Shed dependency on tiny nations

The Economist magazine reports in its Nov. 8 issue that "The size of the six national economies that make up the Gulf Co-operative Council - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qater, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - has tripled within five years to an overall GDP (gross national product) to close to $1 trillion dollars." T. Boone Pickens, the wealthy Texas oilman, has been warning us of the vast transfer of wealth to the Middle East that is occurring. While we may feel better since the price of gasoline has dropped below $4 per gallon, we cannot become blind to the danger we are in.

While these tiny countries (which most Americans can't even locate on a map) become richer and richer, we are watching our retirement accounts drop 30 percent, homes go into foreclosure, staggering job losses, and a recession bordering on a depression. Energy security has been a talking point for too long. It is time to allow the oil companies to drill on the North Shore as the Alaskans want. It is time to drill close in off shore where the oil is. It is time to build nuclear plants that will generate the massive amounts of electricity that the new electric cars will require for recharging batteries. American money should be spent on American soil to create new well paying jobs for Americans.

The Economist magazine also reports that "these countries have enjoyed such playthings as thoroughbred horses, hunting falcons, yachts, jets and flashy cars by the fleetful." Their palaces, hotels and hospitals are "served by armies or obedient foreign workers". No menial work is done by their own citizens. All the while they are "protected by the might of the American superpower."

There is no painless way out of the dependency we have worked ourselves into. The longer we wait the more painful it will be.

Priscilla Weese

Wheaton