2/22/12 THE REAL REASON WE ARE PAYING MORE AT THE PUMP

WAITIN' FOR SPRING

STORM SKY

Wednesday,  8:00 AM.  26 degrees, wind W, moderate with strong gusts.  We experienced a little blizzard last night that dropped 4”-5” of snow in the driveway so Buddy and I shoveled instead of taking our walk.  The roads are slippery but everything is pristine again.  The barometer predicts more of the same.
        The Press reports that 2600 folks crossed ice in the Book Across The Bay.  Attendance was down because of the mild weather.  I guess Northlanders prefer a challenge.
        The pundits are all pundifying as to why gasoline prices are skyrocketing, citing Middle East unrest, the Administration’s stalling on the Keystone Pipeline, burgeoning markets in China and India, and these are all factors of course, but I have heard none of them cite what I believe is the root of the problem; our precipitous and untimely (may I say stupid?) withdrawal of our forces from Iraq. 
        Iran is ratcheting up its threats against Israel, withdrawing oil from the European market, and stirring the pot in Syria, all of which are causing oil prices to spike.  You can bet they would be much more cautious if we had kept 120,000 crack, war-hardened troops along with air support in Iraq, capable of a blitzkrieg against the mullahs in Tehran.  Any money we may eventually save by a troop draw down in Iraq, and ditto for Afghanistan, is being drained right out of our economy and into the coffers of  OPEC through higher oil prices.  And, do you think Asaad would be shelling his own cities if he were looking down the barrels of our tanks in neighboring Iraq?  Our timidity and lack of strategic vision are causing innocent blood to run in the streets of Homs, and will soon spark a major war between Israel and Iran, which we will perforce be drawn into.  When the bully is not faced down, he rules the school yard.