26-12-2008, 04:15 PM
Magda Hassan Wrote:...
[Note on Sources: It's rare indeed that the U.S. empire of bases gets anything like the attention it deserves...
Great subject Maggie. I've had the same blind spot. When the US goes after a region, under the usual premise of spreading democracy, I tend to see it through the lens of natural resources. The US regime du jour wants oil in Iraq, access to opium poppies in Asia; or geography (the Caspian pipeline in Afghanistan). But I'm starting to see that planting a base is at least a secondary objective, not only to have boots on the ground in case the locals go all anti-capitalist, but to give the Halliburtons and Bechtels et al something to build with all that tax money they are paid.
"The Shock Doctrine," page 364:
"Put simply, if Iraquis were allowed to freely elect the next government, and if that government had real power, Washington would have to give up on two of the war's main goals: access to Iraq for U.S. military bases and full access to Iraq for U.S. multinationals."