Michael, the following is a bit of a post I made to K1farrel, over on the Yahoo CWEI board (or maybe as far back as the VPI board before it sank into oblivion). Anyway, here is what I said on the verge of the Iraq war:
"K1Ferrel,
I find it uncomfortable to be on your side of the barricade on this Iraqi controversy, but so be it. I am. My read of the situation, however, is roughly the opposite of yours. If Bush and the Washington boyz were going into Iraqi for the oil money, I’d think better of them. It would be evidence of clear thinking, of practical goals based on self-interest, of confidence in themselves and disdain for the opinion of others. None of this is the case. I see no evidence of disciplined thought from Inside the Belt Way. Rather, I see decisions made on the basis of a series of disconnected emotional states
....
" If Washington does invade, my guess about a few possible outcomes:
* Serious divisions in this country (that’s an easy prediction --- look at this thread);
* A pell-mell drive by all countries of the Persian Gulf region to get nuclear weapons;
*The eventual take-over of Mesopotamia by Islamic extremists.
*(I say “Mesopotamia” because the entity called “Iraq” will cease to exist.)
* I will go so far as to say that I don’t think that we will get much more oil out from the Iraqi region than we do now, not because of lack of oil, but because of chaos and discord. " |
