Saturday, June 17, 2006
About George Bush's Dream
My friend H and I communicate regularly by e-mail. We haven't met each other face to face since 1989 when I retired. Lately H has been pestering me about George Bush's Dream. Would I like to see the dream come to pass? I wrote back that I couldn't honestly answer his question until he told me what George Bush's dream is.
H wrote that George Bush's dream is to plant the seed of democracy in Iraq and see it grow and spread throughout the Middle East.
I wrote back that I heartily approve the thought and hope it might some day come to pass. I also wrote that Mr. Bush is following a poor way to achieve such a lofty goal. Democracy isn't imposed by force. The people of Iraq have to choose it for themselves and do the necessary fighting, negotiating, and compromising to create their own democratic government and make it work.
Meanwhile, H has written to me and to others that I won't give him straight answers to simple questions. Instead, I indulge in "mind reading" and present my own idea as to what is in the mind of Mr. Bush and other political leaders. I have reminded H that we're both old enough to have learned not to place too much faith in what politicians say.
Mr. Bush can say what he will. His dream and that of his advisors is a plentiful supply of petroleum at a price of twenty dollars a barrel. Iraq has tremendous reserves of petroleum. Our economy has become addicted to oil. We use lots of it and we need a sure supply. In addition, Mr. Bush's wealthy patrons want to have control of the sources of petroleum. Iraq had nationalized its oil industry. American oil firms wanted to take control of the exploration, drilling, and extraction of petroleum from Iraq as well as control the sale of the black gold.
It is important to note that one of the first acts of our proconsul Paul Bremer was to privatize the oil industry of Iraq and open it to exploitation by American oil firms. Oh, yes, British oil firms were allowed to share in the action. They are our allies. French, German, Russian, and other firms were ruled out. Those countries are not our allies.
Neither the present Bush administration nor the first Bush administration were at all open about their real reasons for their interest in Iraq. Remember that Saddam Hussein was "our man" until he made the mistake of invading and occupying Kuwait. Kuwait has tremendous oil reserves and the first Bush administration didn't like Saddam Hussein to have control over such a large fraction of all the known oil reserves on the planet.
The present Bush administration has hidden its real interest in Iraq. Instead, it has presented the following justifications for the war against Iraq:
There are several versions of George Bush's dream for the Middle East. H will accuse me of "mind reading" for listing them. However, these are not ideas I have conjured up by presuming to read George Bush's mind. These are based on actual statements made at various times by members of the present administration.
Too often in discussing the War in Iraq we lose sight of the really important fact: our economy needs the oil and Iraq has lots of oil. There are plenty of other cruel, dictatorial regimes in the world. Now and in the past we have tolerated them. Among the worst at present are Burma (excuse me, Myanmar) and Sudan. In the past we tolerated cruel dictators in Guatemala, Argentina, Indonesia, Haiti, Salvador, Dominican Republic, Iran, Nicaragua, and other countries. The regimes in Guatemala, Salvador, and Argentina killed or "disappeared" their own people. In some of these countries we took the side of the regime that was torturing and killing its own people and opposed the efforts of those who tried to overthrow the regime.
I find it impossible to take seriously the assertion of an ultra-conservative President that his primary motive in waging a war is to "plant the seed of democracy" so that it can grow and spread. That's the reason that I had such difficulty dealing with H's question.
H wrote that George Bush's dream is to plant the seed of democracy in Iraq and see it grow and spread throughout the Middle East.
I wrote back that I heartily approve the thought and hope it might some day come to pass. I also wrote that Mr. Bush is following a poor way to achieve such a lofty goal. Democracy isn't imposed by force. The people of Iraq have to choose it for themselves and do the necessary fighting, negotiating, and compromising to create their own democratic government and make it work.
Meanwhile, H has written to me and to others that I won't give him straight answers to simple questions. Instead, I indulge in "mind reading" and present my own idea as to what is in the mind of Mr. Bush and other political leaders. I have reminded H that we're both old enough to have learned not to place too much faith in what politicians say.
Mr. Bush can say what he will. His dream and that of his advisors is a plentiful supply of petroleum at a price of twenty dollars a barrel. Iraq has tremendous reserves of petroleum. Our economy has become addicted to oil. We use lots of it and we need a sure supply. In addition, Mr. Bush's wealthy patrons want to have control of the sources of petroleum. Iraq had nationalized its oil industry. American oil firms wanted to take control of the exploration, drilling, and extraction of petroleum from Iraq as well as control the sale of the black gold.
It is important to note that one of the first acts of our proconsul Paul Bremer was to privatize the oil industry of Iraq and open it to exploitation by American oil firms. Oh, yes, British oil firms were allowed to share in the action. They are our allies. French, German, Russian, and other firms were ruled out. Those countries are not our allies.
Neither the present Bush administration nor the first Bush administration were at all open about their real reasons for their interest in Iraq. Remember that Saddam Hussein was "our man" until he made the mistake of invading and occupying Kuwait. Kuwait has tremendous oil reserves and the first Bush administration didn't like Saddam Hussein to have control over such a large fraction of all the known oil reserves on the planet.
The present Bush administration has hidden its real interest in Iraq. Instead, it has presented the following justifications for the war against Iraq:
- Saddam Hussein harbored terrorists. Iraq collaborated with Al Qaeda in the terrible events of 9/11/2001.
- Saddam Hussein's government had weapons of mass destruction and was embarking on a program to develop nuclear weapons. We had to overthrow his regime before he used these weapons against us or our allies.
- Saddam Hussein was a brutal, corrupt dictator who used poison gas against people of his own country. He was an evil beast and the world is better off with him no longer in power.
- Our goal in Iraq is to establish a democratic regime in the country. If democracy takes root in Iraq, it will spread to other countries in the region, such as Syria and Iran. Democracies do not start wars or threaten their neighbors.
- Setting up a regime in Baghdad that is friendly to the Uniited States will undercut the support of such terrorist organizations as Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. As a result, it will be easier to find a solution to the problem of Palestine vs. Israel.
There are several versions of George Bush's dream for the Middle East. H will accuse me of "mind reading" for listing them. However, these are not ideas I have conjured up by presuming to read George Bush's mind. These are based on actual statements made at various times by members of the present administration.
Too often in discussing the War in Iraq we lose sight of the really important fact: our economy needs the oil and Iraq has lots of oil. There are plenty of other cruel, dictatorial regimes in the world. Now and in the past we have tolerated them. Among the worst at present are Burma (excuse me, Myanmar) and Sudan. In the past we tolerated cruel dictators in Guatemala, Argentina, Indonesia, Haiti, Salvador, Dominican Republic, Iran, Nicaragua, and other countries. The regimes in Guatemala, Salvador, and Argentina killed or "disappeared" their own people. In some of these countries we took the side of the regime that was torturing and killing its own people and opposed the efforts of those who tried to overthrow the regime.
I find it impossible to take seriously the assertion of an ultra-conservative President that his primary motive in waging a war is to "plant the seed of democracy" so that it can grow and spread. That's the reason that I had such difficulty dealing with H's question.
