Bush vs Chavez, Round 862

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced this week that Venezuelans will blow up their oil fields if the United States attack them. This comes as no surprise to me. I have a feeling he only made the announcement in order to secure his place as a thorn in Bush's side.

Of course, the Bush Administration acts as if Chavez has nothing to worry about with America. I guess they expect Chavez to forget that the U.S. supported (though we still won't admit it) the 2002 coup that temporarily took him out of office. It doesn't help that we insist on calling him a threat to stability in the region either.

Personally, I think that the Bush Administration are too busy eyeballing Iran to worry too much about Venezuela right now. I do, however, understand Chavez's suspicion of us. We are a mineral hungry soceity, and we don't care who we have to step on, torture, maim, or kill in order to get our fix. Any country or region that has vast quantities of natural resources should be keeping an eye on us. As supply gets shorter and prices get higher, we will look anywhere and everywhere to keep our lifestyle unchanged.

As far as blowing up oil fields go, I can't be too harsh against it. Sure, it's not great for the environment, but neither are the power plants or the millions of gas-guzzlers here in America. Plus, I am a spiteful person myself. If I didn't feel that I could adequately defend my property, I'm not sure that I wouldn't destroy it so that it didn't end up in the hands of an invader. I just can't imagine that I'd let someone shit on me, then enjoy the use of my property.

I hope we actually start using our brains in this country before we let our government start a war with Iran or Venezuela, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm still young, but I've been around long enough to see that this is a "Do as I say, not as I do" society. That's not only embarrassing, but sad.