Although I agree that we should all conserve energy whenever possible, Barr (Letters to the Editor, "Would you give al-Qaida money," published Feb. 5) should get his facts straight.

We do not import "$700 billion in oil from the Middle East." Total U.S. oil imports (at $40/bbl) are about 12.5 million barrels per day, for a total annual cost of $186 billion.

Of that, only 2.5 million barrels per day comes from the Middle East, for a total annual cost of $32 billion.

Perhaps some of that money does trickle down to groups like al-Qaida, but even if the U.S. imported no oil from the Middle East, that oil would still be sold, so what we do has no effect on that potential funding source.