An energy policy task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney may propose lifting some economic sanctions against Iran, Iraq and Libya. According to a draft of the panel’s report, the trade restrictions imposed upon the three nations that virtually define ”rogue” should be reviewed given the importance of their oil production to global energy needs.

This proposal, leaked to the press in form of a trial balloon, is a striking example of how closely related good and bad ideas can be. A thorough review of the entire regime of economic sanctions is long overdue; exacerbating Middle East tension while increasing American dependence upon foreign oil is not.

The April 10 draft acknowledges that sanctions can “advance” important national security and diplomatic goals, adding that the nation’s energy security must be a top national security and diplomatic priority. That the task force worked so quietly for so long and now chooses to make this preliminary report public is testament of its sensitive nature.

The suggestion comes just as Congress is preparing to debate renewing the 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act for five more years when it expires in August. The oil industry is lobbying hard for an easing of investment restrictions; the pro-Israel lobby wants them kept in place, concerned that such investment inevitably would bankroll further terrorism and military buildups.

Certainly there is little to recommend the extension of sanctions as they currently exist. While the outside world knows little of what goes on within ultra-secret Libya, evidence from the other two countries makes a strong case for review and reform. In Iran, the U.S. sanctions have been the right wing’s major argument against the moderates’ effort to normalize relations. In Iraq, the U.S/U.N. sanctions have been a key element of Saddam Hussein’s ”Iraq against the world” agenda – rarely has a high-living despot used the hardship of his people so effectively. Ultimately, economic sanctions may work as short-term shock treatment, but the undisciplined global economy makes sustaining them impossible.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has taken a straightforward approach to sanctions reform by promoting a plan to ease the economic embargo on Iraq while tightening restrictions on imports that can be used to develop its military. The U.N. Security Council in June will take up reform of its ”Oil for Food” program, in which Iraq is allowed to export petroleum – much of which ends up in American gas tanks. The profits are placed in a special account to be used only for food, medicine and other humanitarian concerns, but it is widely known that Hussein withholds that money from his people to heighten resentment, so the Security Council is seeking a way to end that abuse.

These are thoughtful, substantive approaches to the difficult issue of how the power of economic clout can be used to advance peace and improve lives. In contrast, the Cheney task force trial balloon seems awfully lightweight.