Questioning U.S. Priorities Concerning Afghanistan/Iraq

By Robert Knowles

April 10, 2009

Isn’t it strange that as our boys and girls and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis and Afghans die in the name of Democracy, Christianity, freedom and terrorism that the U.S. Empire will not agree to pull out of these war ravaged countries leaving no permanent military bases and manpower? Isn’t it strange the U.S. cannot deny it’s a global Empire with 2,500,000 U.S. personnel serving across the planet, tens of thousands of nuclear weapons scattered around the globe, 737 military bases spread across each continent and growing, as the Pentagon oversees 28,819,492 acres worldwide making it the world’s largest landlord with a cost of over $500 billion a year — morethan all the rest of the world put together?

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Iraq holds more than 112 billion barrels of oil, while the Caspian Sea natural gas reserves equal more than 236 trillion cubic feet and oil reserves may reach 60 billion barrels, while some estimates reach 200 billion barrels. So now that the Iraqi oil and U.S. permanent bases are mostly intact for Halliburton, Big Oil and other Capitalistic Free Trade, it’s on to finish the job in Afghanistan, one of the most wasted and plundered places on earth; ludicrously immoral since the U.S. Empire’s nucleararsenal is the most powerful on earth having no comparable threat, much less Afghanistan.

In spite of, to finish the job is to complete the 1,040 mile long pipeline (Halliburton no less) through Afghanistan to move the gas and oil nof the Caspian region making it readily navailable to the insatiable Empire no nmatter how much death and ndestruction their policies cause. And just like in Iraq, the U.S. permanent bases and personnel will be left to protect Big Oil and Corporate interests making billions, along with the CIA being in charge of the lucrative opium trade that has increased 90 percent since the U.S. invasion, no different than the CIA drug trafficking thrived during the Iran-Contra scandal. Isn’t it strange that as the oligarchic right wing war profiteers dictate the wars and get richer, the least of them among us suffer and die -- while we support a state of permanent war and killing most faithfully gracious?