On Dec 14, 2009, at 3:03 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> These were remarks from no more than five years ago and were clearly
> meant to describe the current situation (as the reference to
> renewable energy suggests).
The "profits beyond the dreams of avarice" and "stupendous source of strategic power" quotes come from the late 1940s or early 1950s. He quotes them all the time. And to say that the U.S. would have the same interest in the Middle East if we converted to renewable energy seems almost parodically rigid.
> "That U.S. oil companies did rather poorly in the recent round of
> auctions in Iraq" -- even if that should remain the case -- doesn't
> say much about his central affirmation, that "the critical issue is
> control, not access."
How does the U.S. "control" Middle Eastern oil? As I've said here a million times, if it wanted to shut off supplies to, say, China, it'd be much easier to blockade China than try to exercise "control" of the Persian Gulf. There's no button in Baghdad or Riyadh that can shut off the flow to China. And trying to shut down ME oil would throw the world economy into a tailspin.
Doug