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Button, Button, Who's Got The Big Red Button?

Reader comment on item: Might the Saudis Blow Up Their Oil Infrastructure?

Submitted by Yonason (United States), May 12, 2005 at 03:19

That sounds just a little too much like the delightfully demented animated cartoon "Twice Upon A Time" (George Lucas, 1983), wherein the goal of the profoundly evil villain, "Synonymous Botch," is to plunge the world into "nightmares forever" by pressing "The Big Red Button."

Of course, if Mr. Posner's claim is true, it would mean that the world might indeed descend into a very real and most unpleasantly extended nightmare.

It is hard, though not impossible, to imagine someone so deranged that they would commit such a foolish and unnecessary self-destructive act. But an irrational act of that magnitude would not only be indicative of very serious mental pathology, it would have to be shared by quite a few, to carry out such an extensive plan.

Really, just how likely is it that, if the US were to actually seize the oil fields, we would force the Saudi royals to significantly change their lifestyle? On the other hand, how likely is it that, if they attempted to send the world back to the stone age, we would not hold them speedily and painfully accountable? Knowing that, why would they jeopardize the power and wealth they so love and would doubtless retain, just to keep the oil out of US hands, when we would also probably still pay them for it?

Why would any sane ruler, who has a choice of maintaining power and the obscenely pampered lifestyle to which he's accustomed while only temporarily loosing some control over the source of his wealth, opt for plunging the world AND HIMSELF into suffering and poverty, not to mention international criminality? They would have to be loonier than Saddam, Bin Laden and Kim Il Jong all put together to pull a stunt like that.

It just makes no sense.

What does make sense to this "infidel" is the threat of such a scenario as an attempt to thwart, or delay, such an action. For that, what do they have to loose, especially if the information comes from outside their circle; their involvement thus being very plausibly deniable?

Of course, if it turns out that the Saudis are capable of setting up such a doomsday deadfall, what does that tell us about the national mental state and reliability of one of our "allies" in the "War On Terror?" And, on the other hand, if they aren't, what does that tell us about our mental state if we think they are?
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Reader comments (31) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1Dual Purpose of Explosives [42 words]Dr. SleeOct 22, 2005 12:4927207
US Treasury market [30 words]michael cMay 18, 2005 20:3122163
House of Saud [95 words]JoeMay 18, 2005 13:1722145
1Haven't they learned anything? [195 words]PatMay 17, 2005 19:0922129
1Saudi empty threat [169 words]Marcos BerensteinMay 16, 2005 19:5622119
Blow up Oil infrastructure? [98 words]Jacques BakkeMay 16, 2005 02:4622116
Worth considering... [17 words]CutlerMay 15, 2005 23:0722113
I Always Assumed They Had A Self-Destruct [30 words]ConstanceMay 15, 2005 16:1922111
Past due [224 words]philiplisagorMay 13, 2005 18:1222103
Usually a Big Fan - Disappointed this Time [291 words]AdamMay 13, 2005 16:4922102
Small quantities protocol [88 words]Marc JorisMay 13, 2005 16:3422100
Too much of Oil can be a bad thing [132 words]Yldaed SurivMay 13, 2005 12:4922098
Irrelevant [106 words]Paul ZMay 13, 2005 10:5822097
Poor Mr. Ahmed [96 words]Octavio JohansonMay 13, 2005 09:5322096
Completely Preposterous [114 words]Ronald MonsenMay 13, 2005 09:1922095
If they did do it, they must have thought about it hard [73 words]Alain Jean-MairetMay 13, 2005 00:5322093
Absurdity [63 words]Stan SuchockiMay 13, 2005 00:1222092
New energy project [175 words]Fodor, G.E.May 12, 2005 22:2522091
A doomsday switch is a stupid idea [88 words]LTECMay 12, 2005 21:5822090
Not an Effective Deterent? [19 words]ElliotMay 12, 2005 16:3922089
I doubt it would work. [403 words]bernardzMay 12, 2005 15:4422087
2The Desert Fantasy [596 words]Alo KievalarMay 12, 2005 15:3322086
Chilling thought. Now, what's the bottom line? [103 words]J. GoldbergMay 12, 2005 11:0122084
SAUDI OIL [82 words]Asim AhmedMay 12, 2005 08:5922083
The evil that you know [87 words]Octavio JohansonMay 12, 2005 08:2822082
Button, Button, Who's Got The Big Red Button? [400 words]YonasonMay 12, 2005 03:1922080
Dr. Strangelove in a kaffiyeh [365 words]Kenneth S. BesigMay 12, 2005 02:1122078
Saudi self-destruct: silver lining [98 words]Gary GoldmanMay 11, 2005 20:4222073
re: Might the Saudis Blow Up Their Oil Infrastructure? [99 words]Garrett HildebrandMay 11, 2005 20:0422072
An aside... [55 words]Mark FabyMay 11, 2005 19:4122071
A secret deterrence system would be useless [76 words]Alfred KohlerMay 11, 2005 18:1422070

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