Word: gas
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...wasn't clear before it should be now: the Bush Administration can't afford to attack Iran. With gas already at $4 a gallon and rising almost every day, Iran figuratively and literally has the United States over a barrel. As much as the Administration is tempted, it is not about to test Iran's promise to "explode" the Middle East if it is attacked...
...Which leaves Israel. Are the Israelis, who have a lot more on their minds than the price of gas in the United States, going to launch a pre-emptive attack? One hard and fast rule in the Middle East is never rule out Israel's readiness to turn the table over. But an Israeli hawk on Iran, with close ties to Israel's Ministry of Defense, told me to forget about it. "There's not a chance Israel will do anything. Maybe there's a window after the American elections and the new President but even that's doubtful. Washington...
Americans wincing over paying four dollars a gallon at the gas pump ought to meet John Gwat. The taxi driver in Cameroon's capital is paying six dollars a gallon, but in a country where the average monthly wage is about $180 - approximately one-tenth of the average American income. And like American consumers, there's precious little that Gwat and other taxi drivers here can do about the gas prices at the gas pumps. "At the end of the month about a quarter of the cars are just parked on the streets, because no one has the money...
...gas prices rise, Gwat's earnings are being squeezed. When world oil prices shattered the $100-a-barrel mark on January 2 and settled above that in February, Cameroon faced the same conundrum as the United States and Europe, because it is heavily dependent on imported fuel. President Paul Biya, whose 22-year rule has endured almost unchallenged, passed along the cost of the global increase to his country's drivers. Biya was more careful than some of his Western counterparts, however, in choosing his moment to raise the price at the pump: The announcement, in mid-February, coincided with...
...when the realization finally dawned on Cameroonians, the response was explosive. Beginning with a taxi strike in late February, thousands took to the streets to protest not only fuel prices but also the spiraling cost of staple foods such as rice and wheat. Barricades burned across the country and gas stations and government offices were torched. At least 24 protestors were killed by government forces, and hundreds of others were arrested during the ensuing crackdown...