Gas Prices A National Security Issue

     As protest sweep across the Middle East and northern Africa, many have voiced concern over perceived "instability" in the region. While such concerns are of little importance when compared to the freedoms of long repressed peoples, that instability has born its first fruit.
     Libya is a major exporter of crude oil to Europe and the United States, but is ruled by dictator Mohammar Ghaddfi, who has been in power since 1969. When protesters started demanding that Ghaddfi step down, the dictator responded with maximum force, and now the country is locked in civil war.
     Now, Americans are feeling the pain at the pump. Gas prices have risen to a national average of $3.38 a gallon, up 19 cents over the previous week, and 68 cents over the same week last year. The price of oil barrels has leveled out at around $100, mostly because Saudi Arabia has promised to raise production.
     In truth, the United States has been supporting dictators in the Middle East for decades, mostly over the price of oil. Now that those rulers are losing power, there is a range of issues that Americans will have to contend. While much of the chatter has been over national security, and if these new Arab governments will embrace Islamic radicals, the United States is threatened with a larger security issue, our energy Independence.