On 9/16/07, sartesian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This is the same guy who endorsed Charles Keating for a charter from the > FSLC; same guy who stated that the Asian currency assaults were just the > markets self-correcting; same guy who literally weeks before the > collapse of LTCM testified in Congress that such hedge funds were > subject to such intense scrutiny and oversight by their investors and > banks that regulatory intervention was unnecessary; same guy who... > well, you get the point....
Actually, if you can find a reactionary and famous fellow like Greenspan who says "the war is about oil," that's more convincing to the unconvinced than (say) a quote from Chomsky or from you or me. (don't we want to convince the unconvinced, preach to more than the choir?) Now, I don't think that the war is _only_ about oil and to the extent that it's about oil, it's more about strategic control than any kind of specific plan to have either high or low oil prices. But using Greenspan's quote can soften people up for a more complete story. The war is "about capital"? that's opaque. If you mean that the war is a normal result of the laws of motion of capitalism as a mode of production, that makes more sense. But I still disagree. It has a lot to do with the specific fraction of the capitalist class that currently has political power in the US. >The reason for the war? Restore profits.< so you agree with Greenspan? that the war was about oil? That statement is also simplistic. It's about strategic control of oil in the Middle East, which means being ready for _all_ contingencies. It was also encouraged by the Likudnik bloc (so-called neoconservatives) who wanted to increase Israel's power by smashing Saddam. (Strangely, they never complained about South Africa's apartheid regime when that dictatorship was in power.) No specific historical event can be explained by reference to one single factor. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
