War for Consumers?

[corplinx]

One of the popular mantras of what I consider the reactionary anti-war crowd is that the war in Iraq is "all about oil". Something about this nagged at me and I think I finally have all the pieces together.

First we have Iraq. A country the size of California. Its basically your keystone to the rest of the mideast. Currently, Iraq is underdeveloped and even its oil equipment is still living in the disco era.

Around Iraq you have nervous neighbors who don't want to develop too much near their borders since Saddam likes to take those sometimes.

You have economies waiting to go gangbusters in Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

Israel experiences economic stagnation and recession also and if Saddam (who is a supporter of Hamas) is removed than Israel may be able to finally get a long enough peacetime to rebuild its economy.

What does all of this lead to? First you have Iraq. How many dollars will be spent modernizing Iraq? Starting to see the picture?

If I was a cynical anti-war protestor, I would say this is war is an attempt to finally make the middle east a stable and robust market for goods and services. A capitalist looking at Iraq has to drool. You have a country the size of California who will all of sudden have all this oil money and nowhere to spend it. They will need roads, modern telephone equipment, fiber optic cables, Internet pipes, food, medicine, medical equipment.

I think the middle east will be a capitalists gold rush. Not to mention I think the economies of Turkey, Jordan, and Kuwait will have a lot more confidence.

Now. With this in mind, when do you think the anti-globalization protestors will turn out to protest the capitalization of the middle east?

[susheel]

Corplinx,

I read your post and I will say at the outse that I agree with almost everything in it.

Now I would like to go further. Anti-globalization protests are not just about corporations, they are primarily about the lack of sensitivity that the corporations have about the locality from which they draw their resources...labour, raw materials etc.

Many groups feel that they need to be more accountable, while the corporations themselves move large forums to limit this accountability. The Union Carbide case in Bhopal is one example.

Now re: Iraq. The Iraq-KuwaIt border issue has a hIstory that has effectively been washed over by media. Agreed, Saddam did a stupid thing rolling into Kuwait. America pushed him out of Kuwait.

Now come up some issues.

Iraq was until then one of the more secular governments in the middle east. It is ruled by a dictator, well so are many other countries in the middle east(only they have a brand of royalty on them so that makes it alright. It was also one of the more prosperous countries in the ME until the sanctions. It’s human rights record was just as bad or as good as most other countries in the area.

The big issue was the use of chemical weapons against Iran . America didn’t mind that too much. They also chemical weapons against Kurdish freedom fighters insitgated and later abandoned by America. America (none of its allies in the gulf for that matter) has no sympathry for Kurdish freedom fighters…they are merely a means to an end.

How much would you wager that the prime directive after the war would be to install not a better government, but a government that is more friendly to American business

It's already happened in Afghanistan.

[subgenius]

You lost me when you started calling names:
"reactionary anti-war crowd ".
If you have a valid point make it without resorting to buzz words.
If I were in a name calling mood you would be a reactionary, but I'm not, so you're not.

[corplinx]

Thanks for some good thoughts. My whole post was a big "what if" for others to think about. You have returned the favor in kind. :)

[corplinx]

Originally posted by subgenius
You lost me when you started calling names:
"reactionary anti-war crowd ".
If you have a valid point make it without resorting to buzz words.

I could edit it and take that out. However, as we know some protestors fit into the category I pointed out. I made no attempt to paint them all into this category though but I think I could have stated that better.

"One of the popular mantras of what I consider the reactionary anti-war crowd is" were my exact words.

For the record, if you want to know which people fit in this category go to brain-terminal.com and watch "protesting the protestors".

For the record, I was not attempting to imply that pacifism or principled objection is reactionary mindlessness.

[corplinx]

By the way Sub, you know you love my new avatar. Its an evil milkshake.

[susheel]

Like your new avatar...the milkshake guy from Hungerforce right? He isn't evil...he's stupid and extremely ego-centric...er...does that mean....
*looks down at feet...shuffles them...looks around...pretends to notice someone and walks away quickly*

[corplinx]

Originally posted by susheel
Like your new avatar...the milkshake guy from Hungerforce right?

Yes, Master Shake. I was using Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force but people kept thinking it was a self-portrait.

[subgenius]

Certainly better than the hairy redneck thingy...

[corplinx]

Originally posted by subgenius
Certainly better than the hairy redneck thingy...

Carl is actually Jersey trash. He wears flip flops, jogging pants, and a wife beater 24/7. He also wears a swanky gold chain to complement his body hair.