All Posts Tagged With: "Independence"

The Jerusalem Center For Strategic Affairs has written an outstanding analysis of Russia and the Georgian conflict. Frankly, it sounds like several of the old Marshall’s briefings starting months ago.

The phrase that resounds here at staff central is “strategic independence”. The Israelis and others have learned not to physically rely on US promises of aid. Even Mikhail Gorbachev warned a year ago not to rely on Us promises of aid.

The phrase will take corporeal existence soon, when Israel exercises its strategic independence and attacks Iran by itself.

I will include the link here : http://www.jcpa.org/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=2402&TTL=The_Russian-Georgian_War:_Implications_for_the_Middle_East

American Independence.

Ironic, how we won that a couple of centuries ago and today our economic independence is at risk, and other freedoms and aspects of independence are exposed. Political, physical and economic security, in todays global economy beyond our control, pushed on by increasing amounts of freedom in previously closed and more backward economies, empowered by one of the greatest change agents ever, the internet.

Many good things have happened in terms of freedoms. I think the US deserves credit for much of that, despite the poor use of power we have at times exhibited throughout history. On balance, we have been an agent for positive progress which we want all peoples in the world to enjoy. I believe that.

We are at risk because of becoming dependent on foreign sources of oil and our externally financed national debt.

They are related.

Half of our budget deficit, which needs foreign financing currently, is due to oil imports.

Much of our huge defense budget has always been, in my opinion, spent in order to attempt to insure the world that oil will continue to flow from the producers to world markets without interruption. We have provided confidence to world markets and to countries all across the world that they can count of being able to buy what they need to fuel their economies and serve their populations.

Oil is important to almost every one in the world. If it were cut off for any reason, the question would not be what is the outrageous cost for a barrel of oil, it would be how do we keep hundreds of millions of people from starving or freezing.

Not just in the United States. Everywhere.

So now we have helped unleash the innovation of billions of people in Asia, we now need to unleash our capabilities to maintain and serve our growing population and ensure we remain free of the yoke of someone else who has oil in the ground and is wiling to use it as a political tool

What is needed? Competition. Increased supplies, additional new sources and supplies of energy produced inside of this country.

We need to pursue all new energy sources and with due consideration for the environment, we need to tap the vast supplies of oil, gas and coal that we own and which can replace foreign sources.

energy source that is controlled significantly by foreign sources and which the growing world economies is competing for