Buckley Throws In the Towel

Re: [spiers] Buckley Throws In the Towel

Hi John,

Near the bottom of the email where you said that the US pays the
hightest price in the world for oil (and everything else). How are you
figuring this? Let me take a quick crack at it- It's not only the
price tag that matters, but also other expenditures need to be worked
into the costs like:

- cost of military/foreign policy abroad (e.g.- the Iraq example to
ensure oil resources?)
- costs of subsidies that we ultimately pay for in taxes

Actually, i'll stop right there. Maybe i can sum it up saying that
maybe you're counting the extra taxes and interest we're all paying to
subsidize gov't expenditures that are supposed to help. (Who these are
helping might be a different question altogther. ;))

Could you elaborate or correct my mistakes?

Thanks!

excerpt:
"The bottom line will be economics, and since the USA pays the highest
price in the world for oil (and everything else) the Moslems will
wonder how come they have to sell to China cheap when USA will pay
more."



--- John Spiers wrote:

> Folks,
>
> Bill Buckley concedes USA defeat in Iraq (his words):
>
> http://tinyurl.com/pt4oe
>
> But he does not concede he was wrong. Nonetheless, since the top
> conservative thinker has
> spoken, all the underling thinkers will scramble to say they were
> always against the war,
> assign blame, etc.
>
> When USA lost the war in Vietnam, US prestige dropped, trade patterns
> changed, Soviet
> Union's prestige heightened.
>
> Emboldened, Soviets invaded Afghanistan, China invaded Vietnam,
> Vietnam invaded
> Cambodia, all self-inflicted disasters and a waste of newly-won
> prestige on the part of the
> winners.
>
> On the other hand, Americans retreated into disco... Pres. Carter
> lead the way to massive new
> freedoms for US citizens (deregulation in transportation, common
> carriers,
> telecommunications, beer making and other fields). Our puppets fell
> like dominoes... the
> Shah in Iran, Duvalier in Haiti, Torrijos in Panama, Somoza in
> Nicaragua, Marcos in the
> Philippines... and many others, a rather nasty lot. Not that
> elements in the US government
> did not getting busy coming up with new puppets; Saddam Hussein,
> Osama bin Laden, and
> other bad boys were created, trained and supported by USA. The
> Hamiltonians were down, but not out.
>
> In Iraq, all of the anger in the Moslem world was focussed on USA.
> About a fifth of China's
> territory is populated by Moslems. China shares a common border with
> Afghanistan. China
> wants oil. That USA would invade Iraq was a dream come true for the
> Chinese... Moslem
> unrest in China would be directed against USA, Moslem friendship
> would direct oil towards
> China. Peace and prosperity for China, USA bogged down in an
> unwinnable war, USA
> transferring technology to China, China paying for it with US dollars
> gained by selling us
> video game players. And our government gets busy searching our
> luggage. For China, USA
> policy could not be better.
>
> I believe one reason USA has not been attacked again since 9-11 is
> simply because the
> Chinese are workng very hard to prevent it. Although bringing down
> our financial
> infrastructure by destroying the internet, or a repeat of 9-11, or
> WMD smuggled into our
> ports are all very easy options, none has happened. Another attack
> on USA would cost China
> far more than USA. Whatever China can do worldwide to prevent an
> attack on USA, I imagine
> China is doing.
>
> In the meantime, China is making friends wherever it can, especially
> any place with oil...
>
> http://tinyurl.com/nlml9
>
> And since the Chinese were against the US invasion of Iraq, their
> prestige is heightening.
>
> The best possible scenario is when we high-tail it out of Iraq, the
> Chinese make the mistake
> of moving in. The bottom line will be economics, and since the USA
> pays the highest price in
> the world for oil (and everything else) the Moslems will wonder how
> come they have to sell to
> China cheap when USA will pay more. Could cause some consternation.
>
> And where we have withdrawn things improve, as in the Balkans, where
> what was recently a
> hotbed of inter-religious terrorist violence is now a hotbed of
> interreligious, well... hotbeds.
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4746082.stm (Doesn't she look like
> Jodie Foster?)
>
> So, anyone know a good disco ball designer?
>
> John

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