The blody war continues in Iraq. The "surge is working" is fairy tale - so is the troop withdrawl Mr Obama is basing his campaign on.

I hope Mr. Obama will retain his eloquence when he faces the American people to admit that American really will be in Iraq for 100 years. And nothing will change that.

(If you haven't read the book, the whale wins.)

From the moment Ahab emerges from below decks and takes command of the Pequod, a ship rattling with whale bones and the dark aura of death, we understand that Ishmael is headed on a one way voyage.

Iraq has always been Capt. George Bush’s white whale. The embodiment of evil he’s determined - if not destined - to slay. Only Bush prefers to describe his one way adventure as “transforming” Iraq. Either way, the whale has taken Ahab’s leg - Bush suffers from the indignity of Saddam’s attempt on his father’s life - both openly admit that they will not rest until God’s will is done.

But with only months left in office, it looks as though Bush has made no real progress in his five years before the mast. Until now.

Last week the hopelessly fragmented Iraqi government - in a “unanimous decision” boycotted by 13 of the 37 representatives, - announced that they have reached oil production agreements with U.S. and British oil companies. The harpoon that was launched almost five years ago has finally taken purchase. That tens of thousands U.S. military forces will be ensnared in its spiraling coil is a foregone conclusion.

There is little doubt that perfectly legitimate arguments will begin classifying the continued U.S. occupation in the “security interests” of Americans. At $140 a barrel, that is hard to argue against.

Democrats saw the slippery slope immediately.

“ WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of senior U.S. Democratic senators on Tuesday urged the Bush administration to try to stop the Iraqi government from awarding short-term service contracts to major oil companies, saying the no-bid deals could inflame sectarian tensions.”

"We can't blame Iraq for its desire to expand its oil production," Schumer said at a news conference. "However signing oil contracts without a revenue sharing law is a recipe for disaster.”

But with the Bush Administration there are no recipes for disaster, only “staying the course”, and this course has been plotted long ago. Even a new occupant in the Oval office can't change it now.

Jonah escaped from the whale. Ahab didn’t. Neither will the United States.

Why, I wonder, do those "senior Democratic senators" think the administration can prevent these contracts from going into effect. Isn't Iraq a sovereign and democratic nation?

Just out of curiosity because I like you and I hope you're okay ...

when you wrote "Isn't Iraq a sovereign and democratic nation?" did you choke or anything?

Hope you're doing okay.

I carefully swallowed whatever it was, put the glass down out of reach, and held my breath as I typed. Thanks for caring.

American blood traded for oil corporation profits, eh? And you call yourself a patriotic citizen?

You make me sick.

as to why the US Government has no real interest in solving our oil crisis.

Vicariously, through Iraq, they hope to get in on the oil exporting business...and it looks like they just might do it.

jo

Jack -

My pleasure. I'm glad you're okay! We'll just move on now, okay? :)

A&S

I had a prof. in poly sci, about ten thousand years ago, who repeated the same cliche' over and over.......so much that I can can hear his voice tone for tone.

The proof is in the pudding. God did I get sick of hearing that. It was his answer for evrything.

But obviously he was trying to impress upon our young minds the first rule of politics: The end result is the end result.

After all the smoke has cleared, what actually happened?

The result of WW1 was WW2. The result of the Vietnam war was the complettion of the military industrial complex.

The result of the Iraq war will be a consortium of oil companies and a puppet governent supported and protected by the US military and US tax dollars.

there are no other conclusions to be drawn.

z

zuko -

I think we started to cook our "Iraq War Pudding" in Versaille.

I haven't done any extensive research on WW1, but from everything I've read, the US involvement, or any escalation of that war, was a monumentaly bad idea.

By the time the US got involved, both sides were literaly and figuratively stuck in the mud. In very short order there would have been a truce, of some kind, out of necessity.

The US role did turn the tide, but at a horrible cost, settting the table for Hitler and nationalism.

I don't think the US record in foreign wars is too impressive. Mexican American War, Spanish American War, WWI, Korea, Vietnam, El Salvador/Contra, Grenada, Panama, .....all these wars could be seen in a very bad light by a reasonable person.

And from a military perspective, even Afgahnistan is a clusterfuck. What are we doing engaged in record casualties after 7 years?

