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Do they really want an exit strategy?
Posted by Patrick McGonegal -
06/03/2004, 05:40 PM

I, like many Americans, have been watching and listening with fear and
approbation at the developments in Iraq. I have even attended the few
local demonstrations concerning Iraq. In fact, it was when Ray McGovern
came and spoke in our community that the question I have included first
caught my attention.

Ray McGovern was explaining how the neocons in Washington had been
planning this type of incursion in the Middle East for years. He
referenced the PNAC documents as evidence of this. He then went on,
however, to claim that although these individuals had planned the
invasion and military occupation of this area, they had failed to plan
any exit strategy. He claimed that this was why are now embroiled in the
"quagmire" of post invasion Iraq.

I found myself doubting this evaluation. I don't think anyone who would
spend all that time planning the invasion would just forget about an
exit strategy. That brings us to my question:

Do the individuals who orchestrated the invasion of Iraq really want an
exit strategy?

I suspect they do not. As bad as it seems in Iraq, when you look at it
from the perspective of an oil corporation/military contractor, it looks
like an endless pile of dollar signs. every conflict between the various
religous factions, every flare-up of insurgency, and even every
indiscretion committed by occupying soldiers merely increases the
contracted needs of the military and increases the profit margins of the
petroleum corporations. The more conflict and strife, the more money
these corporations get. Why then, if they are not to be held accountable
for the moral implications (Bush will be the political fallguy for that
if it really comes right down to it),why would these individuals (and
the corporations they represent) want to develop an exit strategy?

Why is this aspect of this entire issue not being investigated? The
media just idles along, snidely deriding the "short-sightedness" of the
neocons--and they play along, acting "dumbfounded" at the lack of
success. Meanwhile the money is just rolling in. Even those at the top
have nothing more to fear in the way of repercussions than the loss of
their political position. Who wouldn't trade a political position for
millions and millions of dollars in non-contested government contracts?
In the worst case scenario, Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, et al, will lose in
November and fade into the political background--with a big wad of cash
to make their retirement comfy. More likely, they will end-run around
all of the mounting allegations and put in a close race to be re-elected
so that they can continue their rape of the world until the American
public finally wises up.

I don't know... Is it just me?




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