“No blood for oil.” This has been the mantra for many anti-war protesters over the past several months. These people believe that the potential war in Iraq is nothing more than an oil grab by President Bush and his oil-company donors. It sounds catchy, doesn’t it? And it certainly is plausible, considering that both President Bush and Vice President Cheney are heavily invested in the oil industry. However, let me debunk this myth as simply as I can: When Iraq is liberated, Iraqi oil will flood the market as soon as the oil fields are repaired. Using the laws of economics, we know that when supply goes up, prices will fall. Therefore, when Iraq begins producing oil at its maximum output, the price of oil will fall, causing Bush, Cheney, and every other person invested in oil to LOSE money. Now that we’ve gotten past this myth, its time to move past oil, right? Wrong. There is a country that has a stake in this war due to oil interests: France. Yes, you read that right, France. It is no secret that French President Jacques Chirac is a close friend of Saddam Hussein. In fact, it was Chirac who struck a deal in the 70’s, with then Vice-President Saddam Hussein, to give Iraq nuclear materials and the technology to build reactors in exchange for Iraqi oil. To this day, the French still buy cheap oil from Iraq despite the UN embargo. This brings me to the title I gave this letter, which is “No oil for blood.” In an Op-ed piece in the New York Post, Ken Adelman pointed out that due to UN sanctions, based on his refusal to disarm, Saddam Hussein has cost Iraq, and its citizens, between $100 and $200 billion dollars since 1991. Saddam has literally traded oil for blood by pursuing these weapons of mass destruction even though it cost his country billions of dollars. War is going to happen, and it’s going to happen soon. And at this point, I don’t expect to sway anyone on either side of this debate. I just hope that 40 or 50 years from now, when the Middle East is dominated by democratic governments, people can look back and tell their grandchildren the story of President Bush, a man that stood by his convictions and didn’t allow himself to be swayed by the greed of “Old Europe.” A man who fought to liberate the people of Iraq at any cost because it was the right thing to do. When we discuss this war with our grandchildren, I hope we talk about oil, and its role in trying to prevent the people of Iraq from having the same rights we have in our great country.

Jeff Hexel CAS ’05

PS- While I am aware that the Daily Free Press has a full roster of weekly columnists, if given the opportunity, I would love to expand this letter into a full-length column. If asked to expand this column, I would add more information on the link between Jacques Chirac and Saddam Hussein, as well as the links between the Bush Administration and the oil industry. Most of all, I believe the student body would benefit from the views of a Republican, which would balance out the liberal slant offered by most media sources. In addition, I’d be more than willing to write a column about the entertainment industry and its current outcry against war, which upon closer inspection shows a great amount of hypocrisy.