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Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

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almarst2003 - 06:37pm Sep 4, 2003 EST (# 13502 of 13513)

Iraq oil - the target for years - http://english.aljazeera.net/Special+Reports/Iraq+Oil+Target.htm

According to plans designed by the occupying powers, Iraqi oil revenues will be channeled into a trust fund controlled by the US and the UK.

Faced with the British and French domination over the region’s huge resources, the US at first demanded an “open door” policy allowing US companies to freely negotiate oil contracts with the puppet monarchy of King Faisal whom the British had installed in Iraq.

In 1927, major oil explorations were undertaken and huge oil deposits were discovered in the Mosul province, which fuelled the rivalry among competing colonialist oil companies even further.

However, a settlement was arranged and Iraqi oil was divided up into five portions, 23.75% for each of several companies from Britain, France, Holland and the United States.

The Iraqi people were left with virtually nothing of their oil wealth, and this unfair situation continued until 1958 when the Hashemite monarchy was toppled in a military coup.

The Iraqi petroleum company, shared by British Petroleum, Shell, Mobil and Standard Oil of New Jersey (Exxon) was established. Within a few years, this company had a total monopoly of Iraqi oil production.

Yet, the US oil companies and their government in Washington, were not satisfied since their target was to achieve complete control of the Middle East oil by displacing the British.

Following the end of WWI, the British Empire was greatly weakened by the war in which it lost key colonies in Asia. On the other hand, the US grew increasingly powerful throughout the world.

The administrations of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman dominated by big banking, oil and other corporate interests, were determined to restructure the post-war world to ensure US domination.

Thus, one of the key elements of the US domination strategy was aimed at controlling global resources, particularly oil.

Within this context, the US threw its full weight behind the Shah of Iran who was one of its closest allies in the region.

By mid 1950, US influence in Iraq was almost as powerful as that of Britain which was the actual colonising force on the ground.

In 1955, the Baghdad Pact , including in addition to Iraq Turkey, Pakistan, Iran and the UK was set up to counter the rise of Arab and other liberation movements in the Middle East and Asia.

The 1958 revolution

By July 1958, a military coup overthrew the Iraqi monarchy, a development that the US regarded as detrimental to its vital interests and immediately landed 20,000 marines in Lebanon in the context of what was known as the “Eisenhower doctrine.”

In accordance with that doctrine, the US would intervene directly and even go to war to protect its interests in the Middle East.

The Eisenhower administration then considered the idea of invading Iraq, to overturn the new regime and to install a new puppet government in Iraq.

But the US was forced to abandon that plan due to several regional and international factors including the support given by China and the Soviet Union to the revolutionary government in Iraq.

The US however, never stopped targeting Iraq as one of its adversaries in the region and rendered unlimited support to the rebel right-wing Kurdish insurgency in the north of the country.

In the eighties when the US lost its main ally in Iran, its relations with the Saddam regime in Baghdad thawed to a considerable extent and it even supported Iraq in its war with Iran.

However that honeymoon ended when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and the US hurried to protect and preserve its interests in the oil-rich region.

almarst2003 - 06:46pm Sep 4, 2003 EST (# 13503 of 13513)

Meet our new best friend: the United Nations - http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/

In just the latest flurry of overtures by the White House toward the UN, George Bush reportedly told the prime minister of Netherlands that he supports an increased international role in Iraq. This sudden change of heart is most likely a result of the reality check delivered by the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO report, delivered in the form of a letter to Sen. Robert Byrd, says that given the present one-year rotation policy, the Pentagon would be forced to reduce the 180,000 soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait to between 38,000 and 64,000 in six months. To put it bluntly, the Pentagon simply doesn't have the soldiers to secure Iraq, let alone fulfill its commitments in Afghanistan.

But some experts are calling the latest U.S. proposal to pull together an international force under the command of an American general "too little, too late," Iraq expert Toby Dodge told the BBC, "The danger now is that diluting the US presence might not do the trick. The resentment against the occupation is so great."

almarst2003 - 06:49pm Sep 4, 2003 EST (# 13504 of 13513)

The White House has informed congressional leaders that it is preparing a new budget request for between $60 billion and $70 billion to help cover the mounting costs of the reconstruction and military occupation of Iraq - http://www.msnbc.com/news/961153.asp?0cv=CA01

FEEL FREE TO CALL IT "generocity";)

almarst2003 - 07:00pm Sep 4, 2003 EST (# 13505 of 13513)

John Paul II stated before the 2003 war that this war would be a defeat for humanity which could not be morally or legally justified. -

http://www.cjd.org/paper/jp2war.html

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