Hi DUers,
After watching the pathetic performance of our Commander-in-Chief on Tuesday night, I decided to put together my thoughts on what got us into this supreme fiasco. Ever since 9/11 I have been trying to get down to the root cause of this problem.
If we dig down to the very core, we have a tiny piece of land, the size of a circle of radius 50 miles.
Within this area, we have an on going land dispute between two groups of people.
These two groups have been trying to eliminate one another with fanatic resolve. One of these groups openly desire to drive the other into the sea, while the other would like to see their counterpart pushed into Jordan.
This basic quarrel between two groups fighting for the same piece of land is further complicated by religious and political overtones.
Viewing from the religious angle, we have the Jews who form the majority with 80% of the population. They number 5.2 million and their faith is shared by another 7.8 million people on the planet of which 5.8 million live here in the US.
The remaining 20% are mostly Arabs. They share their faith with a mind boggling 1.3 billion Muslims across the world spread over several countries.
From the political perspective, we have created an imbalance by preferential treatment to one group whereby one side has a modern military with over 200 nuclear arsenals, while the other is not allowed to have a formal military. We give one side over $2 billion in aid per year, the other side receives $100 million. One side has a per capita income greater than $19,000, the other has a per capita income of less than $1000.
If this was not enough, any voice within the US asking for a more even-handed policy is quickly smothered by the powerful Jewish lobbies and political action committees. We pay lip service to the other side. Even Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel has boasted “We, the Jewish people control America, and the Americans know it”.
I came across an excellent article several months ago that summarized the reason for this war in Iraq. Here is an excerpt:
Contrary to popular belief, the plan to attack Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime by force was prepared and placed on Washington's agenda long before the genesis of the "war against terrorism," which emerged in the wake of September 11. The first indication of this plan emerged in 1997. A group of pro-Israeli hawkish strategists in Washington D.C. began to put forward the scenario of the invasion of Iraq by manipulating the "neo-con" think-tank, called PNAC (Project for The New American Century). The most notable names in the PNAC were those of Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, who as defense secretary and vice-president would be the most influential figures in the George W. Bush administration.
More at
http://www.rense.com/general37/behind.htmI believe there are 3 main causes that had a common goal:
1. Israel became fed up with Saddam financing the families of the Palestinian suicide bombers. They felt getting rid of this brutal dictator and setting up a democracy in Iraq will serve as a model for other neighboring Arab nations. The Palestinians would lose their support and cower down at the negotiating table.
2. Take control of the second largest oil reserve. Iraq has 430 billion barrels of oil, about half the remaining oil supply of the world.
About 300 billion barrels of that remain in untapped oil fields – virgin oil, that can be extracted very cheap around $1.50 a barrel. A barrel of oil is 42 gallons. Assuming this oil is sold for $1.80 a gallon, the value of this oil reserve is worth $22,680 billion.
It is no coincidence that the oil men have aligned themselves firmly with the Neocons.
3. Unwavering support for Israel by the Evangelical Christians.
Even though the Jewish group from a tiny minority in the US (2%), they become a sizable force when combined with the Christian Right who believe in Rapture and Armageddon. They believe that the state of Israel is key to making the second coming of Christ possible and look forward to the day when all Jews will travel back to Israel and rebuild the sacred Temple. The war of Armageddon will follow and the faithful will be raised to heaven. What is not talked about is that thousands of Jews will perish.
It must be pointed out that the PNAC agenda was formulated several years back during the Clinton administration. Any smart person reading through this can figure out that it is really a Plan for A New Israeli Century (PANIC) in disguise whereby all her enemies are vanquished one by one with the help of the American military might, American lives and American tax dollars. What is not mentioned is the resulting consequence that would face America, as it ruins itself financially and is forced to pawn her assets to a few financial powerhouses. The ultimate downfall of the world’s lone superpower. This is reason enough for us to panic.
President Clinton was wise enough not to fall for this scam. However, the Neocons found the perfect believer in Bush who swallowed the doctrine hook, line and sinker. He saw this as the perfect vehicle for advancing his religious agendas, which took center stage to his grand vision of getting the world rid of evil. Unfortunately, his counterpart Bin Laden is equally resolved on getting the world rid of infidels.
While the Neocons are crafty and the oil men are greedy, Bush is a true believer. He thinks he is doing God’s work and he has a religious following. Thereby, a simple land dispute involving 6.5 million people has found its way into a modern day crusade affecting billions of lives.
Today we are at the crossroads. We have a choice. We could be silent bystanders and let the Neocons pursue their grand vision of Empire. The next victim is Syria. It is sitting between Iraq and Israel. Syria needs to go so that the oil and water pipe lines can flow from Iraq to Israel. In a few short years, the waters of the Tigress and Euphrates will become more precious than oil. Hatred in the Middle East will escalate as plans are unfolded for bringing down Iran and Saudi Arabia. Thousands of lives will be lost with an almost certain nuclear exchange – a bitter ending with no winners.
On the other hand, we could take a saner approach and focus our efforts on forging a peace treaty between the Israelis and Palestinians. We could gradually deescalate the violence, move our troops from Iraq, and let the UN handle their internal security. The Arab nations have their right to form whatever government they chose. If we move away our troops from their nations and stop installing the puppet dictators, they will have no reason to hate us. The war of terror is won by removing the reason for hate.
We have sunk over $200 billion in Iraq. We could have better used this money to advance research on alternate energy sources. We could have provided better funding for our schools and colleges.
At some point we have to think beyond the confines of religion and politics and take a look at the big picture. We have a family of 6.3 billion people on this planet. We are collectively responsible for every action we take and we owe it to our children to make this a safer better world.
Life is a gift. It should be cherished. It is time for the silent majority to speak the voice of reason.
What do you say?
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