Acta Diurna

On a visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the American president George W. Bush asked King Abdullah to increase Saudi oil production. This appeal aims to offset rising oil prices. Today, the barrel of petroleum has hit a new record high above 127 dollars.

The American plea occurred during the second stage of Bush’s farewell Middle East Tour. He addressed the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem yesterday, and he will meet the Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Cairo tomorrow.

In fact, Bush and his administration feel the rising discontent of their people. Many Americans cannot afford to make full fuel anymore as gas prices reached a national average of 3.78 dollars per gallon at the pump.

But it’s not certain that a potential rise of the oil production will lower prices. Some economists believe that those values are driven up mainly by a bigger demand, especially from China and India. According to them, slowed productions have only a secondary impact.

However, it isn’t the first time that President Bush appeals to the Saudis to boost their production. He had already expressed this desire back in mid-January. At that time, Abdullah hadn’t met his ally’s expectations. It is likely that the Saudi king will disappoint them one more time.

The best-selling album of all times, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, has been added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress today. The disc, including the legendary singles “Beat it”, “Billie Jean” and of course “Thriller”, will be conserved for its cultural importance around the world.

Thriller was released on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records, produced by Quincy Jones. It became immediately a bestseller and finally reached the top among the best-selling albums with more than sixty thousand copies sold worldwide. Plus, seven out of the nine songs of the album became top10 singles in the United States of America.

Together with Michael Jackson’s album, twenty-four other recordings were also added to the National Recording Registry for their "cultural, historical or aesthetical significance". For instance, Harry Truman’s speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Roy Orbinson 1964 song “Oh, pretty woman” and Ronald Reagan radio broadcasts between 1976 and 1979 received this honor.

In fact, the Library of Congress chooses twenty-five recordings every year to add to its registry. These must “reflect life in the United States” according to the Library’s rules. With this year’s selection, the registry reaches a total of 250 sound recordings.

Now that the Americans do not have Saddam Hussein anymore to play the role of public enemy number one, they need a new one. Since 2006, they found him: the Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad and his nuclear ambitions. He passed the casting easily: a bearded man who criticizes the American imperialism and who flaunts himself with the Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. Nobody could play this role better.

But what’s so dangerous about Iran getting nuclear power? Absolutely nothing.

George W. Bush and his friends tell everybody that Iran’s goal is to make nuclear weapons. They’re jumping to conclusions. Actually, it is not in Iran’s interest to do it. A nuclear bomb is totally useless nowadays. As soon as Iran would have developed its first weapon, the country would be wiped off the map by Israel. The former Prime Minister Ehud Barak said it: “We can’t tolerate Iran as a nuclear power.”

In addition, a recent report of the American intelligence published at the end of 2007 maintains that Iran stopped its researches to getting nuclear weapons back in 2003, two years before Ahmadinejad became president. Yet the United States of America disregard this proof and still blame their enemy.

So why does Iran want to control the nuclear power? There’s only one reason and the USA forget to mention it: it’s essential for the After-Oil. In less than forty years, Iran will not be able to count on petroleum anymore, according to experts. The country will need nuclear power to avoid sinking economically and to continue being a great power in the Middle-East. But that the USA can’t admit.

Jean-Philippe Chognot