4
Wednesday, November 20.1974
University Daily Kansan
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPECIAL FOCUS
Talk of seizing Arab oil called reckless, immoral
Reckless talk is constant and commonplace in this town, but I don't know why somebody so enthusiastic stupid as the current banter about the United States using military force to take oil from the Arab country.
Only recently did we extricate ourselves from an Indochina debacle, where we lost more than half of the population, shattered the lives of thousands more—only to have to concede in the end that we couldn't bend a tiny third-duty power to our will. The wounds of that tragedy were so immense that supposedly intelligent people talk so brasily about a new military venture that would be far more immoral than the Vietnam intervention and carry out war risks for all mankind?
The rationale supposedly is that in raising oil prices or using a political weapon, "a few greedy potentates" have jeopardized the vital interests" of the United States
and the industrialized West. Furthermore, the new hawks argue, because oil is the lifeblood of the United States, military must go to war rather than see its lifebelt cut off.
By Carl Rowan
Marine battalions" into the Middle East and take over the Arab oil fields? That kind of madness certainly would have been guerrilla forays - oil fields blown up, tankers sunk.
The wild arrogance of this talk seems obvious, but I must make a few observations.
When half a million of our men, in concert with far more South Vietnamese soldiers, supported by the most powerful gunners, pauses in history, too close to cope with guerrillas in Indochina, what makes anyone think that we could simply send "two
pipelines destroyed, refineries wrecked—with the result that billions of barrels of oil would be available to anybody, at any price.
And why this preoccupation with talk of invading Libya or Kuwait? It our military issues we assume too much, even amount of oil we need to maintain our "vital interests," surely we'll start
closer to home and send Marines into Venezuela and Canada first.
And why suffer all the suspense of wondering whether the Soviet Union would retaliate for US support in military to take the Arab oil? The Soviet Union has probably one-sixth of the world's supply of oil, and the Soviets have been charging the same high prices that they pay for oil. The bonanza of about $8 billion so far. Why not just go all the way at once and attack the Soviet Union, taking her oil? If Russia is out of the way, seizing the oil fields would be easy pickin'.
the madness of this " military intervention" talk is obvious, the immorality is even more glaring.
What right do we have to initiate warfare so as to guarantee that we, who constitute the people of our country can go on using 30 per cent of its energy? Where do we, who have bought raw
materials from poor countries at a pittance and sold them abroad. Because of untuitant prices, suddenly assume a right to use military force to dictate the price that other countries may charge for their goods.
The would-be warriors say,
"But the oil giovers have
taken a bolder, more fully into
collapse; they are wrestling the
economy of the U.S."
There can be no denying the horrendous impact of skyrocketing oil prices on much of the world. But the perspective of truth forces us to note that Italy was in political chaos and economic shamlets long before oil prices were aware of the looming oil prices—for example, the phony financing of the Vietnam War—is to blame for U.S. economic woes.
At a press conference in the first part of January, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger proclaimed that runaway oil prices could bring on a global crisis making industrial nations unable to pay for the oil they needed.
Arabs deserve U.S. blackmail
For once, a Kissinger prophecy has held true.
Most of Western Europe, Japan and the United States are in the grasp of unstoppable
inflation and seemingly on the road to serious depression.
And part of the reason for this dire economic condition can be traced to the Arab oil embargo of last fall.
The embargo was an instigator and accelerator of the inflation that already existed in the fall of 1973.
Considering that 11 per cent of the oil used in the United States comes from the Arab countries.
At least the gloom that enveloped the country last winter helped them feel the thoughts of an extremely cold, heatless winter, an inability to travel and a total lack of related products like records.
The embargo consisted of a complete stoppage of the oil flow to the United States, Japan and most of Western Europe.
The embargo was used by the Arab oil producing nations as a means to achieve political ends.
the embargo had a drastic effect on the economy.
But the realities of a shortage of energy are still with us. In effect, the energy crisis has taken on an apparent flature of American life.
