Thanks for your thoughts, Marcos. There is much wisdom in what you say. As an American who lived through the entire Vietnam war (including the French phase), I am well aware of the destruction that the US can wreak despite good intentions. And I believe it is becoming clear that this war was started by a regime that does not even have good intentions, as defined by anyone other than themselves. The liberation of the Iraqi people and the protection of the US people from terrorism is only a fig leaf for a plan to bring military power into the mid-east oil equation. Iraq is being attacked because we can, not because we must.
Similarly, the never-ending war on terror in the US is a misdirection play that keeps citizens diverted from internal issues such as economic stagnation, corporate malfeasance, the looming currency/credit crisis, and the degradation of our civil liberties. It surprises me that investors who have become sophisticated enough to discern the earnings deceptions, and outright fraud, of people carrying the mantle of public trust, namely corporate CEOs, should be so reluctant to recognize that the administration is playing fast and loose with the truth about Iraq, in order to advance their own agenda. An agenda which I believe will proved to be based on some terrible miscalculations (which we are already seeing) and which will have serious ill effects on the US.
Finally, I grow weary of those who insist that patriotism requires support for a misguided foreign policy that actually undermines our national security and destroys our credibility in the community of nations. The strength of our democracy is our empowered and concerned citizenry, not our ability to follow orders.
/Kit
P.S. Re Venezuela: I think you underestimate the working class support that Chavez has. The "business man's" revolution gets very good press here, but I am certain it is being largely financed covertly by the US - another example of our commitment to "democracy." |
