... but Big Oil can't see that, because they project from where they are today, rather than projecting from where they are heading if they keep going down the path of relying on the US to establish a network of bases wherever it serves their short term interest.

I expect that the majority of the people at the top of the heap normally have to be kicked off, even when their long term interest is best served by climbing down.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.