I agree that the link between SUVs and terrorism is tenuous at best. So, we get 12% of our oil from the middle east. There are 16 million SUVs (I'll guess out of 200 million vehicles). Each of those vehicles gets 21 mpg instead of 28.

So 12.5% of our vehicles are SUVs. SUVs are 25% less efficient than small cars. Therefore, less than 4% of our consumer gas usage is excess used by SUVs and only 12% of that, or less than half of one percent of our total consumer gas usage, is relevant here.

This is of course disregarding the oil used by trucks, generators, power plants, plastics, and the myriad other uses of oil. The US only purchases a fraction of the oil sold by those in the Middle East. Only some of the countries in the middle east support terrorism. Most of that money goes into oil production. Of the remainder, very little makes it into the hands of those who support terrorism, and of that, very little makes it into the hands of actual terrorist groups. And, of course, terrorists are going to get most of their money from other sources anyway.

So what does all that mean? If we had no SUVs, Al Qaeda might have had one cent less (out of hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars) to plan and execute their attacks on September 11.

Tell me why I should be upset again? If I spend an extra $1000 a year on my SUV and 1/1000 of one cent makes it to a terrorist? How much of the extra money I spend goes to gas taxes, and of that, how much extra money is the government getting to fight terrorism? I suspect there is a lot more money there.

You could make an argument that by owning an SUV, I am helping to fight terrorism.

-Biscuits