The Germans had a crude form of this in the 1940's. I ahve heard reports of several groups working on this and the price point of as long as oil stays at or above $40 a barrel of it being profitable. Besides the best way I can think of winning the war on terror is cutting the middle east off from money. The USA is the worlds largest holder of know coal reserves.
What strikes me now reading my post again is that the Nazis didn't have to turn a profit on their coal gasification.