left hand.
How quick they are to forget the lesson that God is one. That there is nothing you can conceive, experience, or see in this world that is not a part of God. Yes, even the ones we despise the most.
I didnt say it was the answer, just that the Big Book has it written down, and that it is going to happen at some point.
God never approves of murder, but s/he leaves that choice up to us. We pay for our actions on judgement day.
“Europe gave a chunk of land to the Israelis back in the mid ’40s…”
Really? Who is “Europe”? How did a continent have such power? Maybe you need to study up on your history.
“The Bible proclaims that right before the final show takes place on Earth, Israel will be destroyed.”
Really?? What Bible is that??? I don’t see that in my Bible.
Europe…. that is a gross misunderstanding…
1947, England agreed to leave the region… then the United Nation General Assembly votes and passes the 1947 UN Partition Plan, which lead to the official sovereignty (accordingly to United Nations :-)) of Israeli in 1948.
Isn’t England part of Europe? Did you know that England actually discussed this plan with other European leaders and sought their input? Unless I understood wrong or read falacious accounts, this is why I used the word,”Europe”, instead of “England”.
Mkultra,
You were right, England is part of Europe. However, to state it “Europe” alone will leave confusion to readers. Additionally, England did not “discuss” this plan with Europeans leaders, they discussed it with primary the United States….
Furthermore, England did not want to give up their colony… they had to due to increasingly violence and hostility in the region and England no longer have the willpower to handle the affair because WWII weakened England domestically and internationally.
I just thought it would be best to be more clear in what you meant by “Europe”.
MKULTRA, it started long before that– Zionism emerged in the 1800s, long before the partition in the post-WWII era.
The hatred has always been there, yes. But it was my understanding that the Arabs are upset about the incident in 1948, and use this fact in their argument against Israel (along with 1967).
http://www.masada2000.org/historical.html
Israel’s history when it comes to land. Easy to read maps over time.
Maps are simple, yes, but I agree with Patti- a markedly pro-Israeli website.
Yet, when Israel won the Sinai Peninsula in a war against Egypt. They did the incredible (maybe stupid) by giving it all back to Egypt (the oil fields, infrastructures, etc).
But they were still attacked afterwards.
Israel gives back the Gaza strip (even at Egypt’s objection), Israel was still attacked.
Israel recedes from southern Lebanon. They were attacked.
Btw, the land was given to Israel by the UN in 1947 called “Resolution 181.”
Do you think maybe they were attacked, and gave back the land, because they were too weak to keep it at that point, after 20 years of war and attrition on all sides (Palestine, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Iraq?) Just a thought, but they do seem rather busy…
No.
FYI
http://www.masada2000.org/historical.html is pro-Israeli.
I bet if you had found a website that was pro-Palestine, you’d read somewhat different.
The best way to know the history is to read the official international agreements, and the worst of all agreements had to be the secret agreement between Sykes-Picot in 1916, which led to the partition into British and French Mandates. I believe from that point, things went from bad to worse in the Middle East since then. The secret agreement between Sykes-Picot was pure greed.
In my opinion, the British Peel Commission of 1936 made things worst for everyone living in the Middle East when the Peel Commission advised that the western part of Palestine be divided between Arabs and Jews.
All the agreements that were drawn up concerning Jews hardly included the dialogues or input from Arabs living in these regions. These effects are the causes of what we are seeing today. Most Arabs are angry at the injustices done to them . . .
Biblical and historically, Israelis have ties the land as well. Bottom line, the land was given to Israel in 1947 by the UN.
Now, you’re effectively saying, 60 years later, for Israel to give it back?
I’m just sharing a fact finding mission to illustrate why Arabs are so angry. I present legal pieces of information from the international official agreements that excluded the participation of most Arabs.
Think of actual Lawrence of Arabia–not the Hollywood verison–who tried to work with Arabs during the Great Arab Revolt and the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 as well as Transjordan of 1923 messed up the plan for Arab Nations; and League of Nations which led to the partition into British and French Mandates in 1927.
I found a few flaws in the British Peel Commission of 1936 for suggesting that the western part of Palestine be divided between Arabs and Jews, in which United Nations officiated in 1947.
