Obama, Clinton should get real about oil

Yesterday's  $10 rise in the price of oil per barrel suggests that  one of the  biggest jobs  facing the next U.S. president will be to secure enough of the black gold to keep the economy moving.

Peak oil and the possibility of continued escalating oil prices beyong  US$138 per barrel  have not  gotten a lot of attention in the U.S. media coverage of  the contest between  Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

However, Obama gave a clue in a speech more than a year ago to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that he intends to keep U.S. troops in the part of the world that harbours the greatest oil supplies (bold-face type  added).

"These are the ways we will answer the challenge that arrived on our shores that September morning more than five years ago," Obama said,  " A 21st century military to stay on the offense, from Djibouti to Kandahar.   Global efforts to keep the world’s deadliest weapons out of the world’s most dangerous hands.   Stronger alliances to share information, pool resources, and break up terrorist networks that operate in more than eighty countries.   And a stronger push to defeat the terrorists’ message of hate with an agenda for hope around the world."

It appears from those words that Obama will continue with the Carter Doctrine.

That was declaration by  then-president Jimmy Carter in  1980: "Any  attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region would be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States....[that would] be repelled by any means necessary, including military force."  
 

Here are some other passages from Obama's speech on foreign affairs on April 23, 2007:

"Moreover, until we change our approach in Iraq, it will be increasingly difficult to refocus our efforts on the challenges in the wider region – on the conflict in the Middle East, where Hamas and Hezbollah feel emboldened and Israel’s prospects for a secure peace seem uncertain; on Iran, which has been strengthened by the war in Iraq; and on Afghanistan, where more American forces are needed to battle al Qaeda, track down Osama bin Laden, and stop that country from backsliding toward instability."  

"Burdened by Iraq, our lackluster diplomatic efforts leave a huge void.   Our interests are best served when people and governments from Jerusalem and Amman to Damascus and Tehran understand that   America will stand with our friends, work hard to build a peaceful Middle East, and refuse to cede the future of the region to those who seek perpetual conflict and instability.   Such effective diplomacy cannot be done on the cheap, nor can it be warped by an ongoing occupation of Iraq.   Instead, it will require patient, sustained effort, and the personal commitment of the President of the United States.   That is a commitment I intend to make."

 "The second way America will lead again is by building the first truly 21st century military and showing wisdom in how we deploy it.     We must maintain the strongest, best-equipped military in the world in order to defeat and deter conventional threats.   But while sustaining our technological edge will always be central to our national security, the ability to put boots on the ground will be critical in eliminating the shadowy terrorist networks we now face.   This is why our country’s greatest military asset is the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States."