Republicans Anonymous

While W and his Bush League minions spend billions of dollars we don't have buying weapons to fight 20th Century-style wars, China begins spending money to fight 21st Century-style:

LOS ANGELES -- The unsolicited $18.5 billion bid from the Chinese state-owned oil company CNOOC Ltd. to buy oil and gas company Unocal Corp. on Thursday has significant regulatory hurdles to overcome, not least of which is whether the deal would threaten national security.
...
"It's not a business transaction at all," said C. Richard D'Amato, chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a congressional advisory panel.

"This is not a free market deal. This is the Chinese government acquiring energy resources."

Even before CNOOC made its offer, two members of Congress appealed to President Bush last week to review it for possible security threats. They warned of China's "pursuit of world energy resources."
(Source: Washington Post Unocal Bid May Face Nat'l Security Hurdles June 23, 2005.)

Why worry, say the free market folks. Here's why:

Oil prices are moving higher as demand grows in China, the United States and elsewhere. China's huge appetite for oil was reflected in an $18.5 billion bid for Unocal Corp. launched late Wednesday by CNOOC Ltd., the country's third-largest oil company.

Oil traders worry about the world's diminishing ability to pump additional oil from the ground as the global thirst grows and that a disruption in supply could lead to shortages. Limited refining capacity also has created a bottleneck, causing upward pressure on prices.
(Source: washington Post Oil's Fire Gets Hotter, June 24, 2005)

How paranoid is it to think China may be accumulating US debt so as to destroy our economy just before invading Taiwan? Accumulating oil as well really gives China the upper hand in its US negotiations...