Ad Linking SUV Owners to Terrorism Is a Sham
By David Holcberg (January 23, 2003)

The ad campaign claiming SUV owners are financing terrorism is a sham.

While it's true that a fraction of the dollars spent on gas by SUV owners ends up in the hands of terrorists, so does a fraction of the dollars spent by Americans who own trucks or cars, who fly in airplanes, who heat their homes, etc.

Why then are SUVs singled out for condemnation?

Because they symbolize the American way of life and its core values: self-interest, individualism, capitalism, the pursuit and achievement of happiness.

Note that if Americans were to give up their SUVs, or stop buying oil from the Arab countries, there would be no impact whatsoever in the terrorists' finances. Why? Because Arab oil is cheap, and if Americans stopped buying it, others would buy it.

The purpose and motivation of the anti-SUV ads is therefore not to fight terrorism, but to get rid of an American icon: the SUV. If the anti-SUV campaigners were really concerned about fighting terrorism, they would have spent their time and money on ads advocating that we do away not with the beloved SUVs that enrich our lives, but with the vicious terrorist regimes that threaten our lives.