Do you think they give one toss for the plight of the Iraqi people?? Why is it so hard for US to admit the same?$?$?$
Big difference, in my opinion, between propping up and "running cover" for a despotic and illegitimate tyrant and attempting to create a government that is accountable to its own people (which obviously would like to "encourage" US oil industry companies to help rebuild and modernize their oil infrastructure)..
That's where I would draw the line..
And in other places on this and other threads, I've outlined my theory that the overthrow of Iraq was a strategic decision, in part, aimed at undermining Saudi Arabia's stranglehold on Mid-East oil production and providing the US some degree of leverage with that regime.
It inserted the US right into the middle of some of the most corrupt and militant regimes in the world and sends a signal that "enough is enough" and the world now has to pay attention to this much ignored, but economically crucial, part of the world.
I'm no fan of the Saudi Royal family.. Many are corrupt, but there are a few who are moderate and see the need for political diversity and socio-economic progress in their country. And we've seen Wahhabist militants attempting to attack Saudi authority over the course of the summer. This will likely continue as their economic situation there continues to worsen.
There's been a lot of theorizing about whether Iraq is about to fall into civil war between ethnic factions. I could venture out on a limb and suggest that the same concerns hold true for Saudi Arabia..
The demographic "time bomb" continues to tick away throughout the region. The population explosion is inevitable.. In fact, it's already underway and impacting political, economic, and religious policies there..
The best the US, as well as the rest of the world, can do is attempt to contain, and potentially channel, it into something positive before it ignites the entire area into conflict and chaos.
And undermining and reforming Saudi Arabia's militant Wahhabist movement is a VERY BIG PART of that.
And this is why I'm so very upset with the French and Russians over their opposition to enforcing UNSC sanctions against Iraq. It was a display of weakness and partisan greed that was signaling to every corrupt government in the region that the UN was impotent to opposing their regimes and political designs.
Hawk |
