When I'm not work work working hard to end the drug war, I spend my off hours obsessing about the imminent collapse of our "way of life" that will result when world petroleum reserves peak. So you know I've been watching the recent US maneuvering around Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, very closely, as it represents the intersection of these two issues. This morning, the Financial Times ran a story blaming President Chavez for letting his country become the "world's leading transit route for cocaine." Providing passage for Colombian cocaine, harboring FARC insurgents or corruption in the Venezuelan government all seem beside the point. The bigger story here is that Chavez is a threat, as was Saddam Hussein in Iraq and now president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, to our unbroken access to easily extracted oil. Consider these recent headlines:

• Venezuela President Says He'd Blow Up Oilfields if US Attacked
  
  
• Chavez Taking Decisive Steps to Turn Off Oil Taps to the United States of America
  

Just like the war on terror, our leaders have at their disposal the war on drugs as a justification for aggression toward unfriendly nations.

Tags: Venezuela, Peak Oil, War on Drugs.