What's Next? [Reprise]

[Once again, I yanked an op-ed from my old blog--because it fits so well with today's primary entry.]
The mindset inside the beltway is that the people in the US are stupid. The problem is, when it uses that frame of reference, Washington simply displays its own idiocy: We’re supposed to forget the fact that Bush was giving us one reason for the war in Iraq as of March, 2004, another in July and still another in October. Whenever the facts didn’t support the latest ‘reason’ he was feeding us, he just trotted out another.

The most recent one was: ‘We went into Iraq to free the people from the Evil Oppressor and establish Democracy.’
Of course, the latest doesn’t hold up either. The fact is, the US has never attacked another country in order to help it. Whenever we have invaded, it was to insure our own best interests. So—what are those interests now?

Well, here’s a surprise:
There’s oil in Iraq.
When Iraq was ruled by Saddam, we weren’t in control of that oil.
If things ever settle down there, US interests are going to be moving in in droves to manage all that oil.
The Iraqi people will be disenfranchised of the resources in their own country.
All this from their benevolent uncle who’s bringing them ‘peace and democracy’ at the end of a gun.

And, once again, we’re supposed to have short memories. But we don’t.
Remember when we have imported governments into other countries before?
Remember what happened in the Central and South Americas, for instance?
Remember Iran?

Hunker down, folks.
When we tried this tactic in El Salvador and Peru, the people mostly took out their frustrations on each other--with civil wars and death squads.
When we did it in Iran, they took as hostages Americans who were living in their country.
Since then, Al Quida has become a major player in the world. And they like to let us know, right here at home, when they don’t like what we’re doing.