cnyndwllr's response:
To:dabum3 who wrote (21434)
From: cnyndwllr Wednesday, Apr 9, 2003 1:14 PM
Respond to of 21438
Dabum, you're a cynical realist that takes the truth head on. Once you get past all the "we're all about saving those poor Iraqi people" and look at the probable real reasons for the war, the possibilities are numerous. I can see practical reasons for the war including;
Sending a very real message to every nation that may not have been interested in stomping out terrorist groups that operated within it's borders. ("The 'mad dog' Americans are just too dangerous and we can't take a chance and give them an excuse to rain missiles down on us.")
Breaking the power of OPEC through the use of Iraqi oil. This gives the triple benefit of guaranteeing that oil prices won't strangle western economies, of assuring that our future world competitor, China, will have to wait in line at the oil trough until we've guzzled, and assuring that the riches that have funded terrorism are limited to the point where they are needed elsewhere.
The "breaking the power of Opec" end will, of course, run head on into the stated purpose of not profiting from our invasion of Iraq and from our stated intention to allow the Iraqis free choice in their future government. Of course both of those stated intentions would not help American business either and for all those reasons I'm a little skeptical that we'll do what we've now promised.
If we don't follow up on what we've promised, where will that leave America in terms of relationships with the nations and peoples of the world? Like investing, I guess it depends on whether you take the short term view, the mid term view or the long term view. When it comes to politics I've always been a long term thinker. My view is that we've done tremendous damage to the principles of international law and that if we aren't careful we may well create sentiments and anger that will lead, as did the Palestinian-Israeli action, to long term and intractable conflict with passionate and irresolute foes.
It's refreshing to discuss this with someone who, although viewing it differently, has a pragmatic view that sees past the disinformation and counterinformation that pervades most discussions. If we are to discuss this, however, why not use the old "strictly drilling" site and leave this one uncluttered. I've already posted there to Slider. Ed |
