What is war good for?
Thursday, January 1st, 2009“War—what is it good for?” is a line from a classic rock song. There aren’t too many people who can tolerate even the thought of war or conflict. But, wars have been fought for centuries, and for various reasons. Some wars have been waged in the name of religion, which we are seeing right now. Other conflicts have arisen because one man or nation wanted to control the rest of the world.
But there are times when fighting, without declarations of war, can bring about desired results. Sometimes, a mere threat of rebellion, or news of some trouble brewing between two countries, can affect a society far removed from the area of crisis. Let me explain what war is good for.
On December 17, 2008, the oil cartel OPEC agreed to cut 2.2 million barrels of oil from its daily production. It was OPEC’s single largest reduction ever. Iran, especially, was a vocal proponent of such cutbacks. When asked whether the size of the cut was enough to get oil prices up again, OPEC President Chekib Khelil said, “I hope we surprised you.” He also added, “If you’re not surprised, we need to do something about it.”
However, the oil markets did not react as OPEC had hoped. Crude oil sank to $40.20 after the announcement. The fear of world recession, and lower energy consumption, was enough to override OPEC’s reduced production, which is to be put into effect January 1, 2009.
Is it a coincidence, then, that Hamas started firing rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, within 2 weeks of OPEC’s announcement? Hamas is supported by Iran, which is part of the OPEC cartel. When OPEC saw that oil prices weren’t moved by the threats of reduced supply, it put in force the statement made by Mr. Khelil: “…we need to do something about it.” That “something” is an old tactic used time and again by Mideast countries. Make war, and threaten the supply of oil to the Western countries, and the price of oil will go up. And one of the surest ways to start a war is to fire some rockets into Israel, because Israel almost ALWAYS retaliates.
Hamas doesn’t care if Gaza citizens get killed in the process. In fact, they hope for civilian casualties, because it then emboldens other terrorist organizations, and other countries, drawing them into the conflict too. Before you know it, you’ve got fires burning all over the Mideast, and oil markets in chaos. That is exactly what war is good for!
If the United States truly wants peace in the Mideast, then perhaps we should be pumping our own oil. Then those other countries would have fewer reasons to fight. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot more violence, initiated by Iran, Lebanon, Hamas, and Hezbollah against Israel. We’ll see how this unfolds in 2009.