Victor Davis Hanson: When America Pumps Oil, We’re Not Vulnerable, Russia Suffers with Low Oil Prices

EXCERPT:

DAVIS HANSON: “When the United States pumps oil and the West is not dependent on oil and the price is moderate worldwide, Putin doesn’t have a lot of cash and we are not desperate for oil, we're not doing what we are doing now, begging him to pump oil. But when you start to restrict it, as we did in 2014, as we didn’t have it in 2008, and we went down by almost 3 million barrels in one year, then we are vulnerable. That raises flags and Putin gets an appetite. The second thing is, when NATO — remember, Tucker, it’s got 1 billion people, it's got an economy, a GDP eight times larger than Russia — when it meets its defense commitments and most people pay the 2%, and Turkey and Germany, which are the two largest countries in NATO, like the United States better than they do Russia — and they pull more akin to Russia now than they do us — then Putin seems to stay where he is. And finally and most importantly, when the United States is confident, and the United States talks softly but it has capability, rather than loudly with a twig, Putin is deterred.”