It was an inconvenience for most people and it caused gasoline and heating oil prices to rise, but its greatest impact came in the industrial sector of the economy.
The embargo caused industry to shut down some plants, which increased unemployment, and further crashed, in drastically, furthering inflation.
And the threat of another embargo is still evident. The Arabs achieved what they wanted with the first embargo and will use that method again if need be.
We shall suffer a million headaches and make as many as many sacrifices, perhaps, as sacrifice, resolved diplomatically, peacefully. But those headaches are trifling injuries in military intervention.
The threat of armed conflict in the Middle East is again on the rise. If war does occur, the United States will likely suffer reprisals in the form of oil restrictions.
Several government agencies have predicted that the United States probably will double oil consumption by 1990. And considering that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq and Libya
It was economic blackmail intended to further the Arab cause in its fight against Israel.
The conditions for ending the disengagements along the Golan Heights and Suez fronts. These were achieved in March.
But lifting the embargo changed things very little. Extremely high prices and cuts in production kept the oil situation almost exactly the same.
The Arab countries import a large amount of Western goods, especially military hardware. If the Western powers cut off the flow of these goods, the Arabs would certainly feel the effect.
For instance, the United States supplies the Arab countries with most of the fuel for jet aircraft, the supply is offloaded to the Arab would have to cooperate with the United States.
Economic blackmail isn't a desirable method to achieve the continued flow of oil, but if the United States is to continue to function as a leading economic power it might be necessary.
Contributing Writer
It would surely hasten a peaceful resolution If President Obama gives his commitment end to the irresponsible threats by asserting publicly that this country isn't going to resort to warfare to try to take anybody's
control the majority of the world's oil, the United States must take drastic steps to ensure the continued flow of Arab
Kissinger touched on this recently when he called for cooperation between the United States and the Western European countries in dealing with the Arab oil issue.
One step that should be taken is for the countries affected by the Arab oil restrictions to band together and economically blackmail the Arab oil producers.
`REPEAT AFTER ME...IN ALLAH WE TRUST...`
OIL.
Copyright 1974 Field Enterprises, Inc.
Miners battle profiteers
Last winter's "energy crisis"
rekindled interest in an energy
source most Americans hadn't
thought about for 20 years:
It throws up visions of another time generations ago: A coal wagon pulling up to the chate at a slurry mill, shoveling ashes from a dimming furnace; a grimy miner, blackened from only eight hours in the mine
higher, the United States will increasingly turn to coal.
The coal industry has clearly had a share of the "energy crisis" boom. The profits of the 10 largest coal companies were up 18 per cent for the first half of the year, up 25 per cent for 61 per cent in July over the year before and production was up 6 per cent.
At the same time, the cost of living was up 12 per cent, and a mimer's wages were up 0 per cent. The power down went a power down 4 per cent.
معلمين
miners' strike. Like all the rest of us, the miners have been hit hard by inflation, and now they have to get some of their wages back.
Despite the oldtime visions, coal is still important to America. The United States is situated on top of the world's largest coal reserve, and as the price of oil goes higher and
Safety is another big issue. The miners want the right to walk out of any mine they think it might be unsafe, or time they miss. What this amounts to is forcing the coal companies to make their notoriously unsafe mines safe. So what can we do? They have died in the mines this year.
This is the economic dimension of the current coal
cluding Kennecott Copper, Gulf Oil, Balthheim Steel and General Dynamics.
"...I'LL CALL THAT, AND RAISE YOU TWO NEW YORK BANKS, AN AUTOMOBILE FACTORY, AND A CHAIN OF NEWSPAPERS."
Arrayed against the miners are some of the biggest corporations in the country, in-
The strike is the first major challenge to industry since the mid-1960s, and it is important, it comes at a time when the giant corporations are less able to take advantage of their resources and labor.
In this context the corporations will try to get as much out of American workers as they can. The miners could show them that the workers won't stand for it.
Jim Kendell
Contributing Writer
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MAU BOWL
1949 Chicago Sun-Times
KING OF THE MOUNTAIN
FUJIM