It has been US policy for decades to protect the oil in the middle east. Our experience with $60 + oil and my faith in capitalism leads me to believe that this policy is erroneous.

-We went to war in Iraq the first time to protect oil.
-We set up bases in Saudi Arabia for the no fly zones and because we didnt trust Saddam.
-Al Queda wants us out. They attack the US.
-We goto the the middle east and fight 2 wars.

All of this could have been avoided if we had faith in our business people. When oil reaches these levels, it is not the end of the world.

There are plenty of substitute products and there are plenty of profit maximizing individuals/firms who will find ways to conserve energy.

I don't like the fact that our foreign policy people still haven't figured out what Adam Smith figured out 200+ years ago: wars generally make little financial sense.