I’m hoping that whatever happened in the last century might bring a better understanding of the Middle East crisis and perhaps we could find a peaceful solution that is satisfactory to the majority who live in the Middle East regions.
By the way, I took several graduate level courses in the history of Middle East and Ottoman Empire at George Mason University, and I probably understand the Middle East crisis better than some people here on deafdc blog. My knowledge of the history of Middle East goes as far back as 230 AD with the biblical background as an overview which goes farther back in time.
That’s nice.
Still, the UN GAVE ISRAEL their lands with, and rightly so, Israel’s Biblical and historical ties to the lands that are just as strong, if not stronger, than the Arabs.
Are you suggesting that Israel or the UN have a “re-vote” albeit 60 years later that Israel be forced to give back the land that was given to them over to the Arabs?
Just asking…
Please understand that I’m playing the devil’s advocate and visualize a scenario, perhaps not so farfetched.
Supposing, all of sudden Hezbollah, Hamas, Taliban, and al-Qaede successfully invaded the United States and they excluded the political leaders of the United States at the United Nations discussing the partitions of the United States into Iraq, Palestine, Afghan, and Syria Mandates. Northeast of the U.S. goes to Hezbollah of Iran, Northwest goes to Hamas of Palestine, Southwest goes to Taliban of Afghan and Southeast goes to al-Qaede of Syria. Each mandate builds miles and miles of thick walls along the partitioned boundaries.
It had happened, do not be defensive, how would YOU deal with it? Considering the fact that you might be separated from the members of your families in other areas of the U.S. The crops in the Midwest and Southwest are ruined. Over the years the partitioned areas deteriorate so severely that they resemble refugee camps and ghettos. Either you submit your soul, mind, and body to the Mandate or suffer the consequences. This, I mean you have to learn Arabic since it becomes the official language of the United States, no more freedom of speech, freedom to worship, et cetera and you have to convert to Islam. What would you do?
This was what happened when a country was being partitioned. It happened in India, Africa, Middle East, Indo-China, Russia and South America. These countries were highly civilized, in many ways they were far advanced than Europe ever was. Only when the empires like England and France partitioned these countries, they spiraled down and became the “Third World.” See?
So, it is truly constitutive to find a solution that satisfies the majority who are living in the Middle East regions. Peaceful solution is imperative because violence (war) begets violence.
For most people in other parts of the world have a great difficulty to grasp the conception of separation between religion and government. Israelis do not separate the government from their religion, Hebrew; and Arabs govern as according to Koran. That’s the reality we cannot possibly ignore.
So, how do we find a peaceful solution for the majority who live in the Middle East regions? I am not sure.
I asked you a question since I cannot read your mind on what, if any, you are implying (or not) about what you’ve wrote.
My question to you, again, are you suggesting that Israel or the UN have a “re-vote” albeit 60 years later that Israel be forced to give back the land that was given to them back over to the Arabs?
See, The government of Israelis has been practicing the mentality of Mandate, putting up the barriers all around the perimeter of Palestine. As a matter of fact, like anywhere else, these very barriers are choking Palestine.
Naturally, these barriers are enraging Palestine and Arabs. I’m sure if we were experiencing the same thing here in the United States, doubtless some of us would become terrorists fighting for our rights and freedom. That’s human’s nature. Why, our forefathers were terrorists.
As we’re speaking, the government of Israelis is fighting against Hezbollah of Iran in Lebanon and Hamas of Palestine. As long as the United States is helping Israel, we continue to fight against all four, Hezbollah, Hamas, Taliban, and al-Qaede. Iran literally has built its own nuclear power.
As long as the United States is helping Israel, this very action proclaims to the world that the government of the United States supports Israel Mandate against Palestine. From human’s perspective, is mandating reasonable? No! Mandating does nothing but makes the residents very bitter and angry, which led to terrorism.
What if all four groups–Hezbollah, Hamas, Taliban, and al-Qaede–conquer Israel?
It’s not the time to side with anyone. It’s time to work for a peaceful solution! It’s better to salvage what government Israel has than to loose it all, isn’t it?
