United States Energy Dependency- and TERRORISM "Cheap Middle East oil turns out not to be so cheap, after all."

Abstract

The terrorist acts of September 11 in New York and Washington
were a major setback for the American way of life.
The immediate response of the President and the Congress was
that the culprits would be apprehended and retaliation would take
place. The terrorist acts were essentially acts of war against the U.S.
BUT—the United States will not be able to respond effectively—
because our way of life is dependent on energy, in particular foreign oil.
We are overly dependent on foreign oil sources (58%), as are the other
industrialized nations (Europe and Japan.) There is a positive connection
between foreign oil purchases and terrorism.
It is common knowledge that some of the oil exporting nations use
their oil revenues primarily for arms and terrorism. So in effect, the
industrialized world is actually indirectly subsidizing terrorist activities
with their oil purchases.
Until the United States can get its oil dependency down, we can
expect terrorism to continue. The recent Bush/Cheney energy propos-
als will not reduce U.S. oil dependency. At best, they will only slow its
increase.