- According to a Los Angeles Time report, the International Red Cross is reporting that over 1,000 civilians have been killed within a three day period last week in civil war fighting in the Ivory Coast. The Ivory Coast has two factions, representing two people who think they are the country's president, fighting each other since election results were made public last November. It is unknown what side did the civilian killings.
According to the article, there are between 800,000 and 1.1 million displaced people or refugees as a result of the fighting. Despite the civilian deaths, the UN, the Arab League, European countries, NATO, and the Obama administration have not sent in military assets to protect the civilian population like they did in Libya. I do not believe the Ivory Coast is a large source of crude oil.
- An Associated Press article reported that Syrian government forces and agents have tightened security in that country, cracking down on civilians rebelling against the dictatorship of President Assad. The acts including massive arrests of protesters, according to the article. The article also reported that over the past two weeks, 80 civilians had been killed protesting Assad's rule.
Despite the civilian deaths, the UN, the Arab League, European countries, NATO, and the Obama administration have not sent in military resources to protect the civilian population like they did in Libya. I do not believe that Syria is a large source of crude oi.
- The Associated Press reported that protesters in Oman were demanding an investigation into the the abuses by state security forces that may have resulted in at least one death and possibly more of protesters. The protests have been going on for the past six weeks as protesters are trying to shake off the rule of Sultan Qaboos bin Said.
Despite the civilian deaths, the UN, the Arab League, European countries, NATO, and the Obama adminstration have not sent in military assets to protect the civilian population like they did in Libya. I do not believe that Syria is a large source of crude oil.
- Although not mentioned in yesterday's papers, news reports today indicate that the Yemen dictator and his security forces are also cracking down on freedom protesters, killing at least fifteen protesters today in addition to the scores that his security forces have already killed.
Despite these ongoing civilian deaths, the UN, the Arab League, European countries, NATO, and the Obama administration have not sent in military assets to protect the civilians like they did in Libya. I do not believe that Yemen is a large source of crude oil.
- Similar behavior has happened in Bahrain and Egypt without any repercussions like there have been in Libya. Egyptian freedom protesters were beaten and killed by Mubarak's security people but no military intervention occurred to protect civlians. Egypt is not a major oil resource.
It makes you wonder, is this really the same situation Bush found himself in, that his invasion of Iraq was all about oil like many Democrats and those on the left claimed? Is this not the same situation, where the West only deploys military assets when a country, Libya, is a major source of oil, supplying about 2% of the world's crude oil and which supplies a much higher percentage to European countries? Could this be Obama channeling Bush again, military force is used only when oil supplies are in danger?
No need to bother with those silly people in the Ivory Coast with thousands dead and possibly a million people displaced. No need to bother with those silly people in Darfur, hundreds of thousands dead and millions more displaced. No need to to bother with those Yemen civilian deaths, no oil involved.
And it is not like the whole Libyan excursion is going well either:
- The New York Times reported this weekend in the St. Petersburg Times that NATO air strikes have mistakenly killed rebels fighting against Gadhafi forces. One of the problems with the air strikes is that Gadhafi's forces are now moving in smaller groups and using civilian vehicles, making them almost indistinguishable from rebel forces, effectively neutralizing a lot of NATO's firepower.
- The President promised that U.S.military forces would be out of most of the heavy lifting and fighting by this past weekend but that deadline was extended. Thus, more U.S. forces will be involved and more expenses rung up for at least a few more days in support of this ill-fated action.
- It appears that the President has still not explained all of the questions to Congress as he should since the war making powers in the Constitution reside in Congress, not in the Obama White House.
- I still cannot find any news reports that indicate any nation within the Arab League is providing substantial military, financial, or personnel support to this effort. This could be because they really do not need the oil like the rest of the world does so no big deal if they provide only token support.
- Now Iraq's Prime Minister is getting involved. In another news article yesterday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki nailed the issue right on the head when he correctly called the military action against Gadhafi as "selective." By that he meant that foreign countries were singling out one oppressive government even though many other peaceful freedom protesters were being massacred in other countries. Specifically, "Whatever decision is made on Libya should be applied on any government that suppresses its people with iron and fire...The process should not be selective."
Well said, Mr.Prime Minister. This military action in Libya makes no sense from a logic perspective unless you include oil as a big part of the equation. What is going on in Libya is going on in many other African and Middle Eastern countries, common people finally getting a taste of freedom and wanting more, many times at the expense of their lives. Unfortunately, where you live determines whether the West steps in to protect you. Oil = protection, no oil = you are on your own.
I am not lobbying for the U.S. to intervene in all of these countries. We should not intervene in any of them, we do not have the resources, plans, patience, or the preparation to do so. You see what happened when we intervened in Iraq and Afghanistan, quagmires.
Obama's Libyan folly is no different from Bush, indicating yet again that the American political class, regardless of party, has no imagination, no creativity, no preparation, and no strategic plans in place to deal with the world's realities. This military action shows that the Obama foregin policy was just as illogical, ill planned, and unprepared as the Bush foreign policy was.
Yes, it is all about oil. And without a sane, integrated, and comprehensive energy plan in this country, we will continue to pay the high price for oil in foreign policy embarrassments, dead U.S. soldiers and wasted taxpayer wealth.
Don't believe me? Consider some recent observations by Michael Graetz of the LA Times:
"The spread of popular revolt in the Middle East to Libya has exacerbated a spike in oil prices and gasoline prices. In turn, this has stimulated widespread complaints about the lack of a coherent U.S. foreign policy toward despots in the region. The problem, however, lies in U.S. domestic policies. For 40 years, we have had no effective response to our addiction to oil. The United States has 4% of the world's population, but we consume 25% of the world's oil. Today, we import more than 50% of our oil, compared with 35% in 1973. The President recently described Libya's oppression of popular unrest as unacceptable. But so is our long-standing failure to address our inadequate domestic policies concerning oil."
Well said, Mr. Graetz
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