Oil Security In The Middle East Has Cost The U.S. $7.3 Trillion Dollars Since 1976

Persian Gulf (Feb. 14, 2005) - Sailors assigned to the Air Department conduct final inspections on an F/A-18 Hornet prior to being launched off the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3) is embarked aboard Truman and is providing close air support and conducting intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance over Iraq. The Truman Carrier Strike Group is on a regularly scheduled deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer Mate Airman Ricardo Reyes

Study: Middle East Oil Security Cost U.S. $7.3T Over Last Three Decades -- USA Today

Think gas is pricey at the pump? Try your tax bill instead, with an economic analysis putting the U.S. military tab on keeping Middle Eastern crude coming at more than $225 billion a year over the last three decades.

Since 1980, when President Jimmy Carter decreed the "Carter Doctrine" of keeping Persian Gulf oil flowing to the world, subsequent administrations have pursued policies aimed at keeping the tankers coming, using U.S. military forces to provide security, notes Princeton's Roger Stern in a new Energy Policy journal analysis.

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My Comment: What is troublesome is that the cost of defending our interests in the Middle East is only increasing with time .... with no signs that this will change in the far future.