> At 06:01 AM 6/25/2010, Carrol Cox wrote:
>
>
>> Think of "keeping a friendly climate for business" (not just U.S.
>> business but world business). Think of the threat to that business
>> climate by serious chaos in the Middle East & South Asia, and of how
>> vital Middle-East oil is for the whole global economy.
>
>
> So how does creating serious chaos meet that goal?
Maybe Carrol and Carl are right and there is some grand strategy behind all this. But it could be that after 9/11 Bush "had" to get revenge (if you believe OBL & AQ were based in Afg, etc. - if you think Dick Cheney did it, stop reading now). And once there, the U.S. couldn't leave without damaging its "credibility." Then Obama campaigned on escalating Afg because it was a way to make him look tougher than Bush, and now that he's done it, he's stuck. Grand strategy or no, both this war and the one in Iraq have done a lot of damage to the U.S. - trillions in debt and less foreign regard for both U.S. soft and hard power - with no visible gains. I don't know, but maybe it's to give the ruling class too much credit to assume there's a big picture behind everything they do.
Doug