Letters to the Editor

Is the US buying time now to stay in Iraq for its oil?

Regarding your Sept. 12 editorial, "The Iraq clock," something is missing from the reports of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker and the questions put to them by Congress. Why do they, along with President Bush, again want to "buy more time"?

Is it to complete the construction of the fortified US Embassy and several permanent military bases, along with control of the oil production? I sense that their gauge of "progress" in Iraq is all about oil.

Judith Butler
Spokane, Wash.

Help innocent home buyers

Regarding the Sept. 12 article, "Paulson: credit turmoil to last a while": David Kotok, chairman of Cumberland Advisors, was right on target when he argued that it is the responsibility of the Federal Reserve to help innocent people who financed a home and were tricked. Those who say homeowners should have been more careful and understood what they were getting into have missed a crucial element of this situation. It was, in many instances, the sophisticated taking advantage of the unsophisticated.

High-pressure tactics are designed to take advantage of the innocent. And this happened here. But the individuals who thought they were at last getting a fair shot at the "American dream" should have all the support we can give them.

As for the unscrupulous lenders and the speculators, maybe they should take the hit.

Robert Brandes
Fredericksburg, Texas

Oil supply is nearing the end

In response to the Sept. 11 article, "Climate-change paradox: Greenhouse gas is Big Oil boon": The article describes how oil production can be enhanced by injecting carbon dioxide into declining oil fields. The message of this article is that technological advances, such as this one, can help provide a continuing flow of oil. However, enhanced-recovery schemes such as CO2 injection are difficult and expensive. It would be much easier and more profitable to simply move on to new oil fields as old fields are depleted. This has been the oil industry's practice for the last century.

Its new interest in enhanced-recovery methods is a consequence of the fact that there are no longer enough large, undeveloped oil fields to supply future demand. The unwritten message of this article is that "peak oil," the time when global oil production reaches its maximum and begins to decline, is upon us. The world is not about to run out of oil, but the long-term trend is for less and less global oil production at higher and higher prices.

Dan Everett
Athens, Ga.

California's water woes

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