"Bush fiddles with economy while Baghdad burns"

by Simon 22 Replies latest social current

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  Simon

  An interesting article which somewhat reflects my own take on what I see happening. Please note that this does not put any judgement on whether I think it is a good thing or not so please do not "shoot the messenger".

  Whether you believe or accept the points or not it is an interesting read. I personally think that the action Bush has taken in the last few years has done more harm to the USA than it's enemies ever could which is surely a crime?.

  The economics are interesting ... maybe it's the close ties / links to the USA that stops Britain joining the Euro? Who knows ...

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,922217,00.html
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  unclebruce

  Carry on up the Tigris

  One interesting theory includes the premise that Sultan Saddam's turning his back on the US dollar in favour of the Euro last year was the straw that threatened to break George 'sleazy oilman' Bush's back.

  We get quite a bit of American reporting here and it really is mindbogglingly inept. US reporters say things like "Iraqis shouldn't use captured marines in propaganda" while the US does just that and more. The US even treatts its friends with contempt - keeping and tortureing Australian citizens without trial.

  An example of American bullshitery: The US war machine calls the fact that Iraqis military installations are near civilian populations "an act which shows the Iraqi regime have distain for their own people" What a load of bollocks! In Australia as in most countries (perhaps even including the know it all US) people are atractted to living near these places for employment. Geez it is there country we're invading for god oil sake.

  There was an interesting program on ABC radio last night about the history of the oil wars in Iraq. This is the forth time Australia has been involved in freeing Iraq of it's oil. During WW1 Iraq was the scene of some of the biggest and bloodiest battles fought to that date.

  unclebruce

  ps: innocents are being killed so there better be a damned good reason (so far i haven't heard one {and i'm not holding my breath})
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  Xander

  The point of imperial declines lasting a long time is valid - indeed, one could argue that remnants of the Roman empire still manage to exist to this day (in the form of Italy partially, and the Vatican certainly).

  (so far i haven't heard one {and i'm not holding my breath})

  What, you mean you doubt the just reasons for this war?

  Like the chemical weapons Saddam has, and would certainly use on the US forces? Or, er...wait....troops 50 miles from Baghdad and still haven't found any chemical weapons. Hmmmm....

  OH, wait! Iraq not disarming! Yeah, that's the ticket! All those scuds they didn't destroy! Except...no...wait....they don't have any anymore?

  Hey! How about how cruel Saddam is to his own people!! Yeah, there you go! We are liberating the oppressed Iraqis! Just like we liberate all equally oppressed citizens, like those in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait....er....nevermind.

  But, hey, this war certainly isn't about oil or American imperialism. Otherwise, you'd see things happening like US troops taking protectice custody of Iraqi oil fields, the Vice President's former employer being given contracts to rebuild Iraqi oil wells, and in all cases of contracts awarded to 'rebuild' parts of Iraq awarded to US companies.
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  unclebruce

  at Xander

  fighting fascism with a subtle blend of satire and sarcasm eh?

  all praise the flaming thrower of truth

  unclebruce, waiting for someone to post "bogged down in baghdad"
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  Azalo

  great article and scary being that i am american. i fear for my daughters because i know that this world will be a far different place when they grow up.
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  Simon

  Sadly, some of the decline will be form the inside out. Look at what America is doing to it's own people's freedoms ... chipping them away.

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,922632,00.html
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  jelly

  You might do you self a favor Simon if you did not believe everything you read in the Guardian. Everybody in America can state their opinion; it is a ludicrous accusation to say people are having their freedom of speech curtailed. What’s happening however is people are responding to the left with criticism, basically exercising their freedom of speech and some on the left do not like that.
  
  Terry
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  Azalo

  it is a ludicrous accusation to say people are having their freedom of speech curtailed

  true there are no laws limiting people on the left to voice their opinions, however the political climate is becoming very Mcarthy like in that saying anything anti-war or against the gov't's policies is equated with being anti-american and thus sowing the seeds of growing intolerance and loss of freedom. michael moore can say whatever he wants because people expect that of him but the dixie chicks may have committed career suicide for one statement and the subsequent backlash; not very different from what happened to anyone accused of communism back in the 50's
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  Azalo

  and i might add that the threat of losing one's livelihood is just as strong a deterrent as a fine or other legal consequence.
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  jelly

  Some quick notes on the first article:

• Rise in terrorism? Maybe yes and maybe no, time will tell.
• Maybe the UN should enforce its own resolutions next time.
• The Budget deficit is a problem and should be reduced. Some of this is a problem of Bush’s creation and some not. The tax cuts are a bad idea.
• Deregulation works sometimes and sometimes it does not. I do not believe in a completely free economy, few Americans do. The debate is how much regulation is necessary and where. I believe France and Germany have very regulated economies, and their economies are shrinking. Anyway, I must wonder why the author believes that every economy must be a carbon copy of Americas for the American economy to function; he did not support this assertion.
• Kyoto treaty was one sided and would have unfairly harmed the US economy. However, this is really beside the point because the article was blaming Bush for this. No senators voted for the Kyoto treaty, and the Clinton administration refused to push it. It was dead before Bush came to town, so if you want to blame someone blame Clinton.
  
  I think you need a specific mindset to ‘buy into’ this article. Specifically you need to see America as an ‘empire’ that needs to ‘export’ its ideology. And, you also need to believe that a 2 year recession after an 8 year economic boom is not indicative of a business cycle but is really evidence of an unsound economy.
  Terry