Summary: The Invasion of Iraq is necessary to control the house of cards that is the Middle East. There was a high probability that Saddam Hussein would have upset the balance of power by attacking Israel, for example, throwing the region into turmoil, and interrupting our supply of oil. So unless you own a wood stove and a woodlot, remember which side your bread is buttered on.
Imperialism: The practice of extending the power of a nation by gaining control over the political or economic life of other areas.
I am an imperialist. You are an imperialist. Any one who drives a car or heats his home is an imperialist.
“What!…” you sputter, “but I voted for the NDP and I contribute to Oxfam!?”.
Don’t get me wrong: it’s OK to be an imperialist. The alternative is abject poverty. If all the wealth of the West were evenly shared amongst the huddled masses of humanity, the latter would experience an imperceptible improvement in their standard of living, while you & I would be reduced to picking Guinea worms out of festering pustules in our heels. The number one problem with humanity is humans: there are too many of them. If you sent enough food and medication to all the inhabitants the Third World, twenty years from now you’d have to double the shipments. War, disease and famine are just retroactive birth control.
The reason why we had to invade Iraq is that it was only a matter of time before a rich and powerful Saddam Hussein would team up with a fanatical Bin Laden, and lay down a Really Big One at the centre of civilisation.
Our comfort and lifestyle rest on affordable oil. We need oil to drive to work; oil has enabled us to live considerable distances from our place of employment, and created whole new communities. We need oil to heat our homes so we don’t freeze to death. Without oil, the trucks can’t haul food to the grocery store, and we starve. The entire fertilizer industry, so indispensable to our food production, is based on petroleum chemistry. Oil enabled us to win WWII.
Our governments know this. They understand that without an assured supply of reasonably-priced oil, the whole system falls apart.
As of 2002, Canada and the U.S. possessed 3.6% of the world’s oil reserves. The Middle East has over 65% of the world’s oil. On the other hand, Canada & the U.S. account for 23.4% of oil consumption. The Reserves/Production ratio is the length of time that a region’s remaining reserves will last if production continues at current levels. R/P for the U.S.: 10.8 years; for the Middle East: 92 years.
Clearly, we can’t make it on our own for long.
We depend on Saudi Arabia for a significant part of our oil supply. Saudi Arabia is ruled by a corrupt, hedonistic elite in an uneasy alliance with fundamentalist Islamic clergy. The House of Saud is sustained by generous amounts of Western cash & weapons. The West is playing high-stakes poker by being forced to station troops on the sacred soil of Mecca and Medina. If the Arab population suddenly revolted and replaced their government with an administration truly dedicated to the long-term welfare of their country, then our oil supply, and our standard of living, would be seriously jeopardised. (Do you think it’s a coincidence that fifteen of the nineteen Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi?)
Osama Bin Laden is a Terrible Person, and deserves to be brought to account. However, he is right about one thing: the West has been stealing Muslim oil for decades. Think about it: here is an unrenewable resource, the only natural wealth of his country, being drizzled away for our comfort and pleasure. If Saudi Arabia were truly being run as an independent country, wouldn’t the Saudis be asking as much as they could for their oil? You think a dollar a litre is too much for gas? Try $10, or $100. Who said the Universe, and the Saudis, owe us a living? You might think we are already paying too much for oil, and that hard-working North Americans slave away to subsidise the obscene lifestyle of Arabian sheiks. Don’t be confused by the side show: they are small potatoes, and an insignificant price to pay compared to an entire nation of Arabs unleashed, demanding a king’s ransom for their birthright.
By the way, how come none of the media ever mention that the British invaded Iraq in the 1920s, and stole their oil? It’s déja vu all over again. Is it any wonder that the Iraqis are annoyed?
The West controls the world, and we can probably expect an assured supply of affordable oil. However, Islamic fundamentalists, who are concerned about the depletion of their nations’ oil wealth, are desperate. They know their people are illiterate and uninformed. The Iraqis are ungovernable. They are centuries away from learning to put national good ahead of tribal selfishness and mistrust. Saddam Hussein was a Cruel Despot, and I am glad he is gone, but has it occurred to anyone that maybe he was the only way to control these people?
The West will never allow true democracy in the Middle East. Under the guise of religious purity (and I’m sure most of them believe it), terrorists want to bring down the whole wretched edifice, rather than stand by as we suck their country dry.
Your worst nightmare is some crazy, uncontrollable bastard lobbing a missile out of Iraq towards Israel. If that were to happen, Israel would defend itself, and set the entire Middle East aflame. Oil production would be interrupted, and the consequences to world commerce and stability would be catastrophic.
I suggest that the nations that refused to support the U.S. are not stupid, much less noble and law-abiding. They probably see an opportunity to ingratiate themselves with oil-producing Islamic nations, and do an end-run around the U.S.
Higher-priced oil would be a good thing: it would force us to look for alternative forms of energy, preserve an irreplaceable resource, and reduce the pollution that causes the greenhouse effect. However, our ignorance, prejudices, and the inertia of our materialism are insurmountable. We are stealing oil from future generations who cannot bid against us. Hang on for the ride, and pray that we are not the Titanic to an Islamic iceberg. Just don’t kid yourself.