European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 8, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday March 8, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary William f. Buckle president should seek saudi Oil Deal now Over the weekend an editorial writer expressing reservations about the longevity of saudi gratitude wrote that Oil prices will not Rise significantly a for a year or so a the writer tacitly acknowledges that How much we pay for Oil is pretty much a decision of the government of saudi Arabia. This is generally con. Ceded. A a a a a a if the saudis who Are pumping More than 8.1 million barrels a crude per Day continue to increase production up to the 10 million barrels they Are capable of bringing up Oil prices will be at the Price set by the free Market. Production might revert to the pre crisis 5 million in which event there would be Only a slight Rise consistent with increased consumption and the need to get iraqi and kuwaiti Oil moving again. If production were reduced further intending to extort a higher Price it is in the Power of the saudis As the undisputed Leader of open to do this. With saudi cooperation open cannot fail without it open cannot succeed. In the past six months i have devoted this space six making the Case for an agreement with the saudis engineered by president Bush designed to look to the future. We should remind ourselves that we went to War against Iraq for More reasons than because it had committed an act of aggression against Kuwait a we Are very choosy about those aggressive wars against which we contend As any afghan will Tell you. We went to War in part to react against the Iraq invasion but primarily to stand in the Way of an invasion of saudi Arabia. Again not because such an invasion meant Geoppo Tom Wicker Lotical death for the Western world but because it was claim what Saddam Hussein intended with respect to saudi Oil. Controlling As he then would iraqi Oil kuwaiti Oil and saudi Oil Saddam Hussein would have his hands on the faucets of 43 percent of the worlds Oil that happened the Industrial democracies of the world would become economic satellites so far As we know neither Bush nor Secretary of state James Baker made a Deal with the saudis. We. Have been apprehensive throughout desert storm to demonstrate that our intentions in the area Are not self serving. This was a mistake. If we Are going to Send a half million soldiers and spend $77 billion on a military Mission it certainly ought to be self serving. But in serving ourselves wed have been serving others., it would have been quite wrong to ask the saudis to sell their Oil to the United states at $20 a barrel while making it available to other countries for $30 a barrel. Self service of that kind was not contemplated and ought not to have been. But to have asked the saudis to commit to $20 Oil for the next 10 years would have meant a would mean a a Boon to All Oil consuming countries. Not to mention a Boon to the Industrial nations that depend so much on Oil a Boon to the third world whose struggle with penury succeeds or does no to with some reference to the Cost of Energy now Bush May feel it is a gentlemanly to choose this moment to make a Deal with the saudis. But if he does no to choose this moment it will become harder and harder to do As the memory fades memory always fades it was 22 years Between our liberation of France and Frances withdrawal from nato. In the saudi imagination Mcvety Day that goes by will a minimize the american contribution magnifying the saudis contribution. Indeed the utter collapse of the iraqi military is no doubt already stimulating vain glory in coalition partners who in due course May wonder out loud whether the . Contingent was absolutely necessary. The approach should be entirely straightforward. And it should be based on the anti social aggressive character of Cartel pricing. The deposits of Oil sprinkled about the world by random geological Providence Are correctly thought of As owned by people companies and nations according to conventional arrangements. But to say that a nation can do anything it likes with the Oil it sits on is on the order of saying that we can do anything we like with the air above us. It is a fanatical Extension of the idea of private property to extend that franchise to the right to deny others Access on free Market terms to those deposits. Oliver Wendell Holmes once defined a fanatic As a House owner who extends the undisputed sovereignty Over the air immediately above his House to a Shaft of air extending into the heavens such As to deny a child s Kite the right to soar Over the air above that House. In this sense Oil is properly deemed a social Universal resource like Canadian water or the Gulf Stream. Having made the Public Point that it is an act of economic aggression to Price Oil higher than the Market Price acknowledges. Bush should emerge from his in counter As defender of an important Plank of the new world order c Universal press Syndicate Bush Powell ticket for 92 not so dreamy the dream ticket that perennial fantasy of american politics is again showing a pretty face and an alluring smile. This time the dream has president Bush paired with Gen. Colin l. Powell the Black chairman of the joint chiefs of staff As his running mate in 1992. Now that Powell has directed the military to its runaway Victory in the persian Gulf War this dream ticket is even More attractive than when first proposed in 1988. Before that the last real dream ticket was conjured up in 1968 a gov. Nelson Rockefeller of new York paired with gov. Ronald Reagan of California left and right East and West the two biggest states Victory guaranteed. There were Only two problems a the two governors neither of whom wanted any part of the other or second place on the ticket. The Bush Powell entry would not have such problems since the two principals obviously Admire each other and Bush is already president. As is usually the Case with dream tickets however this one May look better in the airy precincts of imagination than in real political life. The general a presence at Bush a Side would emphasize Republican claims to greater reliability on National Security issues. A Ahe probably would lure a number of Black voters away from their Strong allegiance to the democrats his military background would reassure republicans who might be wary of supporting a conventional Black politician Powell a service in two Republican administrations should allay any lingering doubts about his political affiliation and a Wall Street journal Abc news poll showed heavy Republican support for him on the 1992 ticket. But attractive though it undoubtedly is the dream ticket has its problems a both in itself and in the practicalities of putting it together. For one thing. Bush a from the evidence of the polls a needs neither another Many a popularity nor a general a backing. A. Bush himself was commander in chief during the Gulf War and his conduct of it has left him with exceptionally High political standing to which Powell can add Little. A Bush Powell ticket might even be considered a cynical exploitation of the wars political spoils and an implicit Promise of a militaristic foreign policy. Republicans hardly need a general on their ticket to claim that they re Tough and the democrats soft on National Security they be successfully touted that line for 20 years and now can adduce As evidence the Gulf War and democratic opposition to it. The dream ticket also would give greater credence to the democrats certain charge that Bush has no interest in curing or a program to cure the nations Domestic ills. voters Are unlikely to be swayed massively by one Black on one Republican ticket against Bush a poor record on civil rights issues. / Powell campaigning As a Republican in 1992 a How much Bloom would that take off the military Rose a might win Over enough Blacks who otherwise would have voted democratic to swing a close election but a close election does no to appear to be in the cards. And republicans who care about the Black vote need a Long term party approach to serving Blacks needs and interests not one spectacular gesture of questionable sincerity. One reason dim Quayle was chosen for the Bush ticket in 1988, moreover is reported to have been that Bush was tired of being second banana in the Reagan administration and did not want a running mate of equal or greater stature. A. If so that does not augur dropping Quayle and supplanting him with the impressive Powell this time around nor can Bush want to invite the charge that his judgment was wrong in 1988. If recent history is a guide Bush a Sec Ond term vice president May Well be the party a presidential nominee in 1996. Would the powerful Republican right Wing which regards Quayle As its voice in the administration prefer Powell As a future presidential nominee. How do they know he wont turn out to be More like Dwight Eisenhower than Ronald Reagan for All these reasons dropping Quayle might be too costly to be offset by anything that even Colin Powell could add to a Bush ticket. A new York times a _
