--- In political-research@yahoogroups.com, Sean McBride <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > "Sane": the pursuit of policies that achieve a successful outcome, > that improve one's position on the grand chessboard of > international politics. For instance: Adolf Hitler's invasion of > Russia was insane from the standpoint of German interests.
But that's not true. It was rational, for at least a couple of reasons. (And note when I say "rational", I do not mean that it was not very very risky, with a large chance of failure.) First, Hitler knew that he had to have the USSR's energy resources, without which his whole military machine would literally grind to a halt. Energy shortages were a critical handicap to the Germans. Second, Hitler knew that Stalin was about to attack to the West, anyway. Hitler's invasion was pre-emptive, and "necessary" from his standpoint, and Germany's. I see the present military thrusts as motivated by a similar desperation, and "rational" from the standpoint of empire people with very few options at this late date. > Neocon plans to hurl American military force at Israel's neighbors > is insane from the standpoint of American interests (and > especially from the standpoint of American oil and energy > interests). > > How does one extract oil profitably from a region that is boiling > over with hatred for those doing the extracting? The American > military has already exhausted itself in Iraq, and the game has > barely begun. The "boiling over" part is more recent. We've been over this. There was no guarantee that the operation would go well. It could have gone a lot better. But it didn't. > We know the neocon solution to this problem: exterminate tens of > or hundreds of millions of Arabs and Muslims with nuclear and > biological weapons, to commit the most evil act of genocide in > human history. Do most Americans really want to go down that > path? Do American industrial and business elites want to go down > that path? I strongly doubt it. The rest of the world would rip > us to shreds. Very good question. Certainly no one would ADMIT that they want to go down that path. And most everyone would not even admit it to themselves. But it depends on which question is asked. Do we support nuke/bio genocide? NO, of course not! Do we support the continuation of our "way of life", "non-negotiably"? Yes, sadly. And there is the rub. Most people will vote for continuation of our way of life, offered by leaders not so indiscrete as to be honest about what that will entail. As long as the leaders are halfway (or even quarter-way) decent liars, the imperial initiative will go on, without substantial objections from the people. > > There is enormous opposition to the neocon agenda within the > American power elite, and even from leading members of the Bush 43 > administration. Have you been reading the memoirs and comments of > the Bush 43 dissenters and defectors? If my analysis is correct, > and I am confident it is, we are on the verge of a major explosion > between the traditional American power elite and the neocons. I > hope this development won't take you by surprise -- you've been > given the straight dope. :) I am fully prepared, and anxious, to be surprised, and proven wrong about everything. But I doubt that I will be. :-) Alan
