Ted H. Ralph, Petroleum Engineering Consultant, New Orleans, Louisiana A duly elected government represents the will of the majority of a nation and is responsible for the welfare of all of its citizens. A business entity is primarily responsible to a minority of the population. Generally, these people are owners whether they are shareholders or private investors. It is obvious that the management teams at Ford and Firestone made decisions that ran counter to the overall welfare of the people of Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and the U.S. Citizens of all three countries were needlessly killed for the sake of profits. George Washington warned that there are no friends among the family of nations.
Nations act in their own self-interest.
Nations that sponsor terrorism must be denied both the means and the targets. The ability of a government to dictate where a company can compete is essential to its ability to deny those means and targets as part of its responsibility for the welfare of all of its citizens. Victims of terrorism seldom get a second chance at life. Typically, they get a headstone. Mike Travis, Lasmo PLC, London, U.K. Governments, like any other organization or business, will use all the tools available to them in order to achieve their objectives.