A different take...

From Ben Stein's column for the New York Times, he is one of my favorites...

And while we are on the subject of corporations and morality, here is another thought: I was on a panel recently with a famous man who said he believed that the United States was in Iraq because it wants to be near its oil supplies to protect them. His point was provocative.

But what occurs to me is that, in fact, we get the largest chunk of our oil from the Western Hemisphere (from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Venezuela). We get a lot from African sources (particularly Nigeria). Only about 20 percent of our oil comes from the Middle East. A great slice of what we get from outside 0f the hemisphere is from countries where we have no military forces.

Who arranges for us to get that juicy oil from those faraway places?

Why, the oil companies, that’s who. The oil companies we spend so much time hating and mocking and regulating. Just with their own cleverness and diplomacy and money, they get that black gold that powers our cars and cools our houses. It’s just business for the oil companies.

Do they get any thanks? Yes. Thanks from little me. The staggering prosperity of this country, of the whole developed world, floats on oil. Let’s have some respect for the people who get it for us without any loss of American blood.