Islam and Oil

Militant Islam is spreading throughout the world—financed by Middle East oil wealth

"The rise of terrorism by militant Islam against the United States and the West coincided with the rise in oil prices of 1979-80 and the subsequent transfer of hundreds of billions of dollars from the West to Muslim countries." – Max Singer, senior fellow, The Hudson Institute.

Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa are Islamic Republics. An Islamic Republic is a Theocracy, a nation ruled by religious clerics [Although many Muslim countries claim to have various degrees of freedom, they continue to submit to the will of their religious leaders, resulting in a legal system that is equal to a theocracy]. In contrast, the historically Christian countries of Europe and America have separated the religious authority of the church from the legal system that governs the people, thereby ending Christian Theocracy in the western world.

The nations comprising the western world are no longer defined by religious beliefs—citizens of western societies are free to individually choose and practice their own beliefs without fear of state censorship. Islamic fundamentalists, supporters of Islamic Republics, view western nations as a threat to their theocratic rule.

The religious customs practiced by extreme Muslim fundamentalists today can be compared to Christianity during the Medieval Inquisition: Religion by force, women regarded as property, dissidents burned at the stake, theocratic leaders ruled. Much like the world that Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda call Islam.

Islam is not a military threat; but in its extreme form it does present an ideological threat to the modern world. Islamic terrorists will never conquer the United States or Europe with military force; that is not their goal. Extreme Muslim fundamentalists (violent Jihadists) believe they can use terrorism to disrupt the Global Economy and thereby slow the progress of modernization and freedom of religion. Islamic Jihad is a battle for the minds of men and women; with the goal of creating a world government known as the Caliphate — a unified political, economic and religious world order — ruled by one man, a Caliph, the successor to Muhammad, Islam's prophet of God. Muslim fundamentalists believe the Caliph will return the world to medieval Islam, using whatever means necessary.

Islamic terrorism feeds off of the world's addiction to oil.  Oil wealth in the hands of dictators and ideological extremists is financing terrorism. Oil money flowing into the Middle East finances the militant Islamic ideology that is flowing out of the Middle East, spreading around the world. The modern world trades its wealth for Middle East oil enriching the sponsors of terrorism. For these reasons, the war against terrorism cannot be won without Breaking Free of Oil Dependence.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) produces about 40% of the world’s oil today, which translates to OPEC getting 40 cents on every dollar paid for oil anywhere in the world. Current OPEC members are Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Venezuela. All are Islamic countries except Venezuela which has partnered with Iran.

In the year 2007, over 700 billion dollars flowed into OPEC from oil hungry countries around the world. How much of that money was given to support the worldwide advance of Islamic terrorism? OPEC revenue is expected to exceed one trillion dollars in 2008.

What many people do not see, is that it doesn’t matter where the oil comes from. If the oil comes from a well in Wyoming, California, Texas, Canada, Mexico, Russia, or the North Sea it doesn’t make any difference because oil is a global commodity. The price of oil traded on the world market is the same for everyone in the world. Demand anywhere increases demand everywhere. So, because 40% of the world's oil comes from OPEC, it is always true that OPEC gets 40 cents on every dollar paid for oil. It averages out to that fact.

If global oil dependence (“The Petroleum Economy”) continues at over 80 million barrels per day, and the price of oil remains at $100 per barrel, the global economy will pay out over three trillion dollars per year for oil. With 40¢ of every dollar going to OPEC, Islamic nations will take in over 1.2 trillion dollars per year from the oil they sell.

Islamic terrorism, as a global threat to civilization, cannot sustain itself without the massive oil revenue that finances it. (That does not mean their feelings and beliefs will not sustain, it just means they will have limited influence without the oil wealth.) Islamic militancy is emboldened by the perception of power and dominance that Islam derives from the world’s dependence on oil – oil that the world must get from Arab countries. Eliminate world oil dependence and the Islamic extremists will be deflated psychologically.

Ronald Reagan is credited for defeating Communism without firing a shot; by economically isolating and suffocating the Soviet Union, while at the same time enticing their leaders and people toward freedom. In a similar way, initiating action toward achieving global independence from petroleum (as a source of energy) will lead to the defeat of Islamic terrorism.

Try to imagine what would have happened if Europe and America had been paying the Soviet Union one Trillion U.S. dollars every year, during the cold war.

Strength and National Security through Energy Independence

References:
Al Qaeda History
The Saudi Connection
Oil, Money, and Power
Democracy in the Middle East
How democratic is the Middle East?
Think Again: Middle East Democracy
Islam's political insurgency in Europe
Saudi textbooks preach intolerance, hate
The Trouble With Democracy in the Middle East
Religion of Peace? Islam's War Against the World
Middle Eastern Democracy: Is Civil Society the Answer?
Muslim reformer's Heresy: The Islamic state is a dead end
Restoration of Caliphate resonates with mainstream Muslims
Apparent Role of Saudis Draws Scrutiny to Kingdom's Tensions
THE WORLD AFTER 9/11: U.S. Follows Money Trails of Saudi-Backed Charities
To help understand the role of oil money in the global expansion of Islamic terrorism imagine what would happen if the Ku Klux Klan had been given one hundred billion dollars, and protected training camps in a foreign land, to promote their vision of the world.
“This is not Islam any more than the Ku Klux Klan is Christianity. No concessions can be made to either mindset which have more in common with one another than they do with the religions they claim to represent. The Muslim world cannot forever attribute all its ills to the Great Satan, America," writes Iraqi dissident, Kanan Makiya, in: Fighting Islam's Ku Klux Klan

Recommended reading:
Nexus—OIL and AL Qaeda — By Frank H. Denton, Ph.D, U.S. Foreign Service (Retired)
Saudis remain the world’s prime source of terror financing — By Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times  April 2, 2008
“Saudi Arabia remains the world's leading source of money for Al Qaeda and other extremist networks and has failed to take key steps requested by U.S. officials to stem the flow... the Saudi government has not taken important steps to go after those who finance terrorist organizations or to prevent wealthy donors from bankrolling extremism through charitable contributions, sometimes unwittingly. Saudi Arabia today remains the location where more money is going to terrorism, to Sunni terror groups and to the Taliban than any other place in the world.
 ...Americans who pay more than $100 a barrel for oil are in effect bankrolling extremism because wealthy Saudis “back-door” their profits into charities that fund extremist causes.”