Joel,
I find myself basically in agreement with you. But I'm wondering if you might want to revisit this thought:
Hell, we destroyed Iraq, with no problem whatsoever. Now, we've got to rebuild it. It's only right that we pay.
I would bet you with long odds that if there were a plebiscite held in Iraq tomorrow, that they would gladly forego our money for their freedom. In other words, the Iraqis would be better off if the U.S. simply walked away, carting off all our military assets and our attitude. The money that the U.S. taxpayer is "giving" has strings attached. If you read Bremer's infamous dictat 39 from September, he intends to sell off all Iraqi assets, except oil for now, to the highest bidders. This will guarantee that Iraqis are stripped of their national wealth which will pass into the hands of victorious thieves associated with the Bush Administration.
No, we shouldn't feel obligated to rebuild Iraq. We should feel obligated to give the place back to its rightful owners and cease the fancy pillaging which is about to get underway.
I can fully understand the motivation of the Iraqi resistance. The more they create chaos and destroy the infrastructure, the less likely the nefarious Bush plan to steal the country is to succeed. |
