Al-Qaeda Wants to Thank You

Some Americans must secretly cheer for Osama bin Laden and his radical Islamic brethren, especially those who like their vehicles big, flashy and decked out with all the latest accessories. Those people recently helped him realize a long-cherished goal he set almost a decade ago.

Look around at the high number of large, gas-guzzling vehicles cruising along our roads. They include assorted SUVs, mini-vans, Hummers and other large makes and models — most of them containing only the driver on any given trip and not a single other passenger despite ample seating.

Although some motorists might truly need a larger vehicle, most want them only as a status symbol. Many Americans have a sense of entitlement: If I can afford it, their reasoning goes, why shouldn’t I buy it?

The instant gratification mindset, however, conceals long-term consequences.

In a 1998 interview, bin Laden alleged that Americans “have stolen $36 trillion from Muslims” by paying artificially low costs for the oil taken from Persian Gulf nations. The actual price of a barrel of oil — which was $11 at the time — should be around $144 per barrel, Osama said. In fact, Americans owe each Muslim man, woman and child $30,000 in back payments, he said.

The price is poised to hit that $144 per barrel threshold, and it didn’t take repeated terrorist attacks on oil wells and refineries to achieve it. Between Americans’ gluttonous appetites and increased demand in China and India, the free market has pushed prices ever upward.

During an appearance before a congressional committee last spring, Anne Korin, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, said, “I would like to impress upon this committee that $144 a barrel oil will be perceived as a victory for the Jihadist movement and a reaffirmation that the economic warfare component of its campaign against the West is a resounding success.”

Well, at least we haven’t invaded a Middle Eastern nation and inflamed deep-seated cultural fears about another Western crusade against Islam, giving al-Qaeda a major recruitment tool. Oh, wait…

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, likes to tell voters that they can continue their lifestyles and everything will be OK as long as we allow oil companies to drill in environmentally sensitive U.S. coastal areas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Such drilling has been banned since 1981.

His rhetoric — which requires no sacrifice on the part of most Americans — makes for great sound bites in TV commercials, but the reality is that OCS drilling wouldn’t solve our gas crisis.

A study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration concluded that the drilling would have no impact on gas prices until 2030, and even then the impact would be “insignificant.”

The study concluded, “For the lower 48 (states), annual crude oil production in 2030 is projected to be 7 percent higher — 2.4 million barrels per day … because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.”

There’s no magic bullet that will lower gasoline prices. Americans already pay considerably less than the rest of the world, so we’re getting little sympathy from our allies.

It’s time for our citizenry to have a serious discussion about what luxuries we can do without, starting with humungous cars.

This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2008.