Can Palestine, Arabs and Jews go back to the pre-partition mentality of 60 years ago? I don’t know.
I already told you that I’m not sure how we could find a peaceful solution that would satisfy the majority living in the Middle East regions.
very well explained. i also took some courses on mid-east history — talk about complicated! but you laid it out quite well.
one must also not forget that occupation leads to resistance.
wanted to add to this discussion this article: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/738739.html — its by an israeli journalist and discusses the concept of proportionality - or rather the lack of it in this case.
Uh, those four Islamic groups don’t care about the land. See? When they got their Gaza strip back, what did they do? Turned into a wasteland and made it a weapon cache repository to use against Israeli citizens.
The thing is, you don’t see Israel wanting to expand their land. They like what they have and what was given to them by the UN in 1947. Give back Lebanon. They get bombed. Give back Gaza. They get bombed. Give back the Sinai Peninsula. They get bombed. And, oh, now you want and are trying to force Israel to give up the Golan Heights. And guess what the terrorists response will be if Israel do that? Yep. Bomb Israel since they’d be a lot closer to major cities. It is ironic that Israel is the only non-muslim country surrounded on all sides of their borders with Muslim countries who have tried, repeatedly, take over Israel. I suppose negotiating with Islamic terrorists is acceptable practice, then?
You say Israel does not want to expand their land. What about the land grabbing due to the building of the wall and the expansion of settlements?
Mcconnell and Raswant… not to dilverge the subject, but I happened to notice the word “terrorist” is mentioned. I have read several definitions of “terrorists”, so I am not sure what do you mean by “terrorist”?
Can you elaborate what do you mean by “terrorists”?
Thanks
Okayyyyyyyy. What’s the purpose of the wall? To stop those idiot suicide bombers from coming over. It’s not a land grab per se. And ever since the wall went up, countless lives were saved…on both sides. This isn’t the Berlin wall now but many of you are trying to make it like that. Palestinians are welcomed to come ago if they have legitimate business to do in Israel at key entry points.
Please look at the illustrations before you go any further with these arguments of yours.
You ARE for saving lives, no?
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrar.....fence.html - read the stats. The link also talk about the “land grabbing” as you so eloquently put it. Don’t let your Jewish phobia prevent you from reading the link.
“Before the construction of the fence, and in many places where it has not yet been completed, a terrorist need only walk across an invisible line to cross from the West Bank into Israel. No barriers of any kind exist, so it is easy to see how a barrier, no matter how imperfect, won’t at least make the terrorists’ job more difficult. Approximately 75 percent ofthe suicide bombers who attacked targets inside Israel came from across the border where the first phase of the fence was built.
During the 34 months from the beginning of the violence in September 2000 until the construction of the first continuous segment of the security fence at the end of July 2003, Samaria-based terrorists carried out 73 attacks in which 293 Israelis were killed and 1950 wounded. In the 11 months between the erection of the first segment at the beginning of August 2003 and the end of June 2004, only three attacks were successful, and all three occurred in the first half of 2003.
Since construction of the fence began, the number of attacks has declined by more than 90%. The number of Israelis murdered and wounded has decreased by more than 70% and 85%, respectively, after erection of the fence.”
How do you define terrorism? According to the CIA:
The Intelligence Community is guided by the definition of terrorism contained in Title 22 of the US Code, Section 2656f(d):
—The term “terrorism” means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.
—The term “international terrorism” means terrorism involving the territory or the citizens of more than one country.
—The term “terrorist group” means any group that practices, or has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism.
Terrorist: One who utilizes the systematic use of violence and intimidation to achieve political objectives, while disguised as a civilian non-combatant. They strap bombs on themselves, and try and get onto buses, or go into restaurants or shopping centers, trying to kill as many Israeli civilians as possible.
Squiggy, they kill Arabs, too. You need to remember that many of these terrorists are equal opportunity killers just to fullfill their political and religious agenda. Many Arabs or Muslims do not like what the terrorists are doing. You can see the responses in http://Iraqthemodel.blogspot.com
It’s nice to see some people sincerely hope for a peaceful coexistence. Clearly, it’ll require a political solution, not military. They gotta talk at some point, so why not now?
