Books, Arts & Manners: Dark Horses

In most discussions of the energy crisis, the OPEC cartel is depicted as the villain. In 1973, retaliating for our support of Israel, the evil Arabs cut off their exports to the West. Periodically since then they have jacked up the price, driving petroleum costs to unimagined levels. Our energy troubles thus proceed, supposedly, from uncontrollable outside forces.

But, as pointed out by H. A. Merklein and William P. Murchison Jr. in Those Gasoline Lines and How They Got There (Fisher Institute, 6350 LBJ Freeway, Dallas, Tex. 75240; $5.95), the crisis of 1973 was not the first time the Arabs had become angry with us over Israel. During the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, every Arab producer of petroleum except Algeria shut down its oil fields. The tactic was a total failure. In response to it, the United States, Venezuela, and Indonesia stepped up production. We made up the deficiency with our own production, and the embargo was a flop.

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M. Stanton Evans

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In most discussions of the energy crisis, the OPEC cartel is depicted as the villain. In 1973, retaliating for our support of Israel, the evil Arabs cut off their exports to the West. Periodically since then they have jacked up the price, driving petroleum costs to unimagined levels. Our energy troubles thus proceed, supposedly, from uncontrollable outside forces.

But, as pointed out by H. A. Merklein and William P. Murchison Jr. in Those Gasoline Lines and How They Got There (Fisher Institute, 6350 LBJ Freeway, Dallas, Tex. 75240; $5.95), the crisis of 1973 was not the first time the Arabs had become angry with us over Israel. During the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, every Arab producer of petroleum except Algeria shut down its oil fields. The tactic was a total failure. In response to it, the United States, Venezuela, and Indonesia stepped up production. We made up the deficiency with our own production, and the embargo was a flop.