Correspondence
Correspondence SAUDI SNAKE OIL MAX SINGER correctly challenges the conventional perception of Saudi power ("Saudi Arabia's Overrated Oil Weapon," August 18), but one doesn't win wars by...
...JACK HALPERN New York, NY OIL'S NOT WELL IN DISCUSSING THE FINANCING of the Iraqi occupation, Irwin M. Stelzer ("A Foreign Policy Worth Paying For," August 18) proposes the imposition of a $5 per barrel tax on imported oil...
...GARY A. MARCO AFSCME Local 1418 Alexandria, VA TIM SHAMBLE AFGE Local 1812 Sterling, VA...
...ignoring efficiency means playing with fire...
...On the other hand, there may be a case for putting a different kind of import fee on the books, even though it would likely remain unexercised...
...While it would certainly please the powerful ethanol lobby, this tax is nothing but a tariff...
...Kenneth Tomlinson Broadcasting Board of Governors Washington, DC ROBERT SATLOFF PRESENTS an accurate assessment of the problems faced by the U.S...
...Broadcasting pop music to the Middle East with a minimum of news and other information about the United States serves no useful public diplomacy purpose...
...Correspondence SAUDI SNAKE OIL MAX SINGER correctly challenges the conventional perception of Saudi power ("Saudi Arabia's Overrated Oil Weapon," August 18), but one doesn't win wars by underestimating one's enemy...
...oil production permanently...
...And it would surely lead to the imposition of a "windfall profit" tax on domestic producers and to political pressure for exemptions for stripper wells, Canadian tar-sands oil, and synthetic motor fuels...
...It would not be unreasonable to say that, as far as the Middle East is concerned, these functions are in disarray...
...The way to nail the Saudis is through American development of oil hybrids, ethanol blends, and fuel cells...
...The government, through the Broadcasting Board of Governors, is spending taxpayer funds to provide, in essence, free entertainment to teenagers in the Middle East...
...As for the alleged "success" of Radio Sawa, such claims by the Broadcasting Board of Governors have been suspect from the beginning...
...government outlet that broadcasts in Arabic...
...Really...
...Their listening habits mirror those inside Iraq, according to the Iraqis we have met in southern towns such as Umm Qasr and Safwan...
...A variable fee—not a fixed tariff—to establish a floor price for imported oil would guard against price manipulation by OPEC that drops the price for a short period only, say to $10 a barrel, but long enough to damage U.S...
...A far better scheme for raising revenues might be a sizable increase in the federal tax on gasoline and other motor fuels...
...The yearly cost of the VOA Arabic Service was one-tenth that of Radio Sawa...
...However, we take exception to Satloff's assertion that Radio Sawa is "a failure waiting to happen...
...The Saudis have dumped oil on the market to maintain market share as recently as 1998, in response to increased Venezuelan production...
...Radio Sawa—the creation of Norman J. Pattiz, a Clinton administration appointee to the Broadcasting Board of Governors—is a travesty...
...Neither foreign governments nor vulnerable pipelines need be relied upon...
...Singer concludes that "there is no strategic imperative for the United States to reduce its 'dependency' on imported oil by reducing oil consumption...
...Public diplomacy in the Middle East is broken and needs to be fixed...
...Singer dismisses Saudi Arabia's ability to utilize its spare production capacity and lower extraction costs...
...in an age of terrorism, energy efficiency is the fastest, most reliable way to energy independence...
...He was in a base camp with Free Iraqi Forces waiting for word to move forward, deeper into Iraq: "The Iraqis huddle outside the front door . . . following war developments on the radio...
...And to make matters worse, it cost the taxpayers of this country at least $35 million just for the first year...
...To the contrary, it is a failure in progress...
...Because Saudi extraction costs are below $2.50 per barrel, they could still afford to dump oil to scuttle a $15 per barrel competitor like the "unconventional oil" Singer praises...
...The international Energy Agency projects that non-OPEC oil production will peak around 2015...
...The most accurate news, they say, comes from Radio Sawa, a U.S...
...government's public diplomacy functions...
...It might even force SUVs off the roads, at least for commuting to work...
...This would not only lower the level of imports, but also reduce driving and traffic congestion, and raise the demand for more fuel-efficient cars...
...In other words, it would open the proverbial can of worms...
...S. FRED SINGER ARLINGTON, VA DANGEROUS DIPLOMACY FOR A RESPONSE to Robert Satloff's assertion that Radio Sawa is "a failure waiting to happen" ("How to Win Friends and Influence Arabs," August 18), we should turn to another issue of The Weekly Standard, and an article by Stephen F. Hayes ("Liberating Iraq," April 14...
...Actual audience numbers were probably no greater, and perhaps even less, than those listening to the Voice of America (VOA) Arabic service before it was abolished and replaced with Radio Sawa...
Vol. 8 • September 2003 • No. 48
