US Military Dead during Iraq War 1058

Well put, but there is an element of change in US policy that has largely gone unrecognized in these discussions. The people really in control of the US at this point are economic capitalists who wish to "develop" the mideast and strip mine it economically as they have with America itself as well as South America.

It is true that the US has been the dog wagged by its tail with respect to Israel in particular. Allowing Israel to conduct a large scale nuclear weapons development program, for instance, as well as covering up as much as possible an overt Israeli attack on a US intelligence ship which is the sort of act which in other circumstances has precipitated large scale wars.

In trying to unravel the sometimes bizarre aspects of these situations, the insight of Malcolm X is valuable: All political power ultimately stems from economic power.

In the Iraq situation, Iraq is a critical resource for economic development of the mideast region because it has both water and a good location with respect to transportation both by land and sea.

Saddam was stubborn, greedy and self-obsessed, not the sort who could be relied upon to cooperate without exacting a high price.

The Israel connection still baffles me. I have no animosity toward the Israeli people, but it baffles me why the United States keeps kissing up to a tiny nation who have repeatedly engaged in military aggression, who routinely use buttbuttination as a tool, even in Europe and elsewhere, who have conducted repeated intelligence operations inside the US, and who have nothing of value in terms of natural resources or other intrinsic factors, and who have engaged in a large scale nuclear weapons development program with essentially no international criticism.

Unfortunately, this also baffles a lot of other people, Arabs, Palestinians, Islamists and other people whose hatred of America is largely tied to this lapdog relationship with Israel.

An interesting situation is that the Israeli "Mafia" are a major supplier of explosives and weapons to the very persons who attack Israeli citizens. In addition, there is a large and growing contingent of radical Zionists who are proving embarrbutting to the Israeli government and who regularly engage in person activities.

The diamond market may well prove the key to this dilemma.

Whatever it is, it will involve lots of money, something America is currently hemorrhaging in huge amounts.