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Compelling Insights on Oil, Iraq, the Economy & Politics

THE DEMOCRATS
If Implemented, Their Domestic & National Security Policies Would Create the "Perfect Storm" of an Economic Disaster
 
Apologies for the candor of this statement, but it is an objective truth.

OVERVIEW - THE DEMOCRAT PARTY OF 2008

Important Opening Note:

We now enter the realm of politics.  It is important for you to know that I am not a conservative or a liberal, and I object to the fact that those labels are too often used to dismiss a person's opinions regardless of their objective merit.  I am a realist, and an independent with no political affiliation.  I have no partisan ax to grind, but the dangerous and self-serving tactics and policies of the Democrat Party in this election cycle are creating a grave economic and national security threat to America. 

The object of this website is to expose the substance of issues, and you do not have to advocate a partisan agenda to reach objective conclusions about the merit or destructiveness of political policies and tactics.  It is clear that the American political system is broken, and it would be a disservice to the reader to pull any punches regarding the objective substance of the strategies and positions of the political parties. 

The Democrats on Iraq

According to numerous polls, over 60% of American voters support a withdrawal of American forces from Iraq within one year with no apparent concern for the potentially devastating consequences.  The Democrat Party has adopted the view that voter sentiments against staying in Iraq represent an opportunity for them to seize additional political power. 

Rather than attempting to educate the voters about the valid perspectives represented on this website, the Democrats have decided that it is in their political self-interest to pander and demagogue the Iraq issue to their political advantage.  Intense financial and political pressure from the extremist MoveOn.org wing of the Democrat party make it an imperative for any Democrat candidate to embrace a full withdrawal of American forces from Iraq regardless of the severe consequences. 

Therefore, Obama and Clinton both advocate a rapid withdrawal of the vast majority of American ground forces from Iraq.  However, neither candidate seems to have seriously considered the economic, military and geo-strategic effects of that policy, or has offered a sound, credible national security strategy for maintaining stability in Iraq or the greater Middle East if American ground forces depart the region. 

What is the Democrat Perspective on Iraq?

In light of the political realities above, the Democrats have developed a politically convenient position on Iraq that is grounded in reckless wishful thinking rather than sound geo-strategic and economic reality.  Unbelievably, the Democrats seem to suggest that:

  • A residual force of about 20,000 or less American soldiers and air forces in the area should be sufficient to maintain stability and avoid an explosion of chaos in the region.  They assert this despite the reality that 160,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq have struggled for years to achieve that goal. 

  • Iraq is the Iraqi's problem and they will not ever achieve political reconciliation among themselves until the USA leaves Iraq and removes their security blanket.  This assertion ignores, 1) America's huge national interests in Iraq, and 2) that security is a necessary precursor for political reconciliation, and 3)  Iraq cannot maintain its own security.  It also ignores the reality that civil war will almost certainly follow an American departure and the bloodshed  that ensues will permanently turn the Iraqis against the USA.  The regime that emerges from the bloody chaos will almost certainly be an Iranian proxy government that will be hostile to U.S. interests.
  • The overall power of America's air and naval forces should be sufficient to deter Al Qaeda and Iranian aggression in Iraq.  This ignores 1) the proven limitations of air power, 2) the fact that a USA departure would leave a huge security avoid in Iraq that would almost certainly be filled by Iran, its proxies and/or Al Qaeda, and 3) that the USA will be near powerless to prevent Iranian dominance in Iraq once USA ground forces depart the region.
  • There are no economic or geo-strategic reasons to maintain a significant ground force deterrent in Iraq against Iranian and Al Qaeda ambitions in the Middle East.  In this position the Democrats inexplicably ignore the reality that oil prices would skyrocket, and wreck the global economy if the USA leaves Iraq in chaos that could expand through the region where 2/3 of the earth's oil reserves reside.

  • Despite their endless moralizing about the loss of human life in Iraq since 2003, Democrats appear to
    • have no concern about a bloody human catastrophe that would occur in Iraq after the USA leaves, or that the bloodshed could legitimately push Iraq into a security and strategic alliance with Iran and Syria that would be a significant threat to American interests in the Middle East. 

  • Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the Democrats assert that Al Qaeda in Iraq is not a major threat to U.S. interests in the Middle East, and that it can be somehow contained in Iraq by a few special forces and air power after the USA leaves Iraq.  This nonsense ignores the fact that this exact strategy failed for years in Iraq with a much larger, in country force commitment. How can it work after the USA withdraws most of its ground forces, and 1) alienates the Iraqi government and its people by abandoning them to chaos, and 2) Iran, Syria and Al Qaeda fill the security void in Iraq ?
  • In an offering of evidence of his extreme naivete, Obama seems to suggest that removal of  the USA's ground force deterrent from the Middle East can be offset by political negotiations with Iran and our other terror adversaries in the region, and that peace can be achieved that would protect American interests.
  • At the root of this reckless thinking is the absurd notion that USA policies were at fault for 9/11, and that a change in our willingness to allow radical Islam to control the Middle East is all that is needed to achieve peace, and protect our interests.  This witless "Neville Chamberlain" thinking undoubtedly has extremists in Tehran and Waziristan loudly applauding the prospect of Obama's election.  
The Democrats - Iraq Summary

Reasonable and informed people can debate what would happen if America withdraws its troops from Iraq.  However, a national security strategy must be designed to deter the worst potential scenario, not to assume the best possible outcome as the Democrat's have done.  It is fine to hope for the best, but it is dangerously irresponsible not to prepare for the worst when the American economy and our children's futures are at stake.

Rather than choosing the responsible road of criticizing Bush's mismanagement of the Iraq conflict, and offering a credible national security strategy that would defend America's vital interests in the Middle East, the Democrats have chosen the low road of pandering and demagoguery on the most important issue of our times in a reckless quest to obtain absolute political power. 

If the Democrats secure the Presidency in November, and execute their irresponsible withdrawal from Iraq, they will expose the American economy to an oil price driven catastrophe that would wreck the financial well being of almost all Americans.  In this regard they will have become the witless strategic allies of the Islamic extremists who seek to destroy America. 

The Democrats position on Iraq is not a credible national security strategy, it is a reckless political strategy that places their quest for absolute political power above America's national security interests, and needlessly exposes Americans to an economic disaster.
  
The Democrats on Foreign Oil Dependence & Prices

The best way to understand the Democrat's position on oil is to imagine all the things you could do to increase foreign oil dependence and oil prices as follows:
  • Abandon Iraq to chaos that could end Iraqi oil exports and potentially threaten global access to Middle East oil.
  • Fantasize that any loss of Middle East oil can be immediately offset with renewable energy sources that have not been invented.
  • Oppose substantial incentives for aggressive construction of nuclear and clean coal fired power plants.
  • Oppose oil drilling in ANWR, and offshore USA.
  • End tax incentives for domestic oil drilling.
  • Increase income taxes on oil companies and thereby reduce the funds they have available to invest in new oil drilling.
  • Invest billions of dollars in "green energy" initiatives that have no chance of materially reducing the 21 million barrels of oil the USA consumes every day.
The Democrats are living in a fantasy world of their own invention on oil, and their willful ignorance of the disastrous effects of their policies is driving up the price of oil for every American, and damaging the economy to the direct economic benefit of America's global adversaries.

The Democrats on the Economy

The best way to understand the Democrat's position on the American economy is to imagine a list of the things you would do if your objective was to wreck the American economy as follows:
  • Withdraw American forces from Iraq and thereby trigger a massive increase in oil prices.
  • Leave Iraq and position America's worst enemies to threaten access to up to 2/3 of the earth's oil reserves.
  • Create a massive and costly new universal health care entitlement at the precise moment that millions of baby boomers are retiring and placing an ever increasing financial burden on the government.
  • Enact punitive new carbon taxes to drive down energy consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to fix a global warming problem that does not exist.
  • Increase Federal spending on education, and cash hand outs for the economically disadvantaged.
  • Oppose oil and gas drilling in ANWR and in offshore USA outside the Gulf of Mexico.
  • Oppose strong incentives to rapidly build new nuclear and clean coal fired power plants.
  • Enact additional new government subsidies for the production of ethanol that will further drive up the price of grain commodities.
  • In a self-serving effort to create a huge new block of grateful Democrat voters that will ensure long term Democrat political power, give a path to full citizenship and full social security, Medicare, healthcare and other government benefits to 20 million illegal aliens.
  • Squander billions on "clean energy" initiatives with no certainty they will ever produce cost effective results that can measurably reduce oil consumption or global warming.