Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Get off my lawn!

Patriot got me to thinking about what we do around the world that never seems to end up with a good outcome. What is it that we always seem to get into little disputes that turn into major wars. I guess Eisenhour was right. He said "beware of the military industrial complex". So I looked back to when I was old enough to even begin to understand world politics to outline what and why we've done what we did.

Vietnam - There was Diem in charge for many years a pro French leader who gradually turned and with a little CIA help was taken out of the picture and replaced with Nguyễn Cao Kỳ and co-leader Nguyen Van Thieu. What was this all about? As best as I can remember back in the 60s when our American cars seemed to be growing both larger and with ever increasing amounts of chrome the main source of that chrome was Southeast Asia. Now the bobble heads in DC would have you believe that this was all about democracy. That if we didn't stop those dirty commies in Vietnam then they'd take over all the countries there and spread west. And the next thing you'd know there'd be a commie under your bed. Humm how quickly we forgot about Joesph McCarthy of the 1950s but remember this was at the height of the cold war. This was about the chrome though. You'll note that after the defeat cars with chrome bumpers disappeared. Bumpers themselves have disappeared since. Any trim turned from chrome to brushed aluminum.

Iran - In the 1950s Iran had a democratically elected leader but he was about to make a shift in policy moving from a pro western position to working with the Russians. DC would have non of this and again with a little nudge from the CIA the Shah was installed much to the anger of the Iranians. After many years and changes to the economic landscape the people rose up and kicked out the Shah. Again this was about oil and greed. The deal the Shah struck gave the west a 50 50 split of the oil profits only there was no oversight or audit of the books for the Iranians.

Iraq - again we have oil and an elected leader being overthrown with Sadam taking over with some help again from the CIA. And we all know what a brutal dictator he turned into. All for cheap oil and as an added bonus we got him to fight Iran in an effort to take back power from the religious leaders.

Are you beginning to see a pattern here? It's really a simple process. We develop an industry or resource in some far off land and try to suck as much profit from it as possible. When the leaders of that country either catch on to the plan or themselves get drunk with power or cash it becomes time for regime change. If we go into a country with weak leadership or many factions then we pick the party or leader with the strongest potential and put them in charge whether or not they are the best pick for the country or not. And it happens over and over again.

Look what we have in Iraq and Afghanistan. Alawi and Karzai. I seem to recall Alawi being under criminal investigation by the CIA just after we invaded and were looking for an temporary leader. He had fallen out of power until he had some magical make over. I think he's basically a power whore who will say anything to get control. And you have to wonder if he didn't have some CIA help to get elected as he was the secular choice in a field of religious choices.

Greed is a funny thing. The more you have the more you want. It's a proven fact that most shoplifters have the money to pay for the things they steal.

Now get off my lawn while I'm busy stealing yours!

7 comments:

Tom Harper said...

You dang libruls are all the same. We fought the Vietnam War to keep Communism from enslaving America. And it worked. Right? We kicked them commies' asses and America is still a free country :)

Tim said...

Demeur

All in the name of might is right. We consistently have to create boogie men. Unfortunately our Country since after WW11 has based Foreign policy on fear. What a motivator fear is. Some of our leaders have excelled at it. So far as I can see,Obama has not played the fear card. He presents the rational card for the thinking person. When I think of all the unjust wars and conflicts I shutter. Countless lives and treasure squandered for either greed or fear. Fear on our part and greed for the power mongers. You can play on my lawn, that's what it's there for. To be enjoyed by all.
Later

BBC said...

We kicked them commies' asses and America is still a free country :)

Freedom is a mind set, it doesn't matter where you are at. I recon that I'm about as free as it gets.

Tim said...

BBC
I wasn't aware we won in North Korea.
And that hole Vietnam thingy...I guess the history books are wrong on that too... Oh yeah the commies took over all of Vietnam and the world as we know it ended. Are you Clint Eastwood or John Wayne. I promise to be vigilant for the Red army off Jersey. Thanks for the history lesson.

BBC said...

Tim, America writes history the way they want it to look to them.

Clint Eastwood or John Wayne? Both, I'm a mutt. :-)

Actually, wasn't they pretty much just twins?

Grab leather you sons a bitches....

I loved True Grit....

Go ahead, fucker, make my day.

Tim said...

You got it Duke!

The Blog Fodder said...

Thank you for the history lesson, Demeur. Especially about chrome and Vietnam. That was new to me. The rest I was pretty sure about. Apparently Afghanistan is about pipeline access, according to some.

America seems to feel it has the right (not just the power) to interfere in any country that acts against "American" interests. I guess all other interests are of no concern.

Japan got involved in serious Imperialism leading to WWII to access raw materials including oil. Now they just buy what they need and all is well. Any lessons here?