The Exxon Valdez of foreign policies
This administration has the Exxon Valdez of foreign policies. For our
leaders, the lights have gone on in Africa only because of oil. (See the
following piece from Le Monde Diplomatique.) They're bringing "democracy" to
Iraq at least in significant part for oil and, if and when an American
occupying army makes it there, it won't be leaving soon largely for reasons
of oil. (See Michael Rennart's piece in today's International Herald
Tribune.) But "oil" is a complicated three letter word. It stands in for a
multitude of sins and dreams, including an urge to control future economic
and military competitors from China and Japan to Europe.
In our distinctly over-determined world, there are undoubtedly other reasons
for the focus on Iraq – like an imperial urge to provide an object lesson
to all potential rogue, or even uppity, states out there, and an urge to
remake the Middle East in our own image (a bit of a shape-shifting concept
these days).
http://www.nationinstitute.org/tomdispatch/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid07
The Exxon Valdez of foreign policies
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Type: discussion