Blood for oil? I’d give mine

I’m an American soldier. I’m willing to die for my country, my fellow countrymen and their interests. But am I willing to die for oil?

You’re damn right I am.

I just finished watching Band of Brothers (again) and the second-to-last episode is called “Why We Fight.” The American soldiers in the story don’t know why they are fighting in Europe other than the Germans are “bad” and they were told to do their job. They find out in that grueling episode how bad the Germans really were. The camp that’s discovered is a horrendous example of why we fight evil in the world. I have even shown Schindler’s List ^[1] to my children before I deployed to Iraq (they were 12 and 10 at the time). Parenting criticism aside, I wanted to show my children why Daddy had to go stop bad people from doing bad things to other people.

But I’m a professional soldier. And I know that the conflicts I have been in, and will be sent to, are about more than just stopping human atrocities. Or I would’ve been in Darfur a long time ago. And while I would bitch and moan about it, I would be happy to be there. To mete out a little justice to people who think they can do those kinds of things to other people… to the weak.

But what about protecting our interests? War is not always about righting wrongs. Sometimes it’s about resources and access to resources. I chose my team a long time ago. America (Rock, Flag and Eagle*). ^[2] I’m on America’s team. When we identify interests then I’m all-in for protecting those interests. I am willing to die to serve what my country has said is in our best interests… but I go in with the mindset that I’m trying to make the other guy die for whatever he thinks he’s doing. As General George S. Patton ^[3] so famously put it, “the object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other guy die for his.” Why am I willing to do that? Because I’m selfish. I want my children to grow up not having to suffer the evils of the Third Reich. Because I want my children to continue to enjoy the American way of life. And to do that, the American way of life must survive.

When I think back on ancient tribes fighting over a particular tract of hunting grounds or a stream or lake, I believe that the warrior lost in those endeavors died honorably serving his tribe. Oil is a natural resource. Most likely, it is the modern day’s most important resource. Yes, there is food and water, but right after that… oil. From the University of Liverpool comes a list ^[4] of some of the more common things that are made from or depend on oil (it’s from England so it’s spelled funny… they’re so cute with their rubbish bags and tyres… ha!):

Air conditioners Antiseptics Aspirin Balloons Bottles  Cameras  Candles  Car batteries Carpets

CDs Computers  Contacts  Crayons  Cream Denture adhesives  Deodorant Detergents Hearing aids

Heart valves  Pens  Perfumes Rubbish bags Running shoes Telephones  Tennis rackets Tyres

 

This list is ridiculously small and doesn’t even touch on the concept of gasoline or the worldwide infrastructure that is dependent on the gasoline-powered engine to get goods from one end of the world to the other… by sea… by land… by air.

Enter some world- or region-dominating maniac. I don’t care who he is or where he is… or what religion he is. He wants to take someone else’s oil. Or he wants to control a dominant portion of oil. Nope. Not gonna happen. With oil being such a precious resource, I don’t see how we can let anything other than stable governments control it. They can be different from the western world. They can disagree with the western world. But they cannot be hostile to the western world.

Let’s take the Persian Gulf War ^[5] as an example. If Saddam Hussein had been appeased when he took Kuwait, would he have been appeased if he took Saudi Arabia next? If he was in control of all of that oil, is it reasonable to assume that he would’ve used that newfound power against the western world? Or would he have been content with simply managing OPEC and keeping up supply according to market forces? When the rest of the world might collapse ^[6] without the availability of cheap oil, we cannot allow one guy that much power. So the western world complains and embargos and goes through all of the diplomatic machinations it has to… because it should. Diplomacy comes first. Finally, someone decides that they have had enough and they call in the soldiers. The guy just won’t be reasoned with… send in the troops. Let slip the dogs of war. It’s never pretty. It’s never neat.

We can discuss the finer points of war. We can discuss whether or not innocent casualties as a result of war are worth it. We can argue if this is just a cost of engaging in war. We can discuss the cost or savings of not going to war. We can discuss the gambit that is war. The idea that perhaps if we had just held out a bit longer diplomacy could’ve won the day. However, how are these discussions relevant to the warrior? He isn’t granted the luxury of “what if.” Only the reality of what is. Adapt and overcome or die trying. No. The warrior does nothing but bleed.

Is that blood for oil? Yes. Do we need that oil? Yes. Do we value oil? Yes. Do we value life? Yes. Is the cost of some soldiers worth maintaining the standard of living we have set for ourselves in America (Rock, Flag and Eagle)? Absolutely. Do we need to be more judicious with our use of the oil we have? Probably… different discussion.

I, for one, imagine myself in an ancient tribe… with sharpened spear… face to face with the enemy and his weapon. We do battle because we are soldiers. Because our village needs more food or water or whatever. Because our children are going hungry and our village is growing. The enemy has his problems as well. The elders had gotten together. They tried to share the resources. But someone got greedy. And now we fight. We fight because the enemy threatens the welfare of my child now. I do my best to win. Eventually, I die knowing that I bled for my family… for my village… for my country… for our access to that resource… for oil. I die proud.

 

*From It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode — Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody’s Ass.