> > Leaving Semitism pro- and anti- out of it, there's still a real puzzle
> > here: how do we account for apparently irrational behavior on the
> > empire's part?
>
> If the US power elite were "irrational" to pursue the Iraq War, their
> "irrational" behavior was solidly supported by an overwhelming
> majority of the Americans in 2003
Certainly, but I don't think I'm quite grasping your point. Wouldn't you agree that public support for the war was... not irrational, maybe, but misguided, the result of deception and mendacious propaganda? It seems unlikely that the elites deceived themselves as they deceived the public. But surely you're not saying that; I daresay I'm just being obtuse.
> The Iraq War has been a disaster for the Iraqis, and it has had a much
> smaller but still negative impact on American workers, too, but it has
> not hurt the US ruling class _at all_: the share of their income has
> gone up, for instance.
Do you think the two facts are connected? It's difficult for me to see how, at least in any very direct way. It seems reasonable to think that the general fascistization of society that war makes possible has a global, long-term, positive effect on elite power and wealth. But is it reasonable to believe that some executive committee of the ruling class reasoned, hey, let's start an otherwise pointless war so we can fool the masses into consenting to their own further enslavement?