Ted Koppel in 'NYT': Iraq for U.S. Is 'About the Oil'

Editor & Publisher ^ | 02/24/2006

[GeneD]

In a surprisingly strong Op Ed on Friday, Ted Koppel, the former "Nightline" host who is now an occasional columnist for The New York Times, argues that when it comes right down to it, the U.S. adventure in Iraq is, as some charge, "about the oil."

He likened the situation to H.L. Mencken's statement that when someone says something is "not about the money" it is indeed "about the money." The same is true in this case relating to oil.

While it's wrong to say that we invaded the country to take over its oil supply, Koppel writes in the Times, "the construction of American military bases inside Iraq, bases that can be maintained long after the bulk of our military forces are ultimately withdrawn, will serve to replace the bases that the United States has lost in Saudi Arabia. There may be other national security reasons that the United States cannot now precipitously withdraw its forces from Iraq, including the danger that the country would become a regional terrorist base; but none is greater than forestalling the ensuing power vacuum and regional instability, and the impact this would have on oil production....

"Perhaps the day will come when the United States is no longer addicted to imported oil; but that day is still many years off. For now, the reason for America's rapt attention to the security of the Persian Gulf is what it has always been. It's about the oil."

Noting arguments for many years about the importance of oil to our economy, Koppel observes, "If those considerations did not enter into the Bush administration's calculations when the president ordered the invasion of Iraq in 2003, it would have been the first time in more than 50 years that the uninterrupted flow of Persian Gulf oil was not a central element of American foreign policy."

[GeneD]

See what you miss when you don't have Times Select?

[abb]

Ted Koppel? Didn't he used to be big in television? Or did the pictures just get small?

[Fintan]

 

[Just mythoughts]

Who was in control of that oil before we set it to be free on the open market?

Wasn't it the UN, and that Oil for rotten Food profiteers?

Teddy Teddy you are not filling in all the blanks, and yes Russia and France are still ticked about alllll that Oil for rotten Food contracts they lost out on.

[Thermalseeker]

Ted is partly right. The war in Iraq is partly about oil, or, more specifically, the free flow thereof. Oil is the lynch pin that binds our economy together. Since there is no other viable energy source to replace it (yet), without oil we would be back to the horse and buggy days. I wonder if Mr. Koppel would prefer to go back to riding a horse instead of driving his SUV?

[Red Badger]

If Iraq is about the oil, then Korea must be about the rice.......

[G.Mason]

" ... Ted Koppel, the former "Nightline" host who is ..." still trying to be relevant.

[angkor]

So what, Ted. It's our oil, regardless of the coincidence that a culture of ignorant, 7th century primitives sit on top of it.

[an amused spectator]

See what you miss when you don't have Times Select?

LOL! I haven't read a Times Select article since they came out, and I can feel my mind withering... NOT

I've got a concept: Would that Teddy "Bad Hair Lifetime" Koppel devote his massive brainpower to a like expose of the taxation structure in the United States.

I won't hold my breath. ;-)

[TexGuy]

If Iraq is about the oil, then Korea must be about the rice.......

And WWI & WWII was about the Brie!

[harpu]

And Koppel wonders why they retired him from ABC!?!

[BadAndy]

"He likened the situation to H.L. Mencken's statement that when someone says something is "not about the money" it is indeed "about the money."

It's not about Ted Koppel being a schmuck.

[ThirstyMan]

I feel that the invasion of Iraq was precipitated by the WOT and the threat of Saddam to world stability.

Now that includes oil for sure, but our safety and the future of the free remains the #1 reason we went there. Ted is mouthing the liberal wacko's war cry of the years.

I've heard this from my hippie friends for ever! ...as if oil being available in a steady flow at a reasonable price was this huge bogey man.

To the ultra liberal, all one must say is "Oil" to summarize all that is wrong with America.

