War and Oil

David Frum made some sensible comments about war and oil on NPR, saying, "Countries do not fight wars for oil. That never makes economic sense. You can buy a lot of oil for the cost of even a small war. But countries do care intensely about security of supply."  This reminds me of a professor I had who once told us, "I don't ever want to see any of you out there waving one of those idiotic signs saying, 'No war for oil!'"  Frum's point is that although countries may not fight wars for oil, they may fight wars over oil.  There's a crucial distinction there.

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