Defending A Phantom

WHEN BORDER DISPUTES between Iraq and Iran flared into full-scale war last week, with each side bombing the other's oilfields, the rest of the world stood to one side. Spurned equally by the Arab socialists in Iraq and the Islamic revolutionaries in Iran, the United States could do little besides urge an end to hostilities, and for the moment, the Soviet Union appears to desire the same.

Iraq's invasion of Iran's oil-rich Khuzistan province looks like a clear case of aggression on the part of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, seeking to establish himself as the unquestioned leader of the hard-line Arab nations. However reprehensible Americans may find that aggression, the United States clearly cannot--and should not--take sides in this conflict. President Carter's restraint in taking any action on the war is commendable.

Some of his words, however, are not. This latest Middle East war has tested Carter's doctrine of military protection for Persian Gulf oil much sooner than expected. Pressed by reporters to clarify American intentions last week, administration spokesmen said they could not rule out the use of military force to keep open the Strait of Hormuz through which Persian Gulf passes on its way to consumer nations.

In all likelihood, events will not force Carter to make good on that pledge in the near future. That should not lull Americans into ignoring the meaning of this latest application of the "Carter doctrine." It means that, should this week's war or future tumults threaten the oil pipeline from the Persian Gulf, Carter will send in the Navy, the Air Force and--if necessary--the Army. It means that, even though world oil supplies will become inadequate within two or three decades with the best possible supply situation, Carter believes it is worth fighting today to preserve this phantom of national security, our oil imports. It means, most of all, that the United States is committed to sending its soldiers to die for the defense of an oil supply which could be supplanted with a vigorous national campaign of conservation, gasoline rationing, and alternative sources of energy.

America's petroleum-based lifestyle must change, one way or another. If war in the Middle East does not force that change today, depletion of oil sources will force it before the end of this century. At best, the "Carter doctrine" fails to provide for our nation's energy needs beyond the next few years; should it be tested more seriously than it has been this week, it will become a policy of blood for oil.