thunderdrmz wrote:So I'm guessing it was about the oil, as far as your perspectives?
No.
thunderdrmz wrote:Or the benefits for the stock holders of weapons manufacturers.
HALLIBURTON/KBR Defense Contracts
Five "Pre-War" Years (1998-2002)
1998: $316 million
1999: $676 million
2000: $612 million
2001: $452 million
2002: $491 million
TOTAL: $2.547 billion
Four "War" Years (2003-2006)
2003: $3.115 billion
2004: $8.000 billion
2005: $5.956 billion
2006: $5.972 billion
TOTAL: $23.043 BILLION
If that's not the very definition of war-time profiteering, I'm not sure what is.
But let's not just pick on Cheney's vested interest. Let's take a look at the Big Three: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop-Grummann. Pay special attention to how quickly the funding ramps up once Bush is in office.
LOCKHEED/BOEING/NORTHROP Defense Contracts
Five "Pre-War" Years (1998-2002)
1998: $27.475 billion
1999: $28.104 billion
2000: $33.799 billion
2001: $39.847 billion
2002: $42.243 billion
TOTAL: $171.468 billion
Okay, ready? Brace yourself.
Four "War" Years (2003-2006)
2003: $48.742 billion
2004: $51.834 billion
2005: $52.648 billion
2006: $64.952 billion
TOTAL: $218.176 BILLION
And yes, we're spending more and more annually on this war with every passing year, not less.
I'm not saying this was the sole motivation for war in Iraq, of course. But war has always been big business. WWII pretty much single-handedly yanked the US out of the Great Depression. Don't think $$$ weren't a factor.
thunderdrmz wrote:Sheer blood lust? Absolutely nothing to do with an entire hate generating segment of this earth that wants to kill you, your mother, and your neighbor. Oh yeah, this segment of which I speak of was killing everyone who didn't agree with them far before any Bush came into power.
Are you talking about Muslim fundamentalists or the Catholic church? Your last sentence really muddled things up.
Expand your thinking. Please mention one single year in the course of human history when there wasn't "an entire hate generating segment of this earth" wanting to kill another segment. And why do you think shooting up their cities and blowing up their children will somehow convince them to stop hating us?
One enemy at a time. Regardless of their sponsorship or lack-thereof of terrorist organizations, Iran and Iraq were not responsible for 9/11. Pursuing al-Qaeda to attempt to bring the perpetrators of 9/11 to justice is understandable. It's the "Global War on Terror" that I find to be such a joke.
You cannot fight ideologies with violence. IT DOES NOT WORK. It didn't work for the Romans versus the Christians, it didn't work for the Christians versus the Muslims or the Muslims versus the Christians, it didn't work for the Americans versus the Communists. IT DOES NOT WORK. But no one ever learns, so we continue our typical response: hit anyone whose ideology WE disagree with (the same fault you ascribe to the terrorists can easily be applied to US foreign policy) like a four-year-old child.
You can repeat tired, old, gung-ho cliches like "the time for talk is over!" all you want; it doesn't make them any truer.