For those not familiar with the history of the region, read Tom Friedman’s “From Beirut to Jerusalem.” It’s a great portrayal of the people and politics in both countries. It might be a bit dated but still makes valuable reading.
And check out this link.
http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=36160
It’s basically saying that Lebanon’s army must go down south of Lebanon and take care of Hezbollah.
That is true… but the problem is that… many of Lebanon’s army are shia muslims (accordingly to BBC… 60-70 percent: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5191202.stm)… and Hezbollah militants are mostly, if not all, shia muslims…
That is a dilemma of Lebanon government…
Right. A lot of us probably don’t realize that Lebanon survived a civil war that went from ‘75 to ‘90 and spent the last 20 years rebuilding in which Beirut earned the title, “Paris of the Middle East.” Hasta suck to see the country regressing so soon, politically.
You’re almost right. Beirut was known as the Paris of the Middle East BEFORE their civil war. They tried hard to regain that title after the war.
I would very much love to see harmony amongst all people. I have desperately wanted, and prayed for peace in the mid-east.
But since certain Arab factions and a president (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) have called for the complete destruction of Israel, and are in pursuit of this goal, how do you reason with this sort?
Let us not kid ourselves for we know that Israel will never be left alone as long as there are people out there calling for its destruction.
Worse, the same president calls for a conference to prove that the Holocaust was a fiction and consipracy… amazing.
And the funny ironic twist to that? Ahmie said that Israel is acting like “Hitler.”
The Iran president will not stop at anything to destroy Israel. Its sad but the only way to stop him in realty is a .50 caliber used by elite sniper forces.
Israel and Palestine are both guilty of false progagandas! Israel need to learn how to control her own emotions like the recent abduction of two Israeli soliders. Any kind of reaction would worsen the given situation.
I am neither pro-Israel or Palestine. Israel’s failure of helping Palestine to be the modern democratic state. Why don’t Israel be more vigorous in condemning the undemocratic practices within the Palestine government? Israel just let the everyday life in Palestine to be real miserable for Palestine citizens. If Israel really invest in the Middle East peace, then it ought to call for the whole retivalization of Palestine and press the citizenry for outing the corruptible Palestine government under Arafat (real unpopular among the Palestine people). Israel did not do anything constructible for past five years. It just sat for the right moment to exploit the weaking situation.
Israel is well known for grabbing the legitimate homes of Arabs like deceiving the hardworking and honest Arabs coming to the Israeli local offices to resolve the property matter. In the end, Israel illegally grab Israeli-born Arabs’ homes. What kind of country and government doing to the decent citizens? Israel play the hardball games so far. P
If you see several Israeli and human right documentaries/films. You would see the clear pattern of Israel making life miserable for Palestinans. Israel often harass the incoming Palestine citizens at the border points which are not really unncessary in that practice.
Why bomb Lebanon and civilian Palestine homes? That will breed the new generations of fighters against Israel.
Israeli and Palestine gay males often get along very well. Palestine “gay for dollars” guys do prey on Israeli closeted guys. Same thing happened in America like some hyprocritical gay males speak against illegal immigrants, but they would jump to have sex with hot-looking Latinos (illegal ones) from what I recently observed several deaf gays discussed about illegal immigrants as long as they could have sex with illegal immigrants.
That is my analogy about Israeli and Palestine people hating each others, but would do something to enrich themselves.
The Israeli government are running by the hawks too long. The likes of Rabin are not possibly found anywhere in the Israeli political arena.
We better watch out for the growing “authoritism” in America if we keep electing the likes of Bill Frist, Dick Cheney and Hillary Clinton to our government. That would define the 21th Century America.
The respectable political magazine (I could not remmy which magazine) recently issued the question of wherebas the Israeli lobby is too strong in our American government.
The Arab people are no better than Israeli like the two-faced Saudi Arabia (real sneaky one who did not stop the Wabbaism in her country), powerful Arab lobbyists.
The legendary “Hatfield and McCoys” feud (West Virginia- Kentucky) is one of perfect example of lunancy and absurdity which the state governments and law enforcements got involved lately without stopping the feud from happened in the first place. The Hatfields and McCoys let their emotions ran high without thinking about the long-term consquences.
