so i went to a typical desi party and as usual the males gathered in one room to discuss international politics, as usual
more often than not i don’t dip my foot into these forays as the uncles believe they can solve the problems of the world in their living rooms
but today, i decided i’d step into the fray because, well, it’s been a while since i had a debate

many muslims have this paranoia about zionist jews, that everything the united states does is because of the zionist desire to establish the true eretz israel (or the true land of israel — some call it greater israel) which extends really really far and takes a massive chunk out of the rest of the middle east
interpretations vary, some renditions go north into syria and iraq, west into egypt, some go … well, a lot more than just that

and so many muslims believe that the only reason america is waging a war in iraq is for the territorial expansion of israel, saying that those who believe the war is being waged for the entrepreneurial expansion of corporations are being blinded by a zionist agenda

well that’s fine and dandy, but that doesn’t explain american involvement in virtually all of south america and the far east (vietnam, korea), and so on so forth
because, hey, eretz israel doesn’t stretch that far — unless for some odd reason you think eretz israel stretches from venezuela to vietnam

which, to say the least, is a load of crap, i don’t think even the hardliners at ahavat israel are pining for that sort of territory

and i’m not saying that capitalism does not serve the purposes of zionism or vice-versa, because there is a massive israeli lobby in washington
and the fact is, the war also benefited israel because iraq has tangibly attacked israel before (with scuds) and was financing suicide bombers — or their families anyway, and so israelis wanted saddam out of the picture

but hey, get real

american involvement in all these areas, and yes even iraq (especially iraq), is particularly for the benefit of the corporate interests that grow richer and richer as the poor grow poorer

stephen bechtel: “We are not in the construction and engineering business. We are in the business of making money.”
(bechtel‘s is one of the companies contracted for the reconstruction of iraq)

if you have the will-power, please do read this article from zmag to understand what i’m talking about:

reconstruction’s bottom line

The problem is, as evidenced most clearly by the case of Bechtel and KBR, the job is not even getting half-done. Profit-maximization has not resulted in the most efficient restoration of power and oil production possible. On the contrary, it gets in the way of doing things right. The power plants will eventually be built and the oil refineries will run again, but not after unnecessary deprivation on the part of Iraqis and not after Bechtel has made the most of the opportunity.

This war to liberate Iraq was never about liberating the Iraqis.

you see, there’s a religion that neo-con’s and right-wingers practice, forget judaism, christianity, islam — capitalism

corporations worship the almighty dollar