Sigh.
It’s not about religion or about ousting the “evil” American occupying forces. It’s the same all over the world, whether in Afghanistan or Somalia or Iraq or wherever. It’s about petty criminals who want to maintain or get power so they can enslave other people because they are egotistical fools who don’t give a damn about their own people except to somehow preserve a remnant to enslave, a remnant people who will be available to worship those in power.
I truly believe that these terrorists who masquerade in the guise of holy men or patriots fanatically seek and feed chaos and terror until such time as they can seize power for themselves and their greedy followers. If they truly wanted American forces out of their country and for their people to have peace and prosperity, they could achieve this within a year or so by merely laying down their arms. I don’t believe they are that stupid to believe their own propaganda that the Americans are evil and the reason for the bloodshed in their country.
I truly believe that if they laid down their arms that Iraq would immediately begin to enjoy peace and prosperity. The country would be rebuilt by funds that would pour in from many countries around the world and they could resume their lives in peace and prosperity. I really do not believe that if they laid down their arms that the American forces would kill them all or destroy them.
I’m not saying that the Americans would not try to arrest certain leaders. So there is the aspect of trying to survive an American occupation that way.
But no, they would rather shed the blood of their own comrades in an endless struggle against the happiness of their own people. It’s all about wanting to be the king of the hill.
And that is why America will likely lose the war there. America, NATO, and Canada will also lose the war in Afghanistan to the drug lords and would-be dictators who sell drugs to finance their power struggle. Like the French and Americans in Vietnam, like the Russians and now us in Afghanistan, we will finally be forced to withdraw under the guise of having achieved some fictional success.
Our soldiers – American, British, Canadian, and from NATO too – are doing their best and are doing great things for the people they try to protect. It is the politicians who have neither the courage nor the stamina to allow our military sacrifices to mean something.
If we had the will, we could disarm every militia. But the politicians don’t give a damn. If only we had a Winston Churchill today! Or better yet, a Winston Churchill/Ghandi hybrid!
I also do not believe the conspiracy theorists who claim that these wars are engineered by the military-industrial complex to increase profits. No way, that’s just stupid. And do you know what? I also do not believe that this war in Iraq is about OIL…
I think the oil theory is complete hogwash. It’s not about oil for two reasons. The first is that it costs a lot more to fight this war than it ever would if Iraq had got greedy and decided to charge more for their oil. The second is that even an anti-American government would not cut off oil from America because if they did who would buy their oil? Who? Who has the money and the consumption to take that oil off their hands? If they cut off oil to America they would be a country with lots of oil sitting in stockpile and *NO* money. It would be useless to them. Besides, America does not need Iraqi oil. Iraqi oil is merely a convenient source, at least until real shortages begin to appear. There are lots of other sources for oil including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, even Alberta!
Well, I’m sorry for this rant in a way. It stems from a frustration that we continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. Part of the problem for that is that the younger generation does not and has never in the history of mankind listened to the wisdom of their elders, and the elders are out of power by the time they are old enough to be wise.
I certainly don’t have all the facts, and perhaps my take on it is pure fantasy and simplistic. But at least I got to have my say and who knows, maybe someone will read this and get inspired to make a difference in this world.
