Friday, March 18, 2011

On oil, wars, and puppets

"The president's speech was disturbingly empty ... [It appears] that the US cannot stand idly by while atrocities take place. Yet we have done nothing in Burma or the Congo and are actively supporting governments in Yemen and Bahrain that are doing almost exactly - if less noisily - what Qaddafi is doing. Obama made no attempt to reconcile these inconsistencies because, one suspects, there is no rational reconciliation to be made." -- Andrew Sullivan

I can think of one reason - to intervene in Bahrain would piss off the Saudis and potentially cause disruptions in oil supply, especially if Saudi peasants were embolden by success in Bahrain

Qaddafi, should he succeed, is likely to kick out western oil companies and further disrupt oil supplies

This is obviously a move made entirely in the name of protecting access to oil ... it has nothing to do with the poor libyan citizens and freedom fighters who undoubtedly will be left with some western puppet government after Qaddafi is deposed that will oppress them just as badly (see, e.g., iraq, afghanistan)

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