Iraq in Two

Lately I'm of the opinion that there are two major aspects to the Iraq occupation, one obvious, popular, or common and the other aspect, hidden or unspoken.

The obvious one involves how the general public, the ordinary middle and working class people, at large respond to the initial proposal of war, how they are brought into accepting the war, and how their hopes and thoughts are held as the war continues.

In the case of the Iraq War, there was a great deal of effort placed on accentuating fear in the American people as the purpose for starting the war. We were made to feel fear, fear of an atomic attack, or something worse than 9-11. The prospect of this lingers as the war continues. In fact Bush said as much on Monday.

Other common or obvious reasons were a bit of a stretch, as in Saddam being the same as Hitler, or that WMD chemical drones would fly to the USA and kill everyone. Then there is the patriotic angle, the support our troops because once the war begins nothing else matters, we are to throw our knowledge to the wind and then simply pray. Also there is the cause and effect patriotic angle as in freedom isn't free and there has to be a price for Americans to remain free, and if you don't get this then.....

But what really drives the war is not the obvious or common aspect, it is the hidden aspect. I believe that there are two major parts to the hidden aspect

Hidden aspect part 1 is the neo-conservative Project for A New American Century. This think tank produced the PNAC document which outlines the foreign policy strategy of the Bush Administration including invading Iraq. Keep in mind that the war effort of the PNAC'ers doesn't end with Iraq, it only begins there.

Hidden aspect part 2 is corporate America. These are the corporations that stand to benefit by the globalization of the Iraq economy. We are not only talking about the Halliburtons who had no bid contracts for massive sums of money to do apparently nothing in Iraq, but corporations that privatized the Iraqi infrastructure. Things like communications, pharmacy, transportation, and especially OIL. Yes the big one is OIL. We are talking about the energy corporations and the big door prize.

What is George Bush's role in all of this. He has two roles.

One role is to present the obvious common face to the people of the world and the US. This means revving up fear, planting the misinformation about WMD, nuclear bombs, and the constant linking and references to 9-11, etc etc etc.

The other role is to be the point man for corporate America and keep this information out of the ears of the American public. It is kept it in the board rooms of the relevant corporations and especially in the meetings of the inner power elite, the people that control media, banking, energy, all the big stuff.

Here is the kicker. As time progresses, more and more of the hidden information becomes known to more and more people. The trail is picked up by the intelligent scholars and journalists who know how to dig and know how to make the hidden information public information.

This is where we are at now. The curious thing is watching Bush try to dance in that dual role. He is at a crossroads. They need to make this thing go away somehow. So at present he has bought himself a month. Next month the "new strategy" will be brought forth. I will be all ears. Just one problem, the corporations, the energy elites, the inner power elites, they are not satiated. There is a vast reserve of wealth that Iraq holds. Why would they give up on it at this point.

Recall that there is an echo in the media that says things to the effect that the cost of the Iraq War has been slight. That the death toll is relatively tiny and insignificant, and that the cost is chump change. Any bets as to where this originates.

Finally I want to mention the role of torture in Iraq. Torture is conducted by the people that are at the common and popular level of understanding and involvement. Essentially the torturer is the same middle or working class person as the tortured. I believe the role of torture is to take attention away from the elites and the hidden reason for the war and keep the attention on the common and obvious aspect. The manipulation is perverse and far more immoral and tragic than the torture itself. It speaks to the ugliest, most contemptuous part of the power elite.