In fact, one of my main concerns about the women's movement, is that intelligent and productive women are postponing having babies.
That's what they are intelligent and productive :)
So does Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Oman, Kuwait, etc. In addition, they have even smaller defense forces. What they don't have is a history of the sort of aggression that was previously presented.
And there is no tiny excuse as exists in Iraq's case - "evil" man, gassed his people, etc. What I find quite incredible is that it does not seem to offend anyone's rational senses that they are being invaded NOW, about ten years after he did anything "evil", when the WHOLE ADMINISTRATION is made up of oil people in the US. What a coincidence...
In countless arguments about Iraq here in the States, I have never heard that our motive is oil.
What can I say? Kudos to the President's marketing people...
Are we exploiting the Afghans? Or, are they better off for our intervention?
They are better off than before, at least for the short/medium term, AND the US will be exploiting them - Haven't you heard of the pipeline that Unocal will be building in Afghanistan? Do you think it is another coincidence that Hamid Karzai used to be a consultant for Unocal in the US and negotiated with the Taliban for a pipeline?
The Iraqi oil is basically under a number of contracts.
Contracts that are worth less than the paper they are printed on, as long as the sanctions are in place.
I know that Lukoil, the huge Russian company, has a $8 billion contract with them that the Iraqis have tried to cancel.
Lukoil contract was renewed yesterday:
guardian.co.uk
I simply don't know how the US would directly benefit.
Existing contracts don't mean a thing until the sanctions are lifted. Once US invades Iraq, of course, and does a "regime change", the new government will wash its hands off all the deals made by Saddam's government and Lukoil will be left saying "But... but..." while US corporations get all deals.
Possibly one of the major reasons why Putin is trying hard to be best buddies with Bush at present. The other being his need to align his war with Chechen fighters for independence with America's war with Al-Qaeda so he can grind Chechnya into smaller pieces than before with nobody screaming for human rights. |
