Gas Prices (Part Three)

In my two earlier article on gas prices, I pointed out that the price of gasoline may not yet be high enough, since people are not doing the easiest thing possible to save money and gas which is simply to drive slower. I also put a plug in for alternative forms of transportation such as using a bus, a bike, or walking. Another action that people can take to save fuel and keep the air clean is select or change to recreation that uses less fossil fuel. For example trading in a snowmobile or ATV for cross-country skis, snow-shoes, or hiking boots. Much fuel and money could be saved by conservation. Conservation is actually a potentially significant source of additional energy.

In fact the cost of gasoline is much higher than indicated by the (now currently decreasing) numbers on the gas pump. The cost of war is also part of the cost of gasoline. The cost of the current Iraq War is now in the range of 565 billion dollars. That comes to $4,681 per household or $1,721 per person to keep the gasoline flowing to us. That doesn't include other related costs, one of which is the cost for healthcare for decades into the future for soldiers who participated in this war. Many of them will need extensive and life long care to cope with the effect the war has had on their physical and mental health. The cost of the first 1991 US attack on Iraq, an attack that killed at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians, was also part of the cost of gasoline. It's unlikely that there are any thinking and aware people remaining who, in their hearts, do not realize that this war is entirely about oil and has nothing to do with stopping terrorism or defending our freedoms, but in case there are, let me remind you of the quote from Lawrence Kolb, assistant defense secretary as the US prepared for its massive military assault on Iraq in 1991; "If Kuwait grew carrots, we wouldn't give a damn."

The cost of any future war against Iran will also be a part of the cost of gasoline.

According to a recent report from National Priorities Project (NPP at http://www.nationalpriorities.org/) " ...the U S is spending between $97 and $215 billion annually on military action to defend access to oil and gas reserves around the globe." "The report estimates the military spends up to 30 percent of its annual budget to secure access to energy resources internationally."

Reports indicate that hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have been killed and injured as a result of the US attack on Iraq, an attack done solely to steal natural resources from another country. Each one of those killed and injured Iraqi civilians was/is a family member. Killing and injuring family members is the worst kind of anti-family behavior. By initiating this war, based on a lie, and carrying it out, the Bush Administration and the US military are demonstrating their contempt for families and the sacredness of family life.

In addition the US has been using depleted uranium in these two attacks on Iraq. The number of potentially fatal tumors in children increased twelve-fold after the 1991 attack in areas where depleted uranium was used by the US military, which were mostly rural areas. In the more recent war, mostly in urban areas, much more depleted uranium has been used over a longer period of time. Depleted urnaium has a half-life of a billion years, which means that long after the US is as gone and forgotten as the ancient Assayrians, there will still be children in what is now Iraq, coming down with potentially fatal tumors as a result of what the US government and miltary is doing today. No previous dictator in human history has committed the evil of jeopardizing the lives of children whose ancient ancestors have yet to be born, but that is exactly what the US is doing today in Iraq... and it's being done just for oil. So look closely the next time you fill up your tank with gas. There is much more than simply gasoline flowing into your car. There's also the blood of children, teenagers, mothers, fathers, and grandparents, and the tragic legacy of destroyed families. Look real close and you might even see pieces of your own soul being sacrificed for gasoline. It's time to find a better way.