The failure of Mr. Bush to fully mobilize the most powerful innovation engine in the world — the U.S. economy — to produce a scalable alternative to oil has helped to fuel the rise of a collection of petro-authoritarian states — from Russia to Venezuela to Iran — that are reshaping global politics in their own image.-Thomas Friedman, on the absolutely abysmal failures of the Bush administration in the years since 9/11, and the tremendous challenges the next president faces when they take office in January.
If this huge transfer of wealth to the petro-authoritarians continues, power will follow. According to Congressional testimony Wednesday by the energy expert Gal Luft, with oil at $200 a barrel, OPEC could "potentially buy Bank of America in one month worth of production, Apple computers in a week and General Motors in just three days"...
The next president will have to manage these new rising states...while wearing the straightjacket left in the Oval Office by Mr. Bush.
For my money, there is only one candidate who is up to the challenge - one man with the vision needed to change the equation back in America's favor. And that man is Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton's threat to "obliterate" Iran is not the way to regain our international stature, and John McCain's embrace of the President's foreign policy over the last four years should scare every American to their very core.
