Revolts expose our conflicting interests

Bob Jack, North Las Vegas

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011 | 2:03 a.m.

The popular revolts going on in the greater Middle East are long overdue. These nations have been subjected since the end of the Cold War to theocratic and secular dictatorships that have consistently denied human rights to their people.

In some cases, these dictatorships have ensured their continued existence by brutally treating people — mass murdering minority groups, killing people in cold blood and denying basic human rights to women. Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Yemen, to name a few, have or may be expected to undertake popular revolutions to liberate themselves from the chains of secular and theocratic dictatorships.

America’s official responses to such revolts reflect the conflicting interests that rest beneath U.S. dependence on this rich oil-producing region for its economic survival.

On the one hand, America should encourage popular revolutions against secular and theocratic dictatorships that might lead to democratic governments. On the other hand, America’s economic interests motivate our government to support the stability of regimes that allow the uninterrupted flow of oil. America’s dependence on this resource therefore becomes the catalyst of a dysfunctional foreign policy, which compromises American values in the region.

Clearly the solution is to increase oil production at home, a decision the Obama administration seems incapable of making, to the detriment of vital American interests and critical foreign policy decisions.