The Grand Experiment
Oct 12, 2007
Victor Davis Hanson visited Iraq recently. In Part II, he writes:
In every Iraqi conversation Sunni/Shiite divides came up. But on the American side, Mexican-American, African-American, Asian-American, so-called white, as well as religious differences mean nothing. In this regard our military does a far better job with “diversity” than does the hot-house university where “difference” is artificially emphasized, often for personal advantage. On the front lines it is incidental not essential to identity—something that amazes Iraqis who sometimes seem puzzled about what constitutes an “average” American. Often the Ugandan security guards, the Iraqi interpreters, or the Sudanese contact workers seemed indistinguishable from what Americans are supposed to “look” like.
This must be really confusing for those who thought that the Americans were white, Jewish devils.
Flying and driving through Iraq, one notices the enormous US investment in trucks, cars, military equipment, bases, houses, reconstruction, Iraqi outfitting—literally billons evident to the naked eye, everywhere at every moment. Whatever this is, it is not a “no blood for oil” war, more like “billions in aid for a region with their own $80-a-barrel oil.”
I've never understood this "war for oil" canard. The Americans are spending around one hundred billion dollars annually in Iraq. Simple arithmetic shows that they would lose money even if they were to steal all the Iraqi oil every year. So, how exactly is the US gaining any "profit" from Iraq?
From Part III:
We sometimes think religion trumps human nature. It doesn’t. Remember the Rafsanjanis of Iran: under the cloak of religious zeal, that crooked clan wormed into businesses and ministries like a Costra Nostra family bent on cash and perks. So too with al Qaeda in Iraq. They are criminals first, pseudo-fundamentalists second. The military knows that well enough since it has seen their pornography, syringes, shake-down schemes, and petty criminality etc. “Al Qaeda” gave a lot of young criminals cover to steal cars, take over houses, and take young girls.
And to think that there are many in the West who wish for this evil to win in the current battle.
They are criminals first, pseudo-fundamentalists second.
It may be true in this case, but it's not always true. Lots of people really are motivated by religion or ideology. And a lot of them are truly evil.
Posted by: David Boxenhorn | Oct 12, 2007 at 04:49 AM
Hardly. Even the 9/11 hijackers were a bunch of hypocrites, partying it up before the big event with blow, booze, and hookers. The fanatics who truly believe in these "ideals" are few and far between. Most of them are simply petty tyrants, forcing rules on others while believing themselves to be special, and above such requirements.
Posted by: Alex | Oct 12, 2007 at 07:30 AM
Alex: "Even the 9/11 hijackers were a bunch of hypocrites, partying it up before the big event with blow, booze, and hookers."
Their "logic": We're going to murder thousands of infidels soon which will guarantee us entrance into heaven. Why not party up and partake in a few sinful activities now?
Though, there is no doubt that thugs are definitely attracted to this brute-force, complete and patriarchal religion. I once read that criminals were converting to Islam in prisons (in the US, I think) and demanding halaal food just to make life harder for THE MAN.
So, for most, it ultimately does come down to forcing others to do something.
Posted by: Isaac Schrödinger | Oct 12, 2007 at 04:12 PM
"So, how exactly is the US gaining any "profit" from Iraq?"
It is actually stories like this that are held up as evidence for the claim of "war for profit" that i see the most from leftists; That it is precisely all of the billions in investment that vdh sees everywhere that are the result of the billions of tax dollars being paid as profit to contractors that supply our military and further the rebuilding effort.
Posted by: worthersee | Oct 13, 2007 at 11:07 PM