Saturday, January 31, 2004

The politics of War and Peace  Here is some Machiavellian counter-intuitive logic on the politics of war and peace.  In my view, the Democrats shouldn't go soft on 9/11 when confronting Bush in the fall.  Ads that point out that 9/11 happened on George Bush's watch should be thick on the ground.  Items to list:  the intelligence failures at the CIA, the INS failures, the failures at the FBI, the lack of adequate air safety, and the early preoccupation with Iraq at the expense of terrorism.  All point to a pattern of conduct that should not be forgiven. I also think it is important not to dwell on Iraq too much (although the lack of real WMDs should be pointed out again and again as proof of errors in judgement).  This should be done even though Iraq is likely to be a disaster in the medium term (our casualties there in the first 3/4 of a year are as much as the first 3 years of Vietnam). It's just too early since the war began for most American voters to show anything but full support for it.  Why?  Two reasons:  we want to support the troops in Iraq -- and -- Saddam was a very bad guy.  It is going to take at least two to three years for a majority of Americans to finally figure out that the best way to support our troops is to get them back on US soil and that the process by which we eliminated Saddam was worse than the threat he presented. 9:48:08 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

Long list of corporate mercenaries doing business in Iraq. 11:50:54 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

Book Review:  Singer's "Corporate Warriors." But these are small points and do not detract from Singer's distinct message that it is time to wake up and smell the coffee; states no longer enjoy a monopoly on the means of violence. The sooner we recognize and deal with that fact the better off we will all be.   Amen to this. 9:35:14 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

Asia Times.  Infrastructure attacks in Iraq cause economic and political dislocation.  In terms of risk/reward, these attacks are the most fruitful for the guerrillas. Tactically, these attacks seek to disrupt the overall reconstruction effort and, with the Iraqi oil sector playing such a significant role both in terms of post-conflict economics and regional geopolitics, also serve as a major psychological blow to the stabilization effort. The resulting shortages of crucial oil products also lead to greater Iraqi frustration and anger, and exacerbate a lessening of credibility and legitimacy for the coalition. For example, as the price of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has doubled in recent months, all Iraqi families are affected since they rely on it for all cooking, and especially for the hobutz flat bread, a basic staple for all Iraqi families. Interesting tidbit on the rise and roles of corporate mercenaries: A $39.5 million contract was signed in August 2003 with the Erinys International security firm of South Africa to improve security along the northern pipeline system. This firm, an international business-risk consultant, is engaged in the recruitment, screening and hiring of some 6,500 Iraqis to guard 140 key installations, including oil wellheads, pipelines and refineries and electricity and water facilities. 9:32:08 AM    Comment_ Trackback []