This isn’t the McCoys. This is Islamic extremism at it’s worst.
extremism done by groups are still worst.
I don’t recall “Death to all Muslims” by Israelis as their constant rallying cry. Israel doesn’t mind having Arabs co-exist with them.
US will never let the middle east go.. the location is too politically strategic.
it’s Catch 22
oh… that region is so rich with… what do you called it.. hmm… oil? Of course, United States cant keep her hands out of the “cookie jar” of oil in middle east.
Yeah, too bad Israel wasn’t blessed with any.
Squiggy. They did for a very short while. They had the Sinai Peninsula which has a rich oil field. The won that land in a defensive war against Egypt. But as a show of faith (maybe stupidity) they gave it back to Egypt.
The United States get most of her crude oil and petroleum from Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Nigeria, in that order with Canada being #1 exporter of oil to the U.S. The top five exporting countries accounted for 70 percent of United States crude oil imports in May while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 88 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil.....mport.html
And, no, oil did NOT come from decaying dinosaurs.
To What Degree is the United States“Dependent” on Foreign Oil?
•The notion that the United States is “dependent” on Persian Gulf countries for oil is inaccurate. World events do affect the price Americans pay for gasoline, but “dependence” does not accurately portray the relationship between oil consumers and oil producers.
•Of the nearly 20.7 million barrels of oil consumed each day in the United States, only 11.1 percent of it comes from Persian Gulf countries.
•As a percentage of U.S. GDP, the value of Saudi oil consumed by Americans, assuming a price of $70/barrel, is only 0.31 percent.
•The value of Saudi oil sales into the United States accounts for 11.4 percent of Saudi Arabia’s GDP. By that measure, it could be argued that Saudi Arabia is the more dependent partner in this economic relationship.
•Supply disruptions anywhere in the world, whether artificially precipitated by a foreign government, or caused by security threats or natural occurrences, have the same effect everywhere. This is true whether a country is capable of fully supplying its own oildemand or fully depends on foreign supplies.
•For example, the oil shock set off by the Iranian revolution in 1978 had a similar effect on gasoline prices in Great Britain, which produces more oil than it uses, as it did on gasoline prices in Japan, which imports 100 percent of the oil it consumes.
•The power of the so-called oil weapon is overstated. The 1973 oil embargo failed to achieve its political objective of reducing support for Israel, and in the long-run inflictedfar more damage on the instigators of the embargo than on the intended targets.
•Immediate reduction in oil consumption in the United States would likely increase the Persian Gulf countries’ global market share.
We produce nearly 35% of our own oil while the remaining 65% comes from imports, of which about 11% of the total imports come from Persian Gulf countries.
http://kyl.senate.gov/legis_ce.....052306.pdf - May 23, 2006
And if you guys are still wanting to get away from imported oil from the Middle East, then let us drill oil off of Alaska, the Florida and California coastlines (10, 20, 50 miles out), and let us reap the shale oil in the Green Formation in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado with an estimate of some 1.7 TRILLION barrels of oil locked up in the shale rocks. This amount dwarfs that of Saudi Arabia.
Of course, we have the ever presence NIMBY syndrome one we try and go in that direction in the name of weaning ourselves from depending on foreign sources of oil…namely the Persian Gulf countries.
http://www.aapg.org/explorer/d...../05emd.cfm
The United States get most of her crude oil and petroleum from Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Nigeria, in that order with Canada being #1 exporter of oil to the U.S. The top five exporting countries accounted for 70 percent of United States crude oil imports in May while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 88 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil.....mport.html
And, no, oil did NOT come from decaying dinosaurs.
To What Degree is the United States“Dependent” on Foreign Oil?
•The notion that the United States is “dependent” on Persian Gulf countries for oil is inaccurate. World events do affect the price Americans pay for gasoline, but “dependence” does not accurately portray the relationship between oil consumers and oil producers.
•Of the nearly 20.7 million barrels of oil consumed each day in the United States, only 11.1 percent of it comes from Persian Gulf countries.
