How High Will Oil Prices Go?
So the price of oil has reached an all time high @ $73/barrel and Iran said it should go up even more, prob $100. Pres Chavez of Venezuela blames this rise on the standoff between the US and Iran on the nuclear tension, and rightly so as the market has reacted to it.The question is what should we do with Iran? Continue to confront it and risk seeing oil prices soar as it may reduce oil supply which it has threatened to do so? Or let them continue with their nuclear program and see oil prices stabilize or even drop?
The long term solution is to be less oil dependent but that's at least 5-10 years away. It's also easy for Pres Bush to take a tough stance on Iran since high oil prices do not effect him as much as the avg Americans cuz he's quite wealthy. I'm not against the administration, I'm just saying that decisions that do not affect your pocket is easier than decisions that do.
posted by Mercy Now @ 8:45 AM
5 Comments:
What can we do? I'm personally riding my bike partway to work most days now that it's nice. Helps me with my gut, too!
I think there are legit concerns about Iran due to its support for Hezbollah and its stance on the destruction of Israel. Secondly, the region will become more unstable if Iran acquires nuclear weapon. This will then mean that other states such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan will acquire them as well in self defense. We have seen this with India and Pakistan. Iran has also signed the non-proliferation treaty but it's backtracking on it just as Sadaam did.
Will Iran use nukes on us or Israel? Prob not since it knows Israel will retaliate and so will we. Iran wants nukes to show it has regional power and that it cannot be invaded as Iraq and Afghanistan were. I think it does have a legit concern b/c our troops are on both sides of it just as Syria is concern for the same reason. This is why Syria and Iran are not shutting down their borders so that jihadists and others can disrupt our presence there.
Just as we don't want Iran to have troops in Canada and Mexico, Iran is doing the same. The outrageous comments by Iran's President is to provoke us so that Iran can use our provocation to defend itself.
Should Iran have nukes? My personal answer is no and its the same with India, Pakistan, Russia, China and even us. If I was an Iranian, would I want nukes to prevent the Soviet, China, or the U.S. from invading my country? Yes if that's what it takes.
So now we have Iran thinking we are the big bad wolf and we are thinking the same about them, a clash of cultures.
my political thoughts are pretty skewed... i think we need to all spend a bit more time investing in the hurting people of the world, namely Africa (yes, i'm biased) and quit letting our own lives be dictated by what is or isn't in our bank accounts. Gas in America is cheaper than any other country in the world and yet we complain because the soccer mom or executive who drives a Hummer has to pay $75 to fill up their tanks. Buy a hybrid, quit complaining...
Agreed. I think the cheap oil in the past has put us heavily dependent on it rather than searching for our own alternatives. As prices keep going up, then more pressure will force the auto makers to come up with engines using alternative source. I can't stand Hummers. I can see if it's used in construction but I can't stand it when I see one person driving it. Yes, this is freedom but we should be socially responsible as well.
I think there is sufficient evidence to suggest that Iran would be a stabiizing influence if they achieved nuclear weapons. Witness how relations between India and Pakistan have thawed since they engaged in testing.
With both Israel and Iran possessing nukes they each will want to make sure that they don't overly antagonize the other. This balancing act will force the neighbors to attach to one side or the other.
At first glance you may think that all of the Arab nations would align with Iran, but I don't think that is clear. Iran has been the bully of the neighborhood for 1000 years, and they are Anglo, not Arab, so there is some additional mistrust due to racial differences.
The outcome isn't assured, but I think that there are some benefits that are not being discussed in MSM at all.
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