From: Jurriaan Bendien (adsl675281@TISCALI.NL)
Date: Mon Oct 08 2007 - 13:58:50 EDT
Hi Jerry, Insofar that matters, I opposed the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq from the very start and still do, just as I opposed the first Gulf War which, incidentally, took place with the blessings of Billy Graham. Those actions are unlawlful, immoral and counterproductive in my opinion, beyond the horrific carnage and terrible human misery that ensued. I think you have to oppose all imperialist wars. If I was an anthropologist, and they asked me to assist the invaders I would say "you got to be joking", no matter how much money they offered. But you also have to distinguish I think between the policy makers in Washington offices, who design lunatic policies based on their deformed view of world realities, and the grunts who have to actually carry them out on the ground, with any means to hand. In an interesting recent interview with the Dutch SP journal "Tribune" http://www.sp.nl/nieuws/tribune/200708/kees_van_der_pijl.shtml, Kees van der Pijl (whose new book Global Rivalries is just out) emphasizes these wars are indeed about oil and geostrategic position. ""After the fall of Baghdad, Bush publicly announced that there would be a free trade treaty between a number of Middle Eastern countries and the US. In this way, the US aimed to let as large as possible share of the oil revenue from the region flow back to the US. It was also the intention that there would be a peace treaty between the new Iraq, Jordan and Israel and that there would be a pipeline from Iraq to the Israeli port of Haifa [!] [I did not know that]. In this way, the energy supply of Israel would be guaranteed, and there would be an end to the isolation of Israel in the region. All this with complete disregard for the Palestinians. It is obvious that this scheme failed. The Americans were not hailed as liberators. Now the situation in Iraq is hopeless. New attacks occur daily. There are an estimated four million refugees, the economic situation is disastrous, and the internal fighting is only increasing". There has always been an alternative: to make the US much less dependent on foreign oil, especially Middle Eastern oil, which is feasible, and which would also satisfy ecological concerns. But the political will is not there, and profits come first. Van der Pijl thinks that the SP should indict Tony Blair in the International Court of Justice in the Hague, because we are in a position to do so. The SP previously launched a petition demanding a commission of inquiry into the real reasons why the Netherlands participated in these wars. Well, as Van der Pijl notes, we have the HQ of Shell Corporation here, the politicians exploited a general climate of fear, and Dutch "christian" democrat Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was rewarded with a job as NATO secretary-general for his efforts. As far as I can see, the corridors of power in Washington are largely dominated by leaders who are basically nuts, cookey. They thought that they could solve political problems by military force. Well even Bob Gates doesn't believe that anymore. Now that the results stare everybody in the face, the neocon fanatics are being deserted in droves. One can only hope that the next US government will contain more people with real brains and political acumen. On holiday, I met a nice guy from near Detrroit at the airport, who said "Americans typically vote for politicians on the basis of their stance on local issues, not international issues, but that is likely to change now". I sure hope it does. Jurriaan
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