Strategic Petroleum Reserve

I was reading this column by Victor Davis Hanson when this section got me thinking:

With oil prices at an all-time high, Iran can't provide gasoline for its own people, who resent the billions spent instead on Arab terrorists abroad. If oil were to dip from near $70 to $50-55 a barrel, the regime would face abject bankruptcy. For all the criticism of the U.S. position, from the left and right, we have now found the right blend of military determination not to let Teheran go nuclear, combined with economic and political efforts at containment. There is an array of future options — stronger embargoes, blockades, and military strikes on infrastructure — still on the table. The social unrest the mullahs desire in Iraq is starting to spill over the border into their own Iran, and its magnitude and final course are still unpredictable.

After reading that paragraph I wondered if the US could use our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to drive prices down and help further destabilize Iran. President Bush released 11 million barrels to help calm markets after Hurricane Katrina. What would happen if Bush asked to have a third of the reserves released now (around 300 million barrels)? I would assume that this news would drive down the price per barrel of crude oil and thus help destabilize the terrorists in Teheran in the manner VDH described. If their oil money took a big dip - then they would have a hard time financing the terror exports to Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and most importantly Iraq.

President Bush could say he's making the move to help drive down prices for the summer months so that Americans would be able to take vacations without the high price of gas hanging over their heads. The move could also greatly help the economy. What politican could be against the move? It would be like coming out in favor of high gas prices.

The only downside I can see is that stock prices for oil companies could take a hit and our reserves would be down but the oil companies would rebound and the reserves could always be added to when prices get down to a naturally low level when things stabilize (if that's a word you can use) in the Middle East.

Is there a flaw in this idea? Because if there is - I can't see it.