“What the US Does Wrong” is turning into a very good class and very timely.
Sum up of the night:
US Motivations for war in Iraq—many Europeans, and even some Americans think that Bush is in this for oil. There are so many logical reasons why that is false that were presented tonight.
First of all, we could get all the oil we wanted from Iraq if we would lift the goddamn economic sanctions. Basically, we’re just being stubborn. We want Iraq to do things our way, be democratic and humanitarian and stop building weapons that we ourselves possess. So it isn’t like Saddam Hussein is unwilling to sell us oil – we’re just being spiteful.
Cheaper oil prices aren’t what Bush is after either. If we won a war in Iraq, we would have to rebuild both the government and the oil industry at a huge, huge expense. (Besides, people say that Saddam would just torch the oil fields on the way out, Elias Wyatt style. And I wouldn’t blame him. Saddam is a dictator, but he runs an authoritarian, not a totalitarian regime. Basically, people there don’t hate him as much as the US wants you to think. And even if they did, it is not our right to intervene. It makes sense that he would torch his oil fields, if we won’t let him have them, why should he let us have them) Furthermore, those who say Bush is a player for the oil companies: this may be so, but Bush is invested in domestic oil companies. If prices fall low on the foreign market it negatively impacts the domestic market, ie causes Bush to lose money. Finally, the reason gas prices are so high now are not because of the possibility of war with Iraq, its because of the strike in Venezuela. If we were really after cheap oil prices we’d be sending troops to Caracaus.
On Inevitability
Many, including my professor feel war is inevitable. I thought it was until about a week ago. All this ‘duct tape and plastic sheets’ are just indications that maybe this is boiling down, and they just need something to say… Plus, the strategy of the US has been undermined by the UN calling for more time. Quite simply, you can’t fight a war in Iraq in the summer. That why the last war in the Persian Gulf took place in January. Basically, its already too late. If we want a war in Iraq that we can win, we may have to wait until next year.
Someone suggested today that we will look back at this period in history and say we waited too long. That war was necessary, and we waited too long. That may be true. I do not think we should be going to war in this situation, but the manner in which we have involved ourselves may make war the best option. We may have dug ourselves into a grave, and the only way out is combat. I’m sure that outrages a lot of people who vehemently dissent to the war, but it is only a logical consideration. Maybe people should start thinking “what are the consequences of NOT going to war”
