51st State
It's not personal, it's only business
--The Godfather III, (1990)
When a war between nations is lost
The loser we know pays the cost
--Now That the Buffalo's Gone,
Buffy Ste-Marie
_______________
--The Godfather III, (1990)
When a war between nations is lost
The loser we know pays the cost
--Now That the Buffalo's Gone,
Buffy Ste-Marie
_______________
Some congressmen are considering floating a law which would require Iraq to contribute its windfall oil profits to finance their country's rebuilding (Democrats, Republicans Coming to Agreement: .) At first blush this sounds reasonable, but then not.
[1] Iraq did not request nor concur in the unilateral decision that opened their sovereign nation to the pillaging Armies of the Great Coalition of the Willing. Since they had no input, why should they provide output? Did they sign onto a pre-invasion finance plan? 90-days, same-as-oil?
[2] How can the U.S. Congress pass a law that commits the sovereign nation of Iraq to a financial course of action? U.S. Federal laws bind our citizens and states, but they cannot control the actions of other countries.
What will Congress do if the Iraqis won't pony up. Will we invade them to collect the cash and fuck up their country?
It seems that Congress views Iraq as the 51st State. Not.
Labels: congress requests iraq fund rebuild, congress says iraq needs to pay for reconstruction
posted by rangeragainstwar at 9:42 PM
3 Comments:
small wonder one of the only founders the neocons truly revere was hamilton. he had every chance of becoming the american revolution's che. he had a vision of continuing revolution. a federal army, with himself at the head of course, taking florida, new orleans (which would have had the result of owning the mississippi), texas, and on into mexico. constant, continuing revolution. or, empire building ala alexander. there was a short scene in the HBO John Adams, where, hamilton, in full uniform explains his vision to president adams. adams' eyes bulge (he's played by paul giamati after all) and he decides then and there that a standing army is more threat to the republic than either france, britain, or spain.
the spread of democracy by force of arms has never worked. one of the first things that happened to the athenians when they went to war with sparta was that their tributary colonies, democratized by force of arms began to revolt.
if you want democracy to take hold and flourish send the pamphletiers. if you want peace and stability send the hippies or the quakers, don't send teenagers with machine guns expecting anything but chaos and carnage.
MB,
Yes to all (and funny on Giamatti.)
Very good statement: "if you want democracy to take hold and flourish send the pamphletiers."
The Post recently ran an article on the slow demise of Radio Free Europe. I have wondered why we ignore this essential aspect of the supposed project.
MB,
Teenagers with machine guns ARE democracy...in Liberia.
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