I
don't find the US action all that strange. In fact it seems quite
logical. Why should those countries share in the contracts when they
weren't willing to go along in the first place.
There
was an interview with Laura Bush (Larry King) and she in passing felt it a pity
that the French were so intransigent. That a more united front might have
forced Saddam's hand and lessened the need for armed intervention. So that
is the view in the US and is worth considering. Not "mad." Just
angry.
arthur
Perhaps they always were a little mad and are now
becoming more so. Naom Chomsky has a new book
out, "Hegemony or Survival". I saw a short
televised interview with him last night in which he argued that the
US Administration has become so obsessed with power that it has become a real
danger to the world. George Soros says something similar in an article
in the current Atlantic. Madness does seem to have descended upon
us.
Ed
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 3:21
AM
Subject: [Futurework] Are they going
mad?
What irony! If there could have been any
"justification" for America invading Iraq, it was because Saddam was
excluding US and UK oil corporations from development contracts in the rich
oilfields of northern Iraq.
What's up with the Bush team? Are
they going mad? Those whom the Gods wish to destroy
.............
I think the Bush team is falling to pieces. Consider.
Two days ago, Powell wanted NATO to help with the occupation of Iraq. Now
the Pentagon comes out with this (below). Of course, this could seen as an
immediate riposte to NATO turning him down (or, rather, expressing
reservations).
No, I think the members of the Bush team are now
staggering about from one decision to another with little coordination of
strategy. They're in a schizophrenic state. They really don't know what to
do in Iraq. (Besides, why are they thinking about reconstruction contracts
when they should be applying themselves to the prime objective of bringing
about an Iraqi government by July?)
I repeat my guess of a couple of
days ago. I think Powell (and perhaps Condee) will resign soon. Then the
team will really be seen to be falling apart.
Now that Howard Dean is
overwhelmingly the Democratic front-runner, it's possible that there'll now
be a tidal wave of opinion against Bush. I'm amazed that America has been so
supine over the invasion so far -- considering Vietnam (and soon, being
kicked out of Afghanistan).
Keith Hudson
<<<< PENTAGON BARS THREE NATIONS FROM IRAQ
BIDS
Douglas Jehl
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 The Pentagon has barred
French, German and Russian companies from competing for $18.6 billion in
contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, saying it was acting to protect
"the essential security interests of the United States."
The
directive, issued Friday by Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary,
represents the most substantive retaliation to date by the Bush
administration against American allies who opposed its decision to go to war
in Iraq. from New York Times -- 10 December 2003
>>>> Keith Hudson, Bath, England, <www.evolutionary-economics.org>
|