You And What Army?

RedState.com ^ | 6 May 2008 | .cnI redruM

[lexusppd]

You are living in a Fairy tale if you actually believe citing a law to OPEC will somehow cause them to increase production and receive a lesser income from a resource which is their sole source of livelihood and a finite one at that.

Citing the law would have precisely the same effect on the oil producing nations as UN resolutions have/had on Iraq and Iran.

BTW, what will the answer be when the OPEC nations say if we want more oil why don't we simply open up ANWR and drill in the Gulf and off the east and west coasts of America? Then they may ask why we don't use the allegwed uncountable billions of bbls locked in shale and oil sands right here in the continental USA? I don't think they would be so open to being told we can't do that because we want to preserve the polar bear habitat and make sure beach goers are never inconvenienced by even the though of a spill to mar the pristine beaches.

[night reader]

I believe that about two middle eastern oil ministers being discreetly terminated with extreme prejudice and perhaps one minor head of state (no names, but maybe someone with the initials Hugo Chavez) and the oil spigots would be opened wide!

This is, of course, only a short term solution, as oil supplies continue to dwindle, and demand continues to soar. In the mid term, we need to develop and use alternative energy sources including fission reactors and the Kennedy Memorial Wind Farm, and work on more efficient use of what we have.

Long term, we need a crash program to develop workable fusion reactors. A culture is not truly civilized until it can provide its citizens with terra-watts for nano-cents!

[Hiddigeigei]

Even as far back as Grotius and Gentili it was recognized that “international law” (de jure belli ac pacis) depended on reciprocity and the threat of force. If there is not enough reciprocal threat a nation can safely ignore any treaty or international agreement. Nations sign international agreements all the time with no intention of fulfilling the obligations entailed (Kyoto Treaty, for example). Even the Court of International Justice rulings are ignored by countries powerful enough to do so when it is in their interest. A sovereign nation is still sovereign.

In the end, it still comes down to “You and what army?”