[joebuck]

Uhhhhhh, Ted....have you ever looked at a map? Anyone with even a ounce of knowledge of military history needs only to glance at a map to recognize the geographic strategic value of Iraq as a base of operations in the middle east. Even if it didn't have a drop of oil, Iraq is easily the most obvious place one would want to establislh a presence to fight the war against extremist islamists.

[carumba]

Now don't start comparing him to Mr. Ed.

[Bommer]

, "If those considerations did not enter into the Bush administration's calculations when the president ordered the invasion of Iraq in 2003, it would have been the first time in more than 50 years that the uninterrupted flow of Persian Gulf oil was not a central element of American foreign policy." BINGO Ted! Its alwasys been about the oil! It was about the oil when we started the Cold War! And when we went to Vietnam! It was about the oil in Granada! It was about the oil in Bosnia! Yes nothing but oil oil oil for the last 50 years!

[Puppage]

the U.S. adventure in Iraq is, as some charge, "about the oil

If that were the case, we could have saved a fortune on airfare & invaded Canada or Mexico.

[in hoc signo vinces]

Sure...it's about a the oil, Ted. And about a million other things that apparently don't suit your agenda in this Op-Ed piece in a DNC propaganda rag.

Anyone with an IG above a ham sandwich can see through Koppel's BS.

[in hoc signo vinces]

ooppp...that's IQ...hahahahaha...mine isnt so high without a cup of coffee in the morning.

[Rummyfan]

Ted Koppel? The Hairpiece? Times Select - saving us from accidentally stumbling across their great editorials!

[an amused spectator]

Media Schadenfreude alert.

GeneD shows us what we're missing when we don't have Times Select. I would read it myself, but I've got to clean the sink fixtures in the bathroom...

[DManA]

Oil is the foundation of everything we have and supports everything we hold dear. Guess Ted thinks he's so rich he'd be immune to the economic cataclysm that would occur if the free market in oil was obliterated. Either that or he is a total idiot.

[an amused spectator]

Sure...it's about a the oil, Ted. And about a million other things that apparently don't suit your agenda in this Op-Ed piece in a DNC propaganda rag.

Oh, sure - you FReepers can SAY mean things about Ted, but you don't have your own special editorial Web page that nobody can get to, and nobody reads. Take that, mean FReeper!

;-)

[grobdriver]

Hey ted - if it's about the oil, then WHY THE HELL AM I STILL PAYING OVER TWO DOLLARS A GALLON?
Idiot.

[anonymoussierra]

Idiot

[an amused spectator]

Hey ted - if it's about the oil, then WHY THE HELL AM I STILL PAYING OVER TWO DOLLARS A GALLON?

Koppel's reply:

If you're paying 2.50 a gallon for gas, gd, then Halliburton is making 2.75 on that gallon (the other quarter is a government subsidy). ;-)

[Peach]

LOL. Anonymoussierra - you are in fine form this morning!

[in hoc signo vinces]

Only the irrational claim observation of the "obvious" to be mean...and it would seem these comments in FR are read by some.

:-)

[Rummyfan]

And what if it is about oil? Isn't ensuring the oil supply good for everybody? It's what makes the world go round after all.

Never mind the added benefits of the removal of the Hussein family psychopaths, who would have ruled Iraq for another hundred years at least, the shutting-down of a terrorist safe haven, and the freeing of 25 million poeple. But no, it's all about the oil! GMAB!

[in hoc signo vinces]

that's right...cuz it's really Haliburton execs that run this country...uh, huh.

[Rummyfan]

Either that or he is a total idiot.

I vote for total idiot!

[anonymoussierra]

This person is.... thank you (*Peach*)

[PeaRidge]

What he didn't emphasize is that literally the entire industrialized world is dependent upon the free flow of oil.

Some of those that supply it can, will, and do use it as a weapon instead of a commodity.

Our presence in the Middle East is for the same reason as other nations for centuries--to keep the region stable enough so that free trade can exist, and world markets can decide on production, prices, and directional flow, rather than some unreliable governments.

