Evangelical Christians and the “War on Terrorism”

It is bad to be judged by God. It is much worse to be judged by God and not have sufficient discernment to perceive that it is happening to you. I believe that America is in the latter situation today.

In 1973, the Arab-Moslem nations attacked Israel with the hope of annihilating her. They almost succeeded. Israel was in desperate need of supplies after the war wore on for a few weeks. President Nixon decided to send necessary supplies to Israel and, as a result, she was able to turn back her attackers and prevail. The Arab-Moslem nations blamed America for their defeat and their inability to annihilate Israel. As a consequence of this defeat, the oil-producing Arab-Moslem nations initiated an oil embargo against the U.S. Many of us remember the long gas lines that we endured at that time. Fortunately for me, I owned a small VW “bug” and got by better than most.

I remember a newspaper picture from that era: the King of Saudi Arabia, who was attending an Arab Summit in North Africa following the War, was pointing his antique rifle westward toward America. His gesture was symbolic: it conveyed his intentions of waging war on America. Oil prices increased by over an order of magnitude from between $1-$2 per barrel to $30-$40 per barrel. Now, over 30 years later the Saudis must be surprised and delighted at their success in this war.

Means of Combating Oil used as a Weapon

1. Conservation: One obvious way of combating the use of oil as a weapon is conservation. President Carter used his position as President to emphasize the importance of conservation. He suggested lowering the thermostats in the Winter and raising them in the Summer. He was ridiculed for his efforts. Following the Carter years, Americans have demanded larger and larger vehicles. Now, we have a plague of SUVs on the road that you can not see through or around if you are driving a regular-sized car. These vehicles demand an ever increasing quantity of gasoline and we all are paying the price.

2. Nuclear Energy: In the decades leading up to the oil embargo, American energy policy was to increase the use of nuclear power to relieve the demand for foreign oil. Nuclear power is ideal for base loading the power grid. This was the policy at a time when oil was very cheap. I worked in the power industry as a nuclear engineer for a number of years during this era. Then came Three-Mile Island. Even before the accident at the Three-Mile Island plant, regulatory pressure was increasing the cost of nuclear plants to the point that they were only marginally feasible. The outcry that came after the accident caused the nuclear program to be scrapped. This outcry was irrational. No one but investors was seriously impacted by the Three-Mile Island accident. To my knowledge, no new nuclear plants have been built since this accident.

3. Domestic Production: The U.S. has ample reserves both in oil and coal. However, the cost of oil production is considerably less in Arab-Moslem states than it is here. Whenever prices rise as they are currently (~$50 per barrel) domestic production becomes economically feasible. If there were significant capital applied to this production to begin to impact supply, the Saudis would simply lower the price of oil until domestic production became a losing endeavor. I traveled to west Texas for a few years to conduct Tzemach Institute classes there. This was in the heart of the Permean Basin fields. The oil industry was dead there. I saw huge equipment yards full of rusting equipment. With invested capital in domestic production lost, supply once again would be controlled by the Saudis and then the price would be raised again=

Now three decades after the Saudis declared war on the U.S., we have utterly failed to recognize the threat and we continue to jump at their demands. President Bush is currently pushing the “Road Map” plan which is just the Saudi plan which they proposed somewhat earlier in Beirut at an Arab Summit meeting. That plan is now being pursued by the U.S., Russia, the U.N. and Europe so it has the air of international credibility. Through this plan, Israel is being forced into an indefensible position. Of course, this was the original intent of the Saudis who proposed it. By pursuing this plan, the Bible promises a severe judgment on the U.S. (Joel 3:2).

Great leadership inspires short-term discipline in order to gain real long-term benefits. Such leadership is evident when we consider men like Winston Churchill in Great Britain during WWII. The U.S. has simply lacked such leadership in the past three decades. President Carter attempted to inspire efforts of conservation but failed. Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have simply failed without attempting to provide definitive leadership in this area. Their motto has been and is, “let the good times roll” or as a country journalist that I remember from years ago said, “let’s feed the alligator and hope that he eats us last” Perhaps the American people are so committed to a lifestyle of sin =that leadership is impossible. Whatever the case, nothing has been done while America sells herself into bondage. Trillions of dollars have been transferred into Saudi control over the past three decades (please see my article “Conspiracy... or just Business?” in the June-July 2001 edition of the Tzemach Letter) This money has not been mov.ed to some giant vault in the Arabian Peninsula. It has been re-invested in America to gain control of banks, real estate and media. In addition, it has funded thousands of mosques which are now preaching the radical Wahabi interpretation of Jihadic Islam =

Meanwhile, Americans can not believe that Arab Moslems really mean to wage war against the U.S. – American leadership is so weak that it doesn’t even address the issue. It even speaks of Islam as a “peaceful” religion while opening the door for our sworn enemies to flood into the Country.

The Bible declares that the wages of sin is death. In addition, I have observed this simple truth: sin makes you stupid. We received a clear warning sign over 30 years ago of the intention of the Saudis. We, as a Nation, have refused to acknowledge their continual, mostly economic attacks. As a result, we have been selling ourselves into bondage. Now, we are acting as their agent in attempting to destroy Israel. God certainly will have something to say about this.