Joe Kaufman Terror Free Oil Exposed

First, a little history. Back in my grandparent's time, there used to be men travelling from town to town, putting on little performances for anyone who would listen, trying to sell people the solution for all their aches and pains. If someone had arthritis, this magic elixir would cure it. If someone was infertile, this same magic elixir would cure it. If someone was bald, this same magic elixir would cure it. Of course, the "elixir" couldn't cure anything other than the salesman's poverty. Eventually these con men earned the term "snake oil" salesman, and it was not meant as a compliment. These were the worst of the con men, willing to steal anyone's money, even widows and children, even people who were desperate for a solution to their problems. The snake oil salesmen had no conscience, and often ended up being run out of town, or thrown in jail, sometimes just to protect them from a very angry crowd of conned customers.

Today there is a new type of snake oil salesman, and he's selling --- oil.

A claim is being made that America needs to "stop financing terrorism through our oil purchases, every time we fill our gasoline tanks", that we need "to stop using Middle East oil" because it finances terrorism. Let's look at that claim first.

According to the US Dept of State, which is in charge of designating foreign terrorist organizations and reporting on these to Congress each year in their Country Reports on Terrorism, there are four countries in the entire world East that sponsor terrorism (countries where the government itself promotes, supports, finances, supplies and/or trains terrorists), and those countries are Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria. Two other countries, Sudan and Libya, while making improvements, still remain on the list. Since Syria, Iran, Sudan and Libya are the only countries from this list that are in the Middle East, let's look at them and any connection to filling our gas tanks possibly helping them sponsor terrorism.

You can click the link embedded in the country's name here to go directly to the State Department's information on these two countries.

Syria (see pg 6 of this report)

Syria provides political and material support to both Hizballah and Palestinian terrorist groups. HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), among others, base their external leadership in Damascus.

The Syrian Government insists that the Damascus-based groups undertake only political and informational activities. However, in statements originating from outside Syria, many Palestinian groups claimed responsibility for anti-Israeli terrorist acts. Syria's public support for the groups varied, depending on its national interests and international pressure.

OIL: The US has maintained a boycott on Syrian oil since 1986.


Iran (see pg 3 of this report)

Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism. Its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) were directly involved in the planning and support of terrorist acts and continued to exhort a variety of groups, especially Palestinian groups with leadership cadres in Syria and Lebanese Hizballah, to use terrorism in pursuit of their goals. In addition, the IRGC was increasingly involved in supplying lethal assistance to Iraqi militant groups, which destabilizes Iraq.

OIL: The US imports no oil from Iran, under the terms of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act of 1986, renewed in 1996.


Sudan (see pg 5 of this report)

Sudan continued its cooperative commitment against known and suspected international terrorist elements believed to be operating in and out of Sudanese territory. The government undertook actions against security threats posed by persons either suspected of using Sudan as a base of operation and/or persons of Sudanese origin purported to be associated with terrorist organizations. Sudan produced desired results against international terrorist elements and the facilitators that support them. Sudan may soon come off this list.

Sudan's history of having played host in the mid-1990s to al-Qaida leader Usama bin Ladin continues to weigh heavily in the objective assessment of Sudan's role in international terrorism, but there is no indication that al-Qaida elements have had a presence in Sudan with the knowledge and consent of the Sudanese Government for at least the past five years.

OIL: The US imports no oil from Sudan.

Libya (see page 4 of this report)

Libya continued to cooperate with the United States and the international community in the fight against terrorism. Specifically, Libya began working more closely with the United Kingdom to curtail terrorism-related activities of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). In addition, Libya extradited to Egypt a member of the terror cell responsible for a bombing that claimed the lives of three tourists in a Cairo bazaar.

Despite its increasing level of cooperation, Libya remained on the state sponsors of terrorism list and was subject to corresponding sanctions. The United States continued to evaluate Libya's assurances to halt the use of violence for political purposes in light of allegations that Libyan officials attempted to facilitate the assassination of then-Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in 2003.

Libya continued to cooperate with the international community to help ensure that its territory is not used as a safe haven for international terrorists. In May, Libya extradited to Egypt Mohammed Yousri Yassi, a member of the terrorist cell that perpetrated the April 7 and April 30 attacks on tourists in Cairo. The April 7 attack resulted in the death of three tourists. Libya also extradited the Egyptian who had provided shelter to Yassin.

OIL: The US imports no oil from Libya, as they are included in the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act of 1986, renewed in 1996.

So where does the "Middle Eastern Oil" come from?

The chart below is from the US Department of Energy, and clearly shows that the Middle Eastern countries exporting oil (although not all of them are allowed to export to the US) are the UAE, Bahrain, Iran (see note above about US embargo on Iranian oil), Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

U.S. gross oil imports from the Persian Gulf rose during 2003 to 2.5 million bbl/d (almost all of which was crude), from 2.3 million bbl/d in 2002. The vast majority of Persian Gulf oil imported by the United States came from Saudi Arabia (71%), with significant amounts also coming from Iraq (19%), Kuwait (9%), and small amounts (less than 1% total) from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Iraqi oil exports to the United States rose slightly in 2003, to 481,000 bbl/d, compared to 442,000 bbl/d in in 2002. Saudi exports rose from 1.55 million bbl/d in 2002 to 1.77 million bbl/d in 2003. Even though these figures may seem large, overall, the Persian Gulf accounted for about 22% of U.S. net oil imports, and only 12% of U.S. oil demand, in 2003 (the most recent year where figures are available.)

The idea of boycotting Middle Eastern oil as a tool against terrorism has been floating around the Internet for some time now. Unfortunately, this idea takes advantage of very poor math, ignores facts, and tries to play on people's fears and desire to be patriotic, all the while being nothing more than an urban myth. Even Snopes, the Internet's expert website at evaluating urban myths for any basis in fact, dismisses it as gross statistical errors and a naive grasp of the oil industry.

A couple of months ago, Joe Kaufman announced his newest money making scheme, called "Terror Free Oil", where he claims (http://www.terrorfreeoil.org/):

So far, Kaufman (and his partners) have set up one gas station, formally to open on January 12th, 2007, in Omaha. Kaufman claims that this gas station will meet their goal of selling only "gasoline that originated from countries that do not export or finance terrorism." The first fault with this is that, as proven above, the US does not import any oil from countries that are state sponsors or terrorism. But Kaufman isn't picky about who he labels terrorists or state sponsors of terrorism - as the saying goes, "Why let facts get in the way of a rant?" Kaufman is indicting all Middle Eastern countries in his claim that he will sell no oil that will help terrorists.

Kaufman has contracted with Sinclair Oil to supply gasoline to his new "Terror Free Oil" gas station, and he hopes to open a chain of these. Of course, the price will be higher, and the only items sold inside the station will be Kaufman's books (could we assume they are stacked where they belong - next to the restroom?) Kaufman is telling everyone that Sinclair Oil gets its gasoline from Canada, so there will be no Middle Eastern oil flowing through his pumps. But what does Sinclair Oil say?

But... but... wait, Kaufman says there will be no Middle East oil flowing through his pumps. So how can Sinclair Oil say that there is indeed some oil from the Middle East flowing through these pumps? What is more truthful, Kaufman's statement, all over the news and the Internet, or Sinclair's statement? Wait... what's that? Is Kaufman saying something quietly? Let's listen: