AMERICA’S APPETITE FOR OIL WILL HAVE TO BE CURBED

Conservatives have denounced the thriller “Syriana,” a film that explores the Machiavellian politics of Mideast oil. Pundit Charles Krauthammer, for example, says the movie exports “the most vicious and pernicious mendacities about America to a receptive world.”

The film, for which George Clooney won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, is definitely a Hollywood version of international politics, complete with caricatures of U.S. political and business leaders and an unbelievably pure oil sheik. But the movie’s essence is merely a recounting of recent U.S. history: Consecutive administrations — Democrat and Republican — have done whatever was necessary to assure a continuous supply of cheap petroleum. That’s the overriding reason that President Bush invaded Iraq.

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