you know, my friend uses this great example. salt was a strategic commodity for thousands of years, the only way to preserve food, the only way to preserve meat. it was a really big deal. countries went to war over salt mines. and with the coming of the electricity grid, that ended in a few years. frozen meat was not only cheaper but tasted better. so refrigeration destroyed salt s strategic role. we still use it, we put it on the sidewalks in the winter, eat it on corn on the cob, but nobody looks at the salt shaker when they go to the table and wonder if we re salt independent. let s just look at some of the numbers. forget libya. cost of u.s. operations in iraq, $802 billion. cost of u.s. operations in afghanistan $455 billion. if oil didn t have the strategic importance that it does have,