"Focus Your Operations On Oil"

IN AN ARTICLE entitled Osama's Oil Obsession, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross writes: One early indication of a shift in jihadist thinking on attacking oil facilities was Rashid al-Anzi's The Laws of Targeting Petroleum-Related Interests and a Review of the Laws Pertaining to the Economic Jihad, a treatise posted online in March 2004. Anzi, a noted jihadist thinker, called the widespread availability of oil the factor that "enabled America to dominate the world," and explained how attacks on the oil supply could harm the jihadists' foes. He claimed that rising oil prices hurt industrialized countries more than others, and that they were particularly devastating to the United States, the world's largest consumer. Bin Laden came around to the same basic ideas in an audio recording entitled "Depose the Tyrants," which was released on Dec. 16, 2004. In the recording, the al Qaeda leader asserted that "the biggest reason for our enemies' control over our lands is to steal our oil." He explained that oil prices were too low, and even the trading of oil on the free market constituted a theft by Western countries. For this reason, the jihadist movement should take the situation into its own hands. "Focus your operations on [oil]," he said, "especially in Iraq and the Gulf, for that will be the death of them." Bin Laden is dead, but the attacks continue and the threat remains. We must make ourselves less vulnerable. One well-placed jihadi strike could totally destroy the economy of the West. Why? Because our entire economy rests on oil. Why? Because at the pump we have no choice. The backbone of the economy — transportation — requires oil. The Open Fuel Standard is the answer we've been looking for. Please sign up for updates at Open Fuel Standard Act and take the recommended actions. The actions don't take a lot of time, but a lot of us need to participate to make it happen. This is it! This is the opportunity we've been waiting for, and we have no time to lose. ACT! for America members, this should be your central objective until it's done — to get your representative to co-sponsor the bill. Make this your relentless war cry at every meeting. We have a year and a half to get 211 more co-sponsors. Now is the time to deny orthodox Muslims the unbelievably excessive wealth they use as a weapon against us. Let's get it done.