Monday May 15, 2006

I've Been Thinking:

I am not in the habit of quoting Hugo Chavez the president of Venezuela.
Yet, from time to time, even a pariah dictator like Chavez has important insight.
Sometimes, even a despotic ruler speaks the truth.

Chavez is visiting England.
In a meeting yesterday with Kenneth Livingston, the gadfly mayor of London, Chavez said "if the United States attacks Iran ... oil could reach $100 a barrel or more."
Hugo Chavez is 100% correct.

There is little doubt that any attack on Iran - whether by land, sea or air, will have a significant deleterious short term effect on the price of oil.
And Iran is banking on this.
Iran is convinced that America's addiction to oil will dictate their foreign policy.

Iran is also, probably, 100% correct.