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An American aerospace engineer and tech author has written a book suggesting that America - and with it the rich West - should free itself from dependence on oil, as oil money is the primary driver behind jihadi extremism.
Robert Zubrin has an impressive panoply of technical credentials. His first degree was in maths and he holds an aerospace masters degree, plus another masters and a doctorate in nuclear engineering. He spent seven years working on space propulsion at Lockheed, and now runs his own company, Pioneer Astronautics, which does tech studies for the US space programme.
Interesting article. We really do need to focus on finding an alternative to oil, sooner rather than later. At least that way, the friggin' Saudis can keep their stinking oil and we will no longer be dependent on a region that despite its riches, is still stuck 2,000 years in the past.
This is the way to win the "war on terror". Either that, or nuke the whole damn Middle East.
Yeledaf that is only part of the answer though. We have been meddling in middle east politics for over half a century installing puppet Governments that served Western interests. A true assesment of what was to come should have been the Arab Oil Embargo of the 1970s & the over throw of the Shah in Iran and the establishment of a conservative Islamic state.
That was the writing on the wall and we went from the PLO at the beginning to other groups such as Hamas & Hezobollah and hundreds of splinter groups. Sadly it took 9/11 to wake up Americans that we are vunerable too and it's just not a Middle eastern thing.
Reducing our military presence in the region , getting off foreign Oil and a sound foreign policy will go a long way.
You can't stop terrorists who are willing to die but you can stop the next generation of them.
I think the only way to stop terrorism is to encourage cultural change in the Middle East. I don't think that is impossible, but it would be very hard. They are too fundamentalist for there to ever be peace. Also, the US meddles too much in Middle Eastern affairs, which further causes anger.
The reason I support Ron Paul is because he recognizes this, and wants to get out of the Middle East.
An American aerospace engineer and tech author has written a book suggesting that America - and with it the rich West - should free itself from dependence on oil, as oil money is the primary driver behind jihadi extremism.
Dare I ask what the primary driver behind American extremism is? Could it too be money?
If we eliminate our dependence on oil, our large US oil companies will go broke. Hmm, I don't think they'd like that. They want us to use oil and they don't care where it comes from our how many biospheres they drill through to get to it. That's the American way, profit without conscience. It's a pity that other countries also play that game--none better than the USA of course (we're #1).
So what's the real terrorism? The rape of the world's resources and its citizens by a select few who profit obscenely, or billions of people purposefully antagonized by each others' religion and effectively divided in hatred? The religion isn't the cause of the "terrorism". That's the excuse which allows the real horror to go unimpeded.
Most who posted want to 'stick it' to the Saudis. Why? They're only doing what America's businesses do. Is their capitalism somehow tainted and ours is teflon? Somebody's profiting while we're down here arguing about religion and cultural differences, ready to nuke countries to save...m-o-n-e-y. We're all guilty and we're all in the same boat. The resolution will only come out of this system's complete destruction for no part of it can be used in what must be built to replace it.
Last edited by mhouse2001; 12-05-2007 at 10:20 PM..
Dare I ask what the primary driver behind American extremism is? Could it too be money?
If we eliminate our dependence on oil, our large US oil companies will go broke. Hmm, I don't think they'd like that. They want us to use oil and they don't care where it comes from our how many biospheres they drill through to get to it. That's the American way, profit without conscience. It's a pity that other countries also play that game--none better than the USA of course (we're #1).
So what's the real terrorism? The rape of the world's resources and its citizens by a select few who profit obscenely, or billions of people purposefully antagonized by each others' religion and effectively divided in hatred? The religion isn't the cause of the "terrorism". That's the excuse which allows the real horror to go unimpeded.
Most who posted want to 'stick it' to the Saudis. Why? They're only doing what America's businesses do. It their capitalism somehow tainted and ours is teflon? Somebody's profiting while we're down here arguing about religion and cultural differences, ready to nuke countries to save...m-o-n-e-y. We're all guilty and we're all in the same boat. The resolution will only come out of this system's complete destruction for no part of it can be used in what must be built to replace it.
Much too much muchness, methinks.
The oil companies will simply invest in other things, as the former tobacco companies have done.
The key to the corporate mentality is profit, not product.
An American aerospace engineer and tech author has written a book suggesting that America - and with it the rich West - should free itself from dependence on oil, as oil money is the primary driver behind jihadi extremism.
Robert Zubrin has an impressive panoply of technical credentials. His first degree was in maths and he holds an aerospace masters degree, plus another masters and a doctorate in nuclear engineering. He spent seven years working on space propulsion at Lockheed, and now runs his own company, Pioneer Astronautics, which does tech studies for the US space programme.
Interesting article. We really do need to focus on finding an alternative to oil, sooner rather than later. At least that way, the friggin' Saudis can keep their stinking oil and we will no longer be dependent on a region that despite its riches, is still stuck 2,000 years in the past.
This is the way to win the "war on terror". Either that, or nuke the whole damn Middle East.
Geez, I hope you are kidding. Why would you want to kill millions of innocent people. And do you know the half life span of radiation? Also radiation has a nasty habit of not knowing borders, it travels!!!
Freeing ourselves from oil will do what exactly?? You think other countries won't pick up that oil that we left behind? Not to mention, driving up gasoline costs, heating oil, crop prices, etc. etc. in the U.S... ehhhh... no
i think he means more along the lines of being less dependent on foreign oil because one is closer to inferior the more they are dependent. dependence on foreign oil makes it harder to stand alone if needs be.
other countries would pick up that oil sure, but if we could find a way to exist without it or at least exist with a lot less of it, then it wouldn't matter much anyhow. besides, eventually, oil will run out it would be better to have something in mind before hand so not everyone is standing around scratching their heads and wondering "what do we do now?"
oil is a relatively new thing, civilizations have existed long before the automobile, so it is obvious that life wouldn't end without oil, it would just have to be a lot different than it is now.
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