Yeah, I think you are right on the mark. An Iraq war is going to cause all sorts of problems to our economy. The thing that worries me most is that I think we really do need to go in and clear out Saddam. However, that is going to reap us a backlash of terrorism on our own shores. Many Arabs hate us and will continue to think we're up to no good no matter what our true intentions are. In addition, I keep reading about increasing Muslim extremism and just about any mention of America or Americans in the Middle East is accompanied by vitriol and hate. So it wouldn't surprise me in the least, if we start experiencing terrorism on a daily basis like the Israelis do now. That kind of daily fear is just not understood here in the US. When that happens, either we will go isolationist or we will go extreme as the Israelis have. If we go extreme, there will be a few more countries toppled like Afghanistan was. My guess is that we go extreme. Americans don't cower in fear very well. If we do start going it alone everywhere, we'll make enemies very fast and that could eventually lead to nuclear war. We'll probably win in the end, but any sane person can see what a phyrric victory that will be. Anyway, you get the picture.
I tell you what we need to do. Let's forget about Saddam and all of the Middle East, including Israel. Instead, let's yank every bit of aid and funding that we provide to the Middle East and let them sink into the quagmire of their own making. Then with the $100 billion or so this war is going to cost us, let's pour all of that into hydrogen fuel cell technology and the infrastructure and fueling stations across the US to support it. Then let's wipe out our dependence on oil completely. Then those madmen in the Middle East will get exactly what they want. They want us to leave them alone and keep our noses out of their politics. So I say let's leave them alone for good and see if they know how to help themselves. If they do, then maybe the world will benefit from their new inspired culture. If they don't, then they'll get what they deserve, but let them do it on their own. However, judging from the hold the madmen clerics have over everyday Muslims, I bet the whole Middle East will end up partitioned into many fractious Islamic states, which do a great job of repressing their own people. You have to look no further than Afghanistan to see that. Or you can take a look at Pakistan. Musharaf gives them free elections and the clerics get the majority and claim they're going to turn the country into a pure Islamic state. I just don't understand why any intelligent person would want to voluntarily subject himself to the backwardness, tyranny, constraints, and autocratic rule of an Islamic state. Are they all brainwashed? I understand why they hate the U.S., but why do they insist on inflicting tyranny on themselves when they get the chance? It's beyond me. |
