(IsraelNN.com) Watch the INN Television Interview

Dr. Luft told David Miller of INN Television at the recent Jerusalem Conference that the main goal of the radical Islamic Jihad movement is to “bring the U.S. economy to its knees.” That movement, spearheaded by Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, started to plan its moves against the United States after it attributed Moscow’s exit from Afghanistan to Soviet economic difficulties resulting from the war.

Now Bin Laden thinks he can do the same thing to the United States, but more so. Dr. Luft explains that Bin Laden is deliberately focusing on U.S. economic targets. Al Qaeda’s attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, was planned to strike at the epicenter of the American economy. That attack, which cost the American taxpayer one trillion dollars in damages, and the subsequent war in Afghanistan and Iraq, are “bleeding” the American economy of its wealth.

Dr. Luft says that Bin Laden is also attempting to disrupt the American economy by causing the price of oil to rise. He claims that the sabotage of oil pipelines in Iraq and attacks on foreign oil workers in Saudi Arabia succeeded in raising the price of oil by $10-$15 per barrel.

That price rise alone cost the U.S. economy tens of billions of dollars in lost wealth. To add salt to the wound, this money, ironically, is being transferred to America’s enemies in the Middle East, such as Iran. Iran and radical Saudi groups then use their oil riches to finance the Jihad, which is dedicated to destroying the United States.

But this vicious cycle, where America finances its own enemies as well as the wars to fight them, can be broken, said Dr. Luft. He told Miller that the U.S. has actually made some significant strides in reducing American dependence on foreign oil. He explains that in the 1970’s, 30% of electric power was produced from oil - while today that percentage stands at zero.

What America has to do, asserts Dr. Luft, is to drastically revamp the inefficient transportation sector. He proposes that the United States lead a massive international project to improve transport fuel efficiency. He points out that the technology already exists. “There’s no need for new research and development” to have cars running on 60-70 miles per gallon, he explains.

Dr. Luft claims that improving fuel economy in the transportation sector is the most important thing the U.S. can do to strengthen its economy “and win the war on terror.”

So far, however, without U.S. leadership on this issue, it appears that Bin Laden is gaining the upper hand. “Bin Laden says he wants oil to go up to $140 per barrel. Based on what he’s done so far this year, he’s on his way to getting it,” Dr. Luft lamented.

But Dr. Luft is confident that with the right leadership, the U.S. has the potential to turn the situation around. “We believe that in 20 years… we can reduce oil demand significantly in the transport sector and almost eliminate all U.S. oil imports," he said.