[New York Times, 18Aug06] Thomas L. Friedman - Iran will dip into its oil income and ship cash to Nasrallah, so that he will not have to face the wrath of Lebanese for starting a war that reaped nothing but destruction. Iran is OPEC's second-largest producer, selling the world about 2.4 million barrels of oil a day and earning the regime some $4 billion a month - the government's main source of income. To buy public support, Iran's regime subsidizes housing, gasoline, interest rates, flour, and rice. Repressive governments like Iran's and Syria's use oil money to buy off their people and insulate themselves from the pressure of political and economic reform.
2006-08-18 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive