USA, Canada /
What do Polish people think of the USA [287]
Good point lightbulb. But there is more to it why our troops are still there.
For example oil.
I don't doubt that oil figures into the equation, since it is essentially the thing that gives Iraq its strategic value. However, it is possible for the government to have both a good-faith desire to eliminate a threat and help an oppressed people *and* a profit motive concurrently, which is probably the case, just like it was in every other war our country has ever fought, although Iraq will mean debt to us ultimately in any case. We remain in Kosovo and Germany and N. Korea and God only knows how many other places where the benefit is less obvious, which I think leads some newcomers to global politics to latch on to the "war for oil" slogan and fail to see the broader perspective, sometimes, especially in foreign lands where observers are less well-versed in the process of our politics here.
Randompal loves it when folks talk about a war as if it were a small business opportunity. I hope you're not Polish, because the irony wouldn't be lost on me. Irony as in, Aw **** Hitler murdered a few million Poles but maybe Poland can still be a net benefit...the US has already killed a million Iraqis, many women and their kids, but who cares theyre just stinky muslims!
I wouldn't say that about Poland, and I don't think my prior remarks were so callous as to suggest that sort of thing about Iraq. I speak in terms of "net benefit" simply for accuracy's sake. It would be ignorant to think of the end result of our war with Iraq being simply "good" or "bad," "beneficial" or "harmful," however it may turn out. Instead, I use the term "net benefit" to clarify, and to acknowledge the human costs that we've already incurred and the complexity of the situation. We have the resources and the volunteers and the allies and the will to meet the already-long list of harms with a longer one of benefits, but it will take time, no doubt.