The suddenly precarious nature of the world’s oil markets continues to underscore the danger posed by terrorists bent on either getting the attention of the host government, in this case Nigeria, or in shaking the very foundations of the world economy. Nigeria is not a country I spend a lot of time worrying about, but all that has changed abruptly today when I learned that a terror attack has successfully shut down about 120,000 barrels a day from the world’s oil supply. Is that some earth shaking sum? Would anyone have noticed such a small reduction a year or two ago? I doubt it. But given the nature of the oil fiasco the US finds itself in: It’s pretty clear that you and I will be paying more in gas by this Friday! It also underscores a dangerous trend for the worlds terrorist groups that threats and attacks against oil fields and production facilities have a definite impact on the world economy.
Consider what would happen if other disaffected groups were to follow the example of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. I lived in San Diego from about 2001-2005 and I learned more than I care to know about groups like MS-13,( a brutal Hispanic Gang) and La Rassa, (A Fascist Hispanic Group called “ The Race”) just to name a few. Consider this offering I found on U tube from dear old la rassa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYnN4JCEaBc
Not to put too fine a point on all this but if the drug cartels and gangs who are more powerful on the southern border then either Mexico or the United States, decided to turn their considerable criminal infrastructure against the Mexican oil fields, unless we lighten up on immigration or drug enforcement, what do you suppose our brave Congress would do? If a couple of groups like this could make a credible threat against the oil fields and production in Mexico or even South America is there anything the US wouldn’t do to keep the oil flowing? We already send gobs of money to the Islamic countries who are not exactly best buddies with us and if it kept the oil flowing how could groups like this, and there are plenty more, exploit a credible threat to Oil exporting countries closer to home?
Now the fact remains that we can’t take on security tasks in Nigeria and we can’t or won’t control the border with Mexico, (Why do you suppose that is, by the way?) so we can only talk a good game with the people who control the recourse. What if control of the Mexican Oil Fields is all that makes the USA of today possible? Now if we consider threats to Canadian Oil Recourses and the surge of Islamic Immigration that Canada has seen in later years, your have the means for a small bunch of fanatics to bring down the west. We keep thinking that the Jihadists will smuggle a nuke across the Mexican border but what if they just blew up the Mexican oil industry? I guess the question I am asking myself, and the Politicians in Washington is this: Is it the case that our way of life depends of the valor and integrity of the Mexican Federal Police? Does our existence as a county depend on the politically correct Royal Canadian Mounted Police and its “sensitivity” to the Islamists in their midst?
Where are the people in our government who are going to deal with this issue as it is? How long do we have to lose before some group or another crashes the world economy because we trusted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Mexican Federal Police, and Greenpeace to secure the lifeblood of our economy?
Here are some links about the situation in Nigeria:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7467331.stm
http://www.newsmax.com/international/nigeria_oil_unrest/2008/06/21/106475.html
We need people in Congress and the White House who can get a handle on this mess we’re in. What we need right now is another Solomon who can see the path through our own folly. Just for fun consider the following a short Brush Up on the sort of leaders we should always be looking for. Does this sound like McCain or Obama?
Peace be with you.
1 Kings 3:4-94
The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 7 “Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
NIV
Last Days America 