Koppel should know that world stability hangs in the balance, not some short-sighted profit motive on the part of Americans.

[Renegade]

Your probably paying over $2.50 /gal. because the oil companies hired merceneries to blow up a pipeline somewhere and paid them a few million to do it . Because of that little incident ,the futures market spikes and the oil companies make ten fold profit in a short period of time . This idea just occured to me this morning ,and to tell you the truth it might actually be happening in the Mideast. Makes a great idea for a novel.

[N. Theknow]

Must have missed the oil tankers ramming the World Trade Center towers, embassies, USS Cole, World Trade Center parking garage, etc., etc., etc.

[angkor]

you don't have your own special editorial Web page that nobody can get to, and nobody reads.

Just think of how deprived we've been recently of MoDo screeds and Catherine Zeta-Jones photos.

[an amused spectator]

Maybe we'll have to make up another rule for posting CZJ eyecandy. ;-)

[weegee]

Big in television? No. More people would rather buy a Best of Carson/Leno/Letterman DVD than a Best of Ted Koppel disc.

He was a clean cut talking head who shoveled the propaganda. People tuned in every night to see what the new "line" being spun was.

BUT don't forget that he supports the troops. < /sarcasm >

The dinosaur media is dying off.

[weegee]

Ted should defend his opposition to arctic drilling if he is going to bitch slap the US for importing crude.

[weegee]

The left likes to say that the Islamonazis are uppity because of Israel and imperial US policies in the Middle East.

What did the US have to do with the construction of thousand year old Buddhist statues that the Taliban blew up a few months before the 9-11 attacks?

Why can't Islamonazis get along with Hindus and Buddhists? It's not all a Judeo-Christian "conspiracy". They are intolerant supremacists.

[weegee]

How long are people invested in futures? Years in advance? It would seem to me that there comes a point at which the "futures" they are trading on are at the new elevated price.

Short term potential for massive profit (over what gas was selling for a year or 2 ago) but a constant price of $2.50 a gallon would seem to eliminate that differential.

[angkor]

Maybe we'll have to make up another rule for posting CZJ eyecandy. ;-)

Perhaps some of the Aussie papers are running stories about MoDo's book tour Down Under, which I believe is this week.

I'll take a look.

[Renegade]

You miss my point . The news this morning was that there was a refinery blown up in Saudi Arabia . It WASN'T blown up . Attack was was attempted and terrorists were killed BUT the price of light crude spiked $2.00/ barrel ANYWAY. NOW how long will it take the $2.00 increase to decline to yesterday's price ?

[weegee]

Right. I can see your point.

Your post just jogged my mind to a discussion I heard on talk radio last week explaining the oil company profits, that's all.

Yes there are a lot of people manipulating the price for reasons that have nothing to do in shortages of supply. I saw the same thing with the stock market in the tech industry (gain/loss in share price for reasons that nothing to do with the company, the industry, or the economy). But money in the markets is not made on performance, it is made on trading to someone else.

[John Lenin]

Only a simpleton would reduce Iraq to one issue, oil. There are at least 3 major issues besides oil why we are there.

Iran
Unstable Pakistan
The World Economy

[JeffersonRepublic.com]

"If Iraq is about the oil, then Korea must be about the rice......."

You must be blind! Korea doesn't have oil, and nor will we be invading them. No oil, no war.

[Red Badger]

I was speaking of South Korea, and how we've been there for over 50 years...............

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Good: please bring on $0.25/gal prices NOW.

[jimfree]

Ted Koppel is just about the hair.

[Renegade]

Here's a snipit from today's news :

Crude oil futures spiked more than $2 a barrel amid FEARS militants would again target the vital industry. Light sweet crude for April delivery surged as high as $63.25 a barrel before settling at $62.91, an increase of $2.37 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude futures for April delivery jumped $2.06 to $62.60 on London's ICE Futures exchange.

See, it's AMID fears which means it didn't happen yet , so let's raise the price anyway !