Lies, Damn Lies

A post

My feelings on politics, taken off www.uffsite.net/forums posted by myself

"Were the Iraqi people better off before the invasion? Possibly, actually. I know its apparently evil to say anything was good under Hussein- it wasn't that great. But Iraq WAS a secular state, and was... alright. It had problems of opression, and poverty, but those have only been increased by the invasion, with a cut off in water supply etc.

Now, that is actually to be expected. Of course war brings with it destabilisation. The thing is to see whether the Iraqi people are better off 10 years later. Now the reason I was against Iraq, other than the main reason being presented being a falsehood, was that there was no explicitly stated plan. The thoughts of the Bush administration were hopelessly naive, and led to the instability that continues today. Now, because there is some international attention, there is a vague hope that Iraq might pull itself together. That is, if you ignore the contracts quietly going off to American companies like, of course, Haliburton. Also, believe it or not, Iraq is still paying reperations for the damage Saddam caused. Whats more, its paying reperations to incredibly rich companies like freaking Walmart, for crying out loud!

The war on Iraq was never about liberation of the Iraqi people. It was about distracting the American people from the domestic situation where Bush has done his best to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. It was, at least to an extent, about opening up some of the richest oil reserves in the world. It was also about a neo-con belief, the Project for the New American Century, written in the late 90's and signed by several members of the Bush administration, which calls for an American millitary presence in the middle East.

Imposing a government on a people when you are not sure what they want (the majority of Iraq might even want a theocracy. You can't tell without asking them all....), and trying to force their culture to evolve through war is a dangerous strategy. It worked in Germany and Japan thanks to EXTENSIVE effort, and a HUGE siphoning of resources from the UK and the US.

THAT is why Iraq was such a huge mistake. And America is paying for that mistake. Also, its not to be ignored that Iraq is a spawning ground for terrorists, so Bush has actually worsened the problem. I do not see how one could trust him to protect his country. Under him, after his direct actions, he has had over 1,000 American people killed in Iraq. Killed by, as I believe some term them, terrorists. His so called security measures have merely been horrible restrictions on freedom which no person should ever stand for. Guantanamo Bay is an outrage.

Finally, apparently Bush is in touch with the family man? Nonsense. Bush is in touch with various multinational companies that fund his thinking. His policies favour the rich and screw the poor, as I have already said. And when I say poor i include lower middle class here. Things that hurt education, the environment, healthcare, all effect the middle class and down, while the rich get richer.

Frankly, I find Bush to be a horrific choice.

It must be mentioned that he has won this election fair and square. If Kerry had got Ohio, he would have won on technicality (as Bush did last time), and that would not have been great. Thats the electoral college system for you though....

posted by Mr K @ 11:37 pm