Americans see liability in oil, so do terrorists

(Washington, D.C.): For the past 30 years – since the oil crisis of 1973 – the notion of energy self-sufficiency and issues of oil dependence have principally been viewed in either economic or environmental terms. During that time, any concern with America’s petroleum based transportation system was either because it was thought to hamstring the U.S. economy, linking it to the whims of the OPEC countries, or that it had injurious effects on the environment.

A noteworthy national study recently released by the Council on Foreign Relations and aimed at ranking Americans’ biggest foreign policy fears suggests now, however, that anxieties about energy polices are not limited to only these two.

Entitled “Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index” and published in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, the poll found that an overwhelming 90% of American’s see U.S. dependence on oil as an issue of national security. Far from narrow economic concerns, the study also found that next to improving the effectiveness of our intelligence operations, U.S. citizens believe reducing dependency is the most important step the government can take to bolster the defense and safety of the nation.

This is not to say that America’s views on oil dependence are not fundamentally motivated by economics. In fact, the poll data indicates that they very much are. Six months ago the same poll was conducted and found that oil dependence ranked fourth in the list of national security issues that most worried Americans. In the recent Index, oil dependence ranks number one, with 55% of Americans saying they “worry a lot” about oil supply for the American economy.

The reason for this increase, as asserted in Foreign Affairs – and reasonably so – is due to the significant rise in gas prices over the past six months since the first poll was taken. Not surprisingly, the interest of the American people in U.S. oil dependence is largely contingent on the price of gas, something that affects their lives directly.

Vulnerability Abroad

What is most significant here though is that American’s recognize the connection between the functioning of their economy, which depends on petroleum, and the security and defense of the nation. And this is of real import because our enemies recognize it too.

For example, last month Osama bin Laden’s terrorist group, al Qaeda, attempted an attack on the world’s largest oil processing plant in Abqaiq, Saudia Arabia. According to the Saudi government, security officials destroyed two vehicles packed with 1000 kilos of explosives after it attempted to breach a checkpoint within the Saudi Aramco Oil Company compound. The two suspects operating the vehicles, and dressed as oil officials, were killed when guards opened fire, setting off the explosives prematurely.

On an al-Qaeda website a few hours later, bin Laden’s organization claimed responsibility for the attack, declaring that the “operation is part of the campaign of operations that al-Qaeda is carrying out in the context of the larger war against the crusaders and the Jews.” A subsequent al-Qaeda communiqu? identified the attackers as Mohammed al-Ghaith and Abdullah al-Tweijri, both wanted terrorists in Saudi Arabia, and declared intentions to perpetrate future attacks on oil infrastructure throughout the country.

Where roughly 6 to 7 million barrels of oil are processed a day – an amount far more than that was lost in 1973 per day – should the terrorists have succeeded in destroying the compound, the loss of life and economic repercussions could have been far greater than those effected on September 11th.

The Bottom Line

Both the American people and our terrorist enemies recognize the profound vulnerability that is America’s dependence on foreign sources of oil. Today American’s are more concerned than ever before about the possible exploitation of their economy’s oil addiction. And as part of their war strategy, al Qaeda has willfully sought to debilitate global oil production and cripple the U.S. economy. Bin Laden has even explicitly stated that his plan is to “make America bleed profusely to the point of bankruptcy.”

Ironically, it seems that the only people who don’t quite understand the gravity of this problem are those who can do the most to solve it: the U.S. government. Nearly half of the participants in the Council on Foreign Relations poll gave the U.S. a grade of “D” or “F” in their efforts to eliminate our dependence. Yet with the use of tax cuts and other federal incentives, both Congress and the President do have the capability to begin immediately the reduction of U.S. oil consumption by implementing alternative, home-grown fuels along with vehicles that can utilize them into the U.S. economy. A piece of legislation that would do just that – The Vehicle and Fuel Choices for American Security Act – is already drafted and enjoys substantial bi-partisan support.

Although the uproar over gas prices this past week has seemed to catch the attention of our public officials, it’s time that they listen to their citizens, as well as their enemies, and take action to reduce U.S. petroleum consumption and, in effect, strengthen our national security.