Following a dispute with Russia at the most recent OPEC meeting, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman decided to increase oil production dramatically, sending prices plummeting. Coupled with cratering demand resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, this move could prove fatal to the U.S. shale-oil industry. John Hannah and Varsha Koduvayur urge Washington to pressure Riyadh to reverse course:

Whether laying waste to a strategic sector of the U.S. economy was a factor in Mohammad bin Salman’s decision, it will almost certainly be one of the results. Overnight, he put at risk tens of thousands of high-paying American jobs and struck a potentially mortal blow against a resurrected oil sector that has become a critical asset in Washington’s efforts to constrain oil-rich adversaries in such places as Iran and Venezuela. Once the shale industry is lost in an avalanche of defaults, bankruptcies, and abandoned wells, the risks are high that the costs of bringing the industry back in the foreseeable future could be prohibitive.

It’s important that the United States see the Saudi decision for the irresponsible and unfriendly act that it was. . . . It may be ironic that the United States, after decades of criticizing the Saudis for keeping prices too high, is now attacking Riyadh for driving prices too low. But it’s worth recalling the fundamental bargain that rests at the core of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. In exchange for America’s underwriting its security, the kingdom pledged to provide access to its oil at reasonable prices.

People may quibble over the meaning of “reasonable.” But in a world in which the U.S. military remains the one force standing between Saudi Arabia and a rapacious Iran, Washington is within its rights to inveigh against any Saudi oil strategy that undermines the foundations of U.S. economic power and national security—regardless of whether the Saudi strategy leads to prices that are too high or too low.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.