You seem to have missed the US corn-ethanol industry. We are paying agribusinesses to grow corn-for-ethanol in place of food - and it's not clear that (if you think of fuel as miles-traveled, so as to account for the lower energy content of ethanol) there are any more miles of ethanol being produced than the miles of petroleum products used to produce that corn. (To be fair, although ethanol contains less energy per volume, it does allow combustion at higher pressure without preignition — and that higher pressure is associated with more efficient ICEs — BUT those have not been in general use since TEL was phased out.)

On top of that, corn is spectacularly draining for soil. We're losing a lot now, just to erosion; the only reason we have such a deep layer is that we have Canada's topsoil as well, thanks to the glaciers dragging it south. That paying farmers not to farm is so they can leave fields fallow, plant something that replenishes the nitrogen, harrow it all back in when the field goes back into production.

For anyone who doubts me on corn depleting soil, grow some in your garden this year - see how poorly your crops do next year, unless you amend the soil.

I remember Beirut as a wonderful place (taught there for a very short while in the 70s). I am beyond sad about what's happened there over the last 50 years.