What the crisis in Egypt tells us about U.S. policies

Michael Casler, Las Vegas

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 | 2:03 a.m.

We get the majority of our imported oil from Canada and Mexico, but any disruption in the Middle East causes the price of oil to spike everywhere. That fact and the fear that radical Islam will control the Middle East cause our foreign policy to dictate that we support dictator/thugs like Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. This American policy in Egypt and elsewhere infuriates people in the Middle East and that generates hate.

Oil is a diminishing resource and eventually the price will rise to a point where cleaner energy sources will be able to effectively compete in the marketplace. President Barack Obama and many others want to force that day to happen now with government intervention. That is bad policy.

A good policy would be to responsibly develop our own sources of oil and develop alternate energy sources as well. If we did that, our foreign policy in the Middle East would not be driven by our energy needs. Then we would not be forced to support the Mubaraks of the region and it would be harder for those who support radical Islam to paint us as what we currently are, which is a bunch of hypocrites who talk about freedom but support dictators.

I know that oil is not environmentally friendly, but if we will just be patient, alternate energy sources will replace oil. In the meantime, we can import less, stop being hypocrites, stop creating hatred toward Americans and remove one of the main reasons that supporters of radical Islam use to demonize us and gain millions of supporters.