•As a percentage of U.S. GDP, the value of Saudi oil consumed by Americans, assuming a price of $70/barrel, is only 0.31 percent.
•The value of Saudi oil sales into the United States accounts for 11.4 percent of Saudi Arabia’s GDP. By that measure, it could be argued that Saudi Arabia is the more dependent partner in this economic relationship.
•Supply disruptions anywhere in the world, whether artificially precipitated by a foreign government, or caused by security threats or natural occurrences, have the same effect everywhere. This is true whether a country is capable of fully supplying its own oildemand or fully depends on foreign supplies.
•For example, the oil shock set off by the Iranian revolution in 1978 had a similar effect on gasoline prices in Great Britain, which produces more oil than it uses, as it did on gasoline prices in Japan, which imports 100 percent of the oil it consumes.
•The power of the so-called oil weapon is overstated. The 1973 oil embargo failed to achieve its political objective of reducing support for Israel, and in the long-run inflictedfar more damage on the instigators of the embargo than on the intended targets.
•Immediate reduction in oil consumption in the United States would likely increase the Persian Gulf countries’ global market share.
We produce nearly 35% of our own oil while the remaining 65% comes from imports, of which about 11% of the total imports come from Persian Gulf countries.
http://kyl.senate.gov/legis_ce.....052306.pdf - May 23, 2006
And if you guys are still wanting to get away from imported oil from the Middle East, then let us drill oil off of Alaska, the Florida and California coastlines (10, 20, 50 miles out), and let us reap the shale oil in the Green Formation in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado with an estimate of some 1.7 TRILLION barrels of oil locked up in the shale rocks. This amount dwarfs that of Saudi Arabia.
Of course, we have the ever presence NIMBY syndrome one we try and go in that direction in the name of weaning ourselves from depending on foreign sources of oil…namely the Persian Gulf countries.
http://www.aapg.org/explorer/d...../05emd.cfm - info on shale oil in the Green formation.
we get most of our oil from Mexico and Canada. Why are we paying Arab (OPEC) oil prices?
Missed this one.
It’s a myth that OPEC sets oil prices. It is the market that sets the oil prices…not OPEC. OPEC has some limiting influences on oil prices but they do not, per se, set oil prices for the world. What they can do is either to increase or decrease oil production which influences the world’s oil supply and demand market. It’s the oil market that influences prices called “oil futures.” Which is why oil prices go up whenever there is a war going on in the Middle East.
” ‘Opec is not responsible for the rise in prices and is not able to lower’ this upward trend, said Abdulwahab Abu Dahesh, who heads investment research at the Riyadh Bank in Saudi Arabia.
‘According to expectations, Opec and non-Opec producer countries will need many years to increase their production capacity to a level which can reassure the market,’ said Abu Dahesh.”
http://www.energybulletin.net/2288.html
It is important to note that Persian Gulf exports approximately 2,400 barrels per day (”bpd”) to United States (http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/rankings/crudebycountry.htm). That is alot of oil being imported to United States. Not to mention, that is approximately 785 bpd more than our single leading importer, Canada. I also take a note that Persian Gulf is comprised of more than 3 or 4 countries, which may contribute to why the gpd of Persian Gulf is higher than Canada. However, it should also be noted that the instability of the Persian Gulf region is troublesome to the United States. Former President Carter recognized the crisis country’s increasingly usage of Persian Gulf oil in the 80’s, and at the same time the region was unstable (still is to this day). Given our increasingly oil comsumpation and unstability of the region, we cannot deny that these two reasons are why the government of U.S. feels is concerned about what is “happening” in that region. Not because they are killing each others, but because their leaders could literally decide “ok, let’s screw America and cut them off”.
They might be depending on us economically, but they can live with that… but can Americans live with that? I highly doubt even when we have the resources here at home.
Canada has a population of 30 million while the U.S. has 300 million. So, the US requires more resources.
The instability that worries the US is because it causes more problems in Europe than in the United States. They pay $6 a gallon while US pays around $3.20 a gallon.
It is false to say that we are more dependent on Persian Gulf countries for their oil. It is the other way around. Why? We have the multitude of resources to fall back on. Plus, we have enough oil on the U.S.for our own to sustain us while we improve better alternative energies and better products that uses energy efficiently.
