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I heard Ed Schultz say "security or profit" to evaluate the port deal, and I think we should export it in a way that he probably didn't intend.
Every time someone proposes a military action, there should be a debate in Congress over whether it is truly motivated by security concerns or its just using our military to secure private profits--the ultimate expression of "socializing risk and privatizing profits."
If Democrats and the press had forced that debate before Iraq, we might not be there now (post-9/11 hysteria might still have carried the day though).
Why did we want to invade Iraq and plan to bomb Iran?
If either country had a handful of nukes (the worst case scenario) they would know that using them on us or giving them to terrorists who did would mean their country would be a cinder and footnote in history before the mushroom cloud cleared here. We have 10,000 nukes. We could wipe anyone off the map and not even miss the warheads we used. So the security argument is straight up bullshit.
By contrast, Iraq is number two in oil reserves and Iran is three. Before the war, Iraq's reserves were worth trillions. Bush cancelled the contracts with the French, Russians, and Chinese companies that had oil concessions in Iraq and replaced them with "American" oil companies.
As we have seen from their pricing after that, this has nothing to do with securing access to that oil for America. If that were the issue, we would have done what China did with Iran and the tar sands in Canada--BUY it with long term contracts.
China has a bazillionth the military we do, and no one would dare invade them because they would be impossible to occupy. And if we can't occupy a medium-small country like Iraq, why would anyone ever try to occupy a large gun nut-filled country like the US?
Defense means guarding the gates here at home, not sending our troops overseas to do hostile take overs for transnational corporations.
Realistically, I know most democrats don't have the balls to do this. They would either like the oil company checks and jobs swinging their way or they don't want to become the victim of a car accident, plane crash, or double shotgun blast suicide.
But we must force the debate on profit vs. security or we will see endless wars to kill people into democracy or retaliate for incredibly convenient terrorist attacks, or prevent countries from getting a handful of nukes they wouldn't dare use on us.
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