CINDY SHEEHAN, JIMMY CARTER AND OIL

Cindy Sheehan - and her fellow travellers on the Left - say we're fighting for oil as if it was because (and only because) oil enriches Texans.

Leftists like Cindy Sheehan seem to forget that oil is what the world economy runs on - and that the world economy is not "corporations ripping off consumers", but people making a living and trying to keep-up or improve their quality of life. Without oil, there'd be no quality of life (as we know it) and no economies worth anything, ANYWHERE! Everyone in the whole world would get poorer and everyone's quality of life would get worse. In every way.

Cindy Sheehan, and her fellow travellers on the Left, conveniently forget that it was president Carter who - in his SOTU in 1980 (ten months before the election he lost to Reagan) - who first enuciated the US policy on Persian Gulf oil, an enuciation so slear it was dubbed The Carter Doctrine. And it has been our nation's policy - in a bipartisan way (until now, that is) - ever since. Here's what Carter said:

The region which is now threatened by Soviet troops in Afghanistan is of great strategic importance: It contains more than two-thirds of the world's exportable oil. The Soviet effort to dominate Afghanistan has brought Soviet military forces to within 300 miles of the Indian Ocean and close to the Straits of Hormuz, a waterway through which most of the world's oil must flow. The Soviet Union is now attempting to consolidate a strategic position, therefore, that poses a grave threat to the free movement of Middle East oil. This situation demands careful thought, steady nerves, and resolute action, not only for this year but for many years to come. It demands collective efforts to meet this new threat to security in the Persian Gulf and in Southwest Asia. It demands the participation of all those who rely on oil from the Middle East and who are concerned with global peace and stability. And it demands consultation and close cooperation with countries in the area which might be threatened. Meeting this challenge will take national will, diplomatic and political wisdom, economic sacrifice, and, of course, military capability. We must call on the best that is in us to preserve the security of this crucial region. Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.

If Cindy were intellectually honest - and if she wasn't an anti-capitalist, anti-Semitic Left-wing wacko - then she'd admit that part of what Bush is doing in Iraq is fulfuilling the words and promises of Jimmy Carter. That's why we went to war in 1991 against Saddam; it's why we kept troops in Saudi Arabia from 1991 until last year. And it's why the region is still of vital NATIONAL SECURITY VALUE TO THE USA. So when Lefties like Cindy Sheehan say it about oil, we should say: yes, IN PART IT IS. Oil is a vital commodity and since 1980 we have justifiably defended the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf.

Ultimately, the flow of oil will be best protected when the region is stable and democratic. This - OF COURSE - cannot happen until jihadists and tyrants, who would love to use "energy blackmail" to help achieve their totalitarian aims, are vanquished. YES: When the tyrannies from Gibraltar to the Khyber Pass are vanquished then the world's oil and gas supply will be protected and the world safe.