“the instability that worries the US is because it causes moe problems in Europe than in the United States”… can you paraphrase or elaborate what do you mean by that because it sounds vague. Are you suggesting that we are worried about the instability in the region because our “allies” rely on them nearly twice more? I think I know where this is leading to… but do elaborate what do you mean…
“it is false to say that…” that is another subject I would like to respond… You are rigth, we are improving “better alternatives energies”… but for how long?
Currently, we are losing competition edge in technology and the likes because majority of scientific investors are foreign born legal immigrants on H-1B (”work visa”) status. Those immigrants have been responsible for many advance technologies in this country, however, many of them are driven out of the country because the Government quota on how many H-1B are given annually (i believe the quota lies in percentage of 7). The Senate recently passed a resolution that would extend the number of quota, but it is still a problem. Basically, there is no secret that it takes figuratively forever for even brilliant and smartest foreign born scientific investors to become US citizen (which many of them wanted to stay). Additionally, those H1-B must employed at federal-sponsored workplace (usually at University labs). So, private companies are out of luck with them. Lastly, many countries are starting to catch up with our graduate-level and doctorate-level programs, which meaning we could lose those foreign-born scientific investors. Hence, we will lose our “advanced technology country” status as we enjoyed if we continue at this trend.
So, the “alternative energies” might end up pricey or whatsoever.. one way or other, we will still be depending on Persian Gulf oil.
My response is a bit too lengthy, so I decided to put together a blog. :-)
http://teej42.com/blog/?p=5 - “The Israel Question”
your response completely ignores what its like to be occupied and oppressed. Im going to specifically respond to your choice to claim the Catholic/Protestant conflict in N. Ireland is as simple as poor people misplacing blame. The Catholics of the North were denied the same rights as the Protestants, the British military and the UDF would march through their ghettos, until the 70s Catholics were denied voting rights. Political prisoners were denied political prisoner status (see the hunger strikes of 1981 for more on that). The “Catholic” fight in N. Ireland is a fight against oppression. They have pushed for a working class alliance, but unfortunately the Protestant working class hasn’t come through on that yet.
the details in palestine and other occupied lands are different, but the general concept of being pushed from home and then oppressed is similiar.
It is all well and good to talk about oppression, but while there are still middle east countries who deny Israel’s right to exist, and would like nothing better than to see all Jews pushed into the sea, how can we even talk about peace? Israelis want peace. They did not want a wall, but could not come up with any other way to stop terrorists from going into heavily populated civilian areas and blowing themselves up.
Exactly. And what did UN do when Israel was forced to protect herself with this wall? The UN condemned Israel for erecting the wall. Guess what? Ever since the wall went up, it saved countless lives…on both sides. And before you start whining about Israel’s wall, let’s also not forget that Egypt has built the southern side (face Sinai) of the wall to keep the Islamic terrorists out of Egypt
And what did Reagan say about the Berlin wall?
The wall in Israel is no Berlin wall. Sorry. It prevents or makes really hard for terrorists to walk across the border unimpedded with a bomb strapped to their vest. Palestinians and Israelis are free to come and go at key entry points along the wall. The Berlin wall KEPT PEOPLE INSIDE and from freely moving about to west Germany.
The wall has already saved countless lives….on both sides. Let me put down this link the second time. Don’t let your Jewish phobia stop you from reading this.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrar.....fence.html
The Irish both in NI and the Republic sympathize with the Palestines.
When I lived in Ireland 01-02 people were basically sick of NI issues and want to move on. unfortunately the media concentrated on the negative aspects - the core groups for or against NI and the hardline protestants (with their paramilitaries) wouldn’t budge letting the catholic move without the IRA decommisioning. It’s becoming slowly positive lest bumpy since Sinn Fein (political arm of IRA) attained a number of seats. Let’s hope it’s the same for Hezbollahs in Lebannon in the near future. Both Hezbollah and Israelis aren’t budging and not coming through on peaceful means.
A repeat here from an earlier posting but makes the point clearly.
“Besides not acting lik