Comments on: The War That Finished Off America’s Century http://www.ustvmedia.org/america-republic-or-empire/2006/10/25/the-war-that-finished-off-americas-century/ Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:28:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0 by: Realpolitesse http://www.ustvmedia.org/america-republic-or-empire/2006/10/25/the-war-that-finished-off-americas-century/#comment-7989 Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:44:54 +0000 http://www.ustvmedia.org/america-republic-or-empire/2006/10/25/the-war-that-finished-off-americas-century/#comment-7989 Dubya may have put the last nail in the coffin of American moral authority and soft power, but from a geostrategic point of view, blame his father if the empire collapses from oil shortage (something that will happen eventually anyway, given that oil is a finite resource). A democracy in Iraq will apparently result in the election of religious hardliners friendly to Iran, so the best outcome for the American empire is a stable autocracy friendly to its interests, which is exactly what we had with Saddam Hussein's regime in the 1980s. If Papa Bush had held his nose and sent Saddam flowers and congratulations after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, it would have been better for our energy security than alienating him turned out to be. It would have made our main oil suppliers (the House of Saud) nervous, but that could have been patched up easily. Saudi Arabia will run out of oil someday, and then we'll start needing those unexplored superfields in Iraq. We might need them already, even if we have to buy the oil rather than pump it out ourselves. Given all the brutal dictators the US has supported over the years, plus the fact that Kuwait remains an autocracy to this day, it's clear that Papa Bush gave Saddam the boot for reasons of realpolitik, not democratic or moral ideals. As such, that decision may go down in history as a major strategic blunder. Once Saddam became our enemy, sitting on trillions of barrels of untapped oil, the road to the current situation in Iraq was paved. Now it looks like Iraq wants to go medieval, or at least remain solidly anti-American, so it doesn't look good for that oil getting on the open market, in any great abundance, any time soon. In fact, Iraq has a history of ruining their oilfields by using unwise extraction methods, so the market might NEVER see all that oil. (Might be a good thing, environmentally...) Dubya may have put the last nail in the coffin of American moral authority and soft power, but from a geostrategic point of view, blame his father if the empire collapses from oil shortage (something that will happen eventually anyway, given that oil is a finite resource).

A democracy in Iraq will apparently result in the election of religious hardliners friendly to Iran, so the best outcome for the American empire is a stable autocracy friendly to its interests, which is exactly what we had with Saddam Hussein’s regime in the 1980s. If Papa Bush had held his nose and sent Saddam flowers and congratulations after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, it would have been better for our energy security than alienating him turned out to be. It would have made our main oil suppliers (the House of Saud) nervous, but that could have been patched up easily. Saudi Arabia will run out of oil someday, and then we’ll start needing those unexplored superfields in Iraq. We might need them already, even if we have to buy the oil rather than pump it out ourselves.

Given all the brutal dictators the US has supported over the years, plus the fact that Kuwait remains an autocracy to this day, it’s clear that Papa Bush gave Saddam the boot for reasons of realpolitik, not democratic or moral ideals. As such, that decision may go down in history as a major strategic blunder. Once Saddam became our enemy, sitting on trillions of barrels of untapped oil, the road to the current situation in Iraq was paved. Now it looks like Iraq wants to go medieval, or at least remain solidly anti-American, so it doesn’t look good for that oil getting on the open market, in any great abundance, any time soon. In fact, Iraq has a history of ruining their oilfields by using unwise extraction methods, so the market might NEVER see all that oil. (Might be a good thing, environmentally…)

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