Iraq is not another Vietnam, when considered from the strategic perspective of American business and economics. Vietnam was a tactical gamble, not a strategic one, even in the war against communism.
From the Bush Administration point of view, as well as that of the "establishment" that includes high level Democrats as well as Republicans, the invasion and occupation of Iraq is a strategic maneuver. It is designed to secure access to oil, not only in Iraq, but also as a lynchpin in a strategy of control of the entire Persian Gulf. It is a lynchpin in a strategy that wants to contain, if not envelope Iran and its oil wealth. The establishment of military bases around the region, after an assumed victory in Iraq, is key to expansion of military access to neighboring Central Asia and the Caspian Sea. This is part of a larger strategy to weaken China and provide leverage against both China and Russia.
It all starts in Iraq. This is the strategic underpinning of the planning and execution for the Pax Americana in the 21st Century. This is the ONLY way that America can dominate the world for the next 100 years.
Not only the Bushites and the Neo-Cons, but also the John Kerry of the world have this strategic view. John Kerry, John McCain, John Warner, and even John Q. Public have been convinced that America’s destiny is to rule the world, and it all begins in Iraq, right or wrong. Yes, few in the government worry about right or wrong anymore. What a matter is that might make right, and might is associated with power, and oil power society, and we gotta have control of that oil!
Do not expect the Bush Administration, or any Democratic administration that replaces it to pull out of Iraq. To do so in the face of Peak Oil would be to pull the plug from America’s economy, which would be like removing the drain plug from the oil pan of your favorite SUV and driving it until the motor blows.
Iraq was a strategic move. It was a desperate move, but the explanations were designed to hide the REAL desperate explanation of the move, and create a false, desperate explanation. America was facing a desperate situation, but it was not about weapons of mass destruction or about the need for democracy in Iraq. It was about the passage over a mountain peak, the Hubbert Peak. It was about the risk of not having control on the way down the other side of that peak. It was about whether America would free-fall to disaster, or keeps the economy’s engine going down the slope, while the rest of the world came to us for their oil.
That is still the American plan. We must control the oil, and if we can’t get control, we may have to use nuclear weapons or some other scorched earth policy to ensure that no one dominates us.
Imagine the fear of the German people when the Russians turned the tide at Stalingrad and Leningrad and then came back across the steppes on the way to Berlin, with hatred in their eyes and vengeance in their hearts. Many German civilians were killed, raped, and brutally punished for the sins of their government. America’s government will not allow this to happen, at least not by military conquest.
However, economic conquest over America could occur and may occur. If America can’t control the oil and dominate commerce of the world through the use of voluntary acceptance of unlimited American debt, America may become the greatest bankruptcy case in the history of the world. If that happens, America will become so poor so fast that the whole world will be shocked and awed.
Nothing good can come from the invasion of Iraq, but America had few choices in order to maintain greed and the unsustainable American way of life. Remember, as Dick Cheney said, the American way of life is non-negotiable, and we know it was also unsustainable. It was a tragedy waiting to happen, and it all begins in earnest in Iraq.
