Pumping Up the Anxiety

"Some experts estimate this premium to be as much as $30-40 for every barrel of oil sold."

So, in addition to the cost in human lives and the geopolitical havoc ... consider the effect on gas prices.

Brian Williams and Richard Engel did just that Tuesday night on the NBC Nightly News.

Williams: "Despite all the denials, what happens if a military strike takes place against Iran?"

Engel: "Well, it all has to do with geography. Iran is in an incredibly strategic location: the Straits of Hormuz, one of the world's most important oil shipping routes. . . . Iranian-backed militias in Iraq could quickly destabilize the situation there. And in Israel, Iran has allies in both in Lebanon -- Hezbollah -- and in the Gaza Strip. . . . "

Williams: "And look at, if you look at the neighborhood Iran is in, you think about the oil business, you think about the fact we're paying four dollars a gallon now. What could happen?"

Engel: "I asked an oil analyst that very question. He said, 'The price of a barrel of oil? Name your price: $300, $400 a barrel.'"

Williams: "That could be the shock from such a military action."

Incompetence or Deception?

Steven Mufson writes in The Washington Post: "Bush administration officials told Hunt Oil last summer that they did not object to its efforts to reach an oil deal with the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq, even while the State Department was publicly expressing concern that such contracts could undermine a national Iraqi petroleum law, according to documents obtained by a House committee.

"Last fall, after the deal was announced, the State Department said that it had tried to dissuade Hunt Oil from signing the contract with Kurdish regional authorities but that the company had proceeded 'regardless of our advice.' Although Hunt Oil's chief executive has been a major fundraiser for President Bush, the president said he knew nothing about the deal.

"Yesterday, however, Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released documents and e-mails showing that for nearly four months, State and Commerce department officials knew about Hunt Oil's negotiations and had told company officials that there were no objections. . . .

"The Hunt Oil deal was seen by Kurdish officials as a key victory because the company's chief executive, Ray L. Hunt, was not only a major backer of Bush but also a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. After the deal was completed, a dozen other foreign firms signed oil contracts with Kurdish authorities."