Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: July 7, 2008 10:51:09 AM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Oil at $144 a Barrel: Osama bin Laden's Mission,
Accomplished by George Bush
FLASHBACK: Ten Years Ago, Bin Laden Demanded Barrel Of Oil Should
Cost $144»
In a 1998 interview, Osama bin Laden — the terrorist organizer of
9/11 who still roams free — listed as one of his many grievances
against the U.S. that Americans “have stolen $36 trillion from
Muslims” by purchasing oil from Persian Gulf countries at low
prices. The real price of a barrel of oil should be $144, bin Laden
demanded.
Ten years ago today, the price of a barrel of oil was just $11.
Heading into this holiday weekend, the price of a barrel of oil
rested at $144 — a thirteen-fold increase.
One month after 9/11, the New York Times wrote of possible
“nightmare” scenarios that would deliver bin Laden’s goal. Neela
Banerjee warned that among the “misguided decisions” that would put
oil supplies at risk would be “that the United States attacks Iraq.”
The Times included this quote in its story:
“If bin Laden takes over and becomes king of Saudi Arabia, he’d turn
off the tap,” said Roger Diwan, a managing director of the Petroleum
Finance Company, a consulting firm in Washington. “He said at one
point that he wants oil to be $144 a barrel” — about six times what
it sells for now.
Bin Laden didn’t have to become king of Saudi Arabia to achieve his
goal; in fact, Bush’s policies delivered it for him. The Bush
administration’s catastrophic decision to invade Iraq, sink the
nation into debt to pay for that war, and consequently, weaken the
dollar have all caused oil prices to soar astronomically.
Testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last May, Anne
Korin, the co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global
Security, reminded Congress about bin Laden’s goal:
[A]bout ten years ago, Osama bin Laden stated that his target price
for oil is $144 a barrel and that the American people, who allegedly
robbed the Muslim people of their oil, owe each Muslim man, woman,
and child $30,000 in back payments. At the time, $144 a barrel
seemed farfetched to most. […]
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. There is no need to
elaborate on the implications of such a victory in terms of loss of
U.S. prestige and our ability to prevail in the Long War of the 21st
century.
Indeed, ten years later, a mission accomplished for bin Laden.
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