To: The Dallas Morning News
Date:  May 22, 2001
Subject: Someday we'll go to war for oil
Result: published in "Cyber Letters" (where a few more people saw it than will see it on my web site)

Dear Editor,

Let's face it, the day will come when we'll be saying that we have no choice but to take over one or more other countries so that we can have their oil. Even if you open all possible areas within the United States to drilling, there is no way we will ever be able to fulfill our needs from our own resources.

When you have a country like us that uses such a large percentage of the world's total energy supply in relation to everybody else, obviously something is going to have to give somewhere. And when it does, what do you think we're going to do? Of course, when push finally does come to shove, we'll have President Bush's missile system to protect us from any "rogue nation" that may object.

I'll tell you one thing concerning oil. The last thing in the world we would ever want would be for the rest of the world, that doesn't have it now, to attain our standard of living, with the increased energy requirements for them that such development would entail. All we need is a bunch of new countries and consumers competing for the same resources that we depend on from the oil-producing countries.

Thank you, John Vehon