By Joseph J. Honick
The headlines screamed out at me from the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal of December 21, a sure sign not only of the Winter Solstice and the shortest day of the year, but more evidence of how American taxpayers have been shafted and thousands of American lives sacrificed for someone else’s gain.
The author of this marvelous revelation is one Bartle Bull, identified as a "former journalist and founder of Northern Gulf Partners an Iraq-focused investment bank."
Bull (I did not make up his name) asserts that "The expected announcement of Iraq’s new government marks the culmination of a remarkable process. The former bullyboy of the Arab neighborhood has become its only functional democracy."
Whoopee! And here we thought the "process" was the sacrifice of thousands of Americans and other NATO forces because there was a rumor of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" that somehow never quite surfaced so we could move on to Afghanistan.
Ah, but then we found out those fabulous oil fields of Iraq had been rehabilitated to pump like crazy in order to be auctioned off to the highest oil industry bidders and investors. Pardon me if I thought there might have been just a small piece of that action for the American and other taxpayers who footed the human fiscal bills to make all that happen.
How silly of me.
Actually, some months ago, I wrote a piece that asked simply: "When do we get payback from Iraq?" It got some laughs and then some bitter denunciations of the fact American taxpayers have shouldered almost all the debt for this NATO operation, including most of the personnel.
I proposed then and propose now that the international greed pushers be sent a statement for services rendered and a huge stake in those wonderful oil fields from which oil companies and investors like Bull will be enriched.
In fact Mr. Bull may not realize how closely his name will be tied to the logic of all this.
With Republicans screaming about the deficit but hardly stemming the rewards to defense contractors, who among them will have the courage to stand up and demand that bills be sent to corrupt Afghan government that says we are fighting too hard … and to the Saudis whose 400 mile border with Iraq we helped to preserve.
And, by the way, will there be a little left to share with the Israelis who single-handedly knocked out Saddam Hussein’s nuclear operation in 1981 perhaps saving many lives which catching hell for the effort?
So, Mr. Bull and the Wall Street Journal, you may be happy as can be about this "Coming Iraqi Business Boom", but I dare you to share that boastful commentary with the families whose sons and daughters fought and died there, not to mention as well the tens of thousands of civilians who perished.
This cannot, or at least should not be the Brave New World.
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Joseph J. Honick is an international consultant
to business and government and writes for many publications,
including huntingtonnews.net. Honick can be reached
at [email protected]. |