"It's Greed, Not Ideology, That Rules the White House" from the Guardian

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1112024,00.html

Naomi Klein
Tuesday December 23, 2003
The Guardian

The US position has been that wiping out debts would be a dangerous precedent (and rob Washington of the leverage it needs to push for investor-friendly economic reforms). So why is Bush so concerned that "the future of the Iraqi people should not be mortgaged to the enormous burden of debt"? Because it is taking money from "reconstruction", which could go to Halliburton, Bechtel, Exxon and Boeing.

It has become popular to claim that the White House has been hijacked by neo-conservative ideologues in love with free-market dogma. I'm not convinced. If there's one thing the Wolfowitz/Baker dust-ups make clear, it's that the ideology of the Bush White House isn't neo-conservatism, it's old-fashioned greed. There is only one rule that appears to matter: if it helps our friends get even richer, do it.

Seen through this lens, the seemingly erratic behaviour coming out of Washington starts to make a lot more sense. Sure, Wolfowitz's contract-hogging openly flouts free-market principles of competition. But it does have a direct benefit for the firms closest to the administration. Not only are they buying a debt-free Iraq, but they won't have to compete with their corporate rivals in France and Germany.

The entire reconstruction project defies more neo-con tenets, sending this year's US deficit to a cartoonish $500bn, with plenty handed out in no-bid contracts, creating the kind of monopoly that allowed Halliburton to overcharge by an estimated $61m for importing gasoline into Iraq. Those looking for ideology in the White House should consider this: for the men who rule our world, rules are for other people. The powerful feed ideology to the masses like fast food while they dine on that most rarefied delicacy: impunity.

_______________________

Last part of article worth reading in its entirety.

[KG]

1. Greed is the Ideology, that rules the White House

[The Zanti Regent]

2. You won't see this in the WHORESHINGTON POST

Bob Woodward is too busy writing more propaganda for the Republican Party.

How does he sleep at night?

[demvoter]

3. Articles like this need to be shown in

Prime time. The other side can spin everything till a person is so dizzy they cant think straight Come on people dont let the spin stop here.
:kick:

[BlueEyedSon]

4. Aha! Now it all makes sense!

This is a very useful meme. Spread it around.

[OneTwentyoNine]

5. Yeah,what we all said about four years ago...whata shock....nt

[KoKo]

6. I don't know about this. Both Krugman and Josh Marshall thought PNAC

tried to sabotage Bakers "mission" to get debt relief and more troops.

Something is wrong here. It's more complicated than greed, it's their Political Agenda funded by Greed. Her article is interesting but too simplistic. :shrug:

[kentuck]

7. I agree. Here is a post from a couple of days ago....

The cornerstone of their entire operation is the US Treasury. There is no one they cannot bribe or pay off with those kind of funds at their fingertips. You didn't think the "coalition" helping in Iraq did it for nothing? And the $25 million reward for Saddam? Where do you think that was coming from?

They must keep everything secret so their scheme is not exposed. They are robbing the American people thru corporations like Halliburton, Bechtel, and others. They threaten anyone that questions their authority. They may as well leave a horsehead in you bed. They are criminals.

Money is their god. There is nothing or no one that money cannot buy. They will pay off Congressmen in the wee hours of morning to get their votes. And they will not hesitate to use that money against their own if they should disagree. They will lie, take our country to war, cover up, and buy off our enemies to get what they want. They are criminals.