I think we need to take a break

z

zuko..

You forgot the rest of your metaphor..Ahab was obsessed to chasing down Moby..(Bush out to smash his brand of evil ..re Iraq..now maybe Iran is bobbing in the waves)..But what you forgot to mention is that Ahab's ship, the Pequod was a whaling ship..a ship made to pursue whales and kill them for OIL. Whaling ships were OIL gathering ships. Ahab lost sight of his purpose..to kill whales and make OIL, but Bush, our snake oil salesman in chief..tried to make us believe that he wasn't after OIL..that his Moby was Saddam and that Saddam was the Moby who orchestrated the event of 9/11 in NYC.

OIL zuko. Ahab put oil on the back burner when he went after Moby. Bush NEVER put OIL on the back burner when he and his cronies began to destroy Iraq and try to control the Middle East through chaos..And it's still OIL, nothing more, nothing less that drives the Bushies.

To equate Bush with Ahab is to go along with Bush propaganda..that he only wanted to kill devils..first Saddam, now the terrorists..But we know that he let his OIL family/brother off his harpoon..You know the rest and we have seen and are seeing the aftermath but cannot comprehend, from here in the USA the deaths Bush triggered off by the hundreds of thousands in Iraq..and they ain't Moby.
A

I plead guilty to that rather large over sight.

But I would still submit that in the larger sense, Bush is more closely linked to Ahab by his over condfidence and hubris. That in the end, Ahab was destoyed by his passion to kill something he convinced himself was evil - and was dragged under, clinging to the last, by his refusal to accept things that he was powerless over.

The US is entangled in a situation we can not hope to prevail in.

The imagery of Moby Dick rising from the water to expose the spent harpoonss of many battles in him, and the lines wrapping around him, but still defiant, then sounding, returning to the depths as fearsome as ever should be more than enough to remind us of Iran's history.

Mesopotamians have secured those deserts through time, in ancient and mordern eras. They might not be on the cutting edge of societal evolution, but they're still there.

We have foolishly plunged ourselves into a bottomless pit that is littered with the bones of invaders before us. Including the same British Oil Companies, 36 years ago, that are getting contratcs today.

This is far more serious than most people think. It's not about Bush's buddies making money anymore. It is about the direction of our country.

z

Pudding turns to mush eventually!

In Versailles when we sat with Great Britain and France and decided to divide up the world we basically set the stage for this latest war.

It is one of the main reasons there is such great hatred of the United States among the peoples of the Middle East.

I recently heard someone say that Philosophy is fine for politics and academics, but wisdom comes from History.

An interesting proposition.

And, I agree with you - we need to take a break!

zuko..

I suggest you brush up on the history of WWl and what led to the rise of Hitler..
You wrote:
"I haven't done any extensive research on WW1, but from everything I've read, the US involvement, or any escalation of that war, was a monumentaly bad idea.

By the time the US got involved, both sides were literaly and figuratively stuck in the mud. In very short order there would have been a truce, of some kind, out of necessity.

The US role did turn the tide, but at a horrible cost, settting the table for Hitler and nationalism."

Spoken like a true isolationist whose scant knowledge of causes and effects can lead to the writing of bogus history books.

I suggest you read some good/real history books about WWl and then maybe..instead of using Melville's Ahab to Bush..Make a parallel between the exploitation of 9/11 by Bush & CO. to attack Iraq and exploit Saddam as the cause, and Hitler's use and exploitation of the Jews as scapegoats for Germany's economic problems..Hitler's use of an Aryan myth to 'cleanse' kill and conquer..And with Iraq, some Americans..including Generals in the field saw (and may still see) the Iraq war as a repeat Crusade..An opportunity to kill and put those dirty rag-head Muslims in their place.. for Jesus. This was very evident in the first few years of the war in Iraq. ..and is still very evident when there are and have been instances of wanton killing of Iraqi civilians by American soldiers or Bush's mercenaries in Iraq.

What IF is always a big question historically. What IF the Confederates had won the Civil War? What kind of America do you want zuko..Can you really think that Bush was just a fundamentalist zealot run amok with hubris? There goes your Texan Captain Ahab.
A

Really think I'm the correct target? If so, why so? Usually we agree.