I don't see how that's in the US interest right now (and I don't get the "divide and rule" claim - there's plenty of division, but not much ruling). ^^^^
CB: Chaos ( remember old Chaos) reigns now. But in the long run the U.S. may have a lot to say about how things are run. The U.S. ruling class has lots of patience.
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Washington badly needs an effective puppet regime, not one in which ministers are shot and their underlings kidnapped out of their offices. The present state of the country is a severe political problem for the US at home and abroad.
^^^^^ CB; Washington and Wall Street have patience. The present state of the country is a political problem for the Republicans at home, but not for the US state as a whole. The U.S. population isn't about to overthrow the duopoly. What political problems does the war cause the U.S. abroad ? It shows that the U.S. is not a paper tiger, has overcome its Viet Nam syndrome.
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And a weak Iraq where terrorists can meet and practice seems like a global headache to me. You may be giving the Bush admin too much credit; to me, it looks like they were ignorant and arrogant and fucked up mightily.
Doug
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CB: Thus, rationalizing a continuing "war on terrorism". Bush is crazy like a fox. Does he look worried to you ? He knows his limited role, bad cop, ready to hand off to the "good cops". As compared with before the war, U.S. military forces have more rule over the territory where Iraqi oil is.