Several times a year Osama Bin Laden emerges from seclusion to taunt America. There is always a quiet confidence about him as he proclaims that victory for Islam and God over America is inevitable. In addition to promising more attacks on us, Osama says he is patient and willing to wait for our demise as long as it takes. Is he crazy? Where does he get the idea that a group of rag tag thugs who live in caves is going to defeat the greatest superpower nation in history? After all, as horrendous as the 9-11attacks were, our economy rebounded quickly.

To find out where Osama gets his mojo, go to your computer and Google “Peak Oil.” One of the websites that will come up is www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net . This meticulously documented site is authored by Matt Savinar, a recent law school graduate. It begins with the statement: “Dear Reader, civilization as we know it is about to come to an end.” Mr. Savinar is not referring to Osama’s vision of civilization but our modern, petroleum based civilization that Dick Cheney refers to as “The American Way of Life” that is not negotiable according to Mr. Cheney.

I’m betting Osama has visited this site and read it thoroughly. He’s smug and confident about the demise of America because he knows you will dismiss Mr. Savinar as a “chicken little” or “environmentalist wacko.” If you decide to defy Osama and read Mr. Savinar’s website carefully, you’ll find out many of the folks warning us about Peak Oil are very rational and conservative. One is Republican Congressman Roscoe Bartlett who has quoted the ominous warnings from www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net and read them into the congressional record during several Peak Oil speeches in Congress. Another is Mathew Simmons, an energy investment banker and member of Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force. Need more reason to take Peak Oil seriously? How about the CEO of Chevron Texaco who started a marketing campaign to address the challenges of Peak Oil with their website www.willyoujoinus.com .

Bin Laden’s strategy is clear. He learned from another Muslim – Muhammed Ali – in his fight with George Foreman. Remember the rope-a-dope? While we exhaust our resources “taking the fight to the terrorists” instead of massively investing in alternative energy, Osama’s army will grow because Arabs know our military presence in the Middle East is all about the oil. The world knows this except for Americans, especially Iraqis who chased the British out of Iraq during the 1920s for doing the same thing. As global oil depletion squeezes the American economy, Osama’s troops will continue to assault our “Way of Life” by bombing pipelines and killing oil workers. Unfortunately, in the long run there aren’t enough tax dollars and willing young Americans to protect the Middle East’s vast oil infrastructure. Since 60% of the oil remaining on the planet is in Muslim countries, Osama’s minions never have to go far to make increasingly scarce, expensive oil more scarce and more expensive.

Geography, geology and time are on Osama’s side not ours. The Peak Oil wolf is at our door and he knows it. Osama also knows we won’t confront our petroleum demon any time soon. No politician who is interested in keeping his or her job will stop the continual building, maintaining and accessorizing of suburban sprawl that makes us utterly dependent on cheap oil. The Bush Administration can’t talk about Peak Oil because acknowledging it makes America’s oil grab in Iraq look obvious to all. They know killing for a resource that will run out some day is not palatable to a Christian nation. So Bush and Bin Laden have one thing in common. They don’t want you to know about Osama’s secret weapon -- Peak Oil.

How can you wipe the smirk off Osama’s face? Send this link to every politician and community leader you can think of: www.projectcensored.org/newsflash/the_hirsch_report.pdf . The Hirsch Report was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy. Its conclusion challenges the notion that the free market will solve Peak Oil.

“The world has never faced a problem like Peak Oil. Without massive mitigation more than a decade before the fact, the problem will be pervasive and will not be temporary. Previous energy transitions (wood to coal and coal to oil) were gradual and evolutionary; oil peaking will be abrupt and revolutionary”

Make sure you DEMAND action other than continual war in the Middle East!