Support the Troops: Bring Them Home
"I'm a war president. . .I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind."--President Bush on Meet the Press on 2/8/04In case anyone missed what Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont said recently, read this. From the article: “I think it was all done to get oil,” Jeffords said of invading Iraq. “And the loss of life that we had, and the cost of it, was to me just a re-election move, and they're going to try to live off it. Probably start another war, wouldn't be surprised, next year. Probably in Iran.”
Bush famously bragged that he is a war president, because he and his henchman know the value that having the country at war has during election season. The signs have been there for quite some time: Iran is next.
I've been saying it since at least last November. (Here is another post, and here is another.) It's amazing to see someone so high up finally acknowledging what Jeffords did. Here is a post on TomDispatch today which includes an extensive excerpt from a book by Michael Klare which details the strategic thinking behind the push against Iran.
Klare says, "In reality, much of Washington's concern about Iran's pursuit of WMD and ballistic missiles is sparked by fears for the safety of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, other Persian Gulf oil producers, and Israel rather than by fears of a direct Iranian assault on the United States. "Tehran has the only military in the region that can threaten its neighbors and Gulf security," Jacoby declared in his February testimony. "Its expanding ballistic missile inventory presents a potential threat to states in the region." It is this regional threat that American leaders are most determined to eliminate. . .In this sense, more than any other, the current planning for an attack on Iran is fundamentally driven by concern over the safety of U.S. energy supplies, as was the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. . .And so, while oil may not be the administration's sole reason for going to war with Iran, it is an essential factor in the overall strategic calculation that makes war likely."
Of course, Bush will try the same crap he did with Iraq and freak out the American people in every which way in order to scare people into going along with him. There'll be talk of WMD and the threat posed to America. There'll be talk of ties to Al-Qaida. Who knows, maybe there will be a terrorist attack in America with the finger of blame pointed at Iran (whether there were actually any Iranians involved or not). We won't know what to believe. They will stop at nothing to get what they want, and what they want is control over the oil in the Middle East.
Let's all remember his lies the last time around, and the human and financial cost.
1,542 (and counting) American lives.
Over $162,000,000,000.
The incalculable cost of eternal shame.
Of course, let's not forget all those Iraqis we killed (or here is another estimate).
(UPDATE: Even if you click no other links in this post, please click this one, and read it. Go now. Shoo!)
posted by Skrambled Egghead Reborn @ 7:07 PM
<< Home