In Reply to: Re: funny you should mention that.. posted by MG on June 22, 2004 at 00:03:15:
I have never for a moment thought it was important for 9/11 and Iraq to have any direct connection to each other, even if the Bush Administration thinks they need such a rationale.
This war is about defending America's strategic interests in the Middle East. If you take a good, hard, honest look at what American empire's economic & security interests are in the Middle East, you will quickly conclude it's about maintaining access to the massive oil reserves under the Arabian peninsula. It's kinda hard to maintain that access with the likes of al Qaeda & Sadam Hussein on the playing field.
The latest issue of National Geographic did its cover story on oil. You don't have to read the entire, indepth article to get the picture--just look at the geographic distribution maps of international oil reserves versus U.S. oil consumption, and you'll see just how extremely vulnerable we are on this critical issue, and why Iraq & Saudi Arabia are strategic to our economic and security interests.
Also, if you go back through the history of Reagan-Bush-Cheney energy policy, you'll see that we don't have an energy policy that positions the US strategically for energy self-sufficiency through conservation of fossil fuels and alternative fuels development. The Reagan-Bush-Cheney doctrine basically says, The US will use fossil fuels until they run out. If we need energy from other places on the planet, we'll buy it or take it.
It's just unfortunate that OUR oil sits under THEIR sand. But hey, the freedom to drive whatever car you can afford or leave your lights burning on all night doesn't come cheap.