In his Irish Times piece from yesterday (see previous post), Walsh also makes one of those statements that I can just imagine had all the "wise and knowing" Times readers nodding their heads. He quotes a 1945 statement by a member of the US State Department that "petroleum has played a larger part in the external relations of the United States than any other commodity" for most of the 20th century.
Big deal. What other commodity is so vital? And, if any other commodity were more valuable than oil, then the region where it's most easily retrieved would undoubtedly be the focus of all the aggravation that the oil rich areas are now.
However, on a positive note, reading Walsh's column has saved me the time wondering if I should bother trying to listen to his radio program via my new, cheap internet connection.
