The Iraq War: Utilitarian or Oligarchical?

[seauantea]

By that I mean is the war in Iraq primarily for the benefit of America as a whole or is it by and large military industrial profiteering?

[OzmO]

By that I mean is the war in Iraq primarily for the benefit of America as a whole or is it by and large military industrial profiteering?

"benefit of America" is the sales pitch to the American people.

[headhuntersix]

It benefits us..if u like to gas up your car. Also like it or not the rags also consider this the main front of their side of the war on terror and we are chewing them up. AQ hasn't had the time, money or folks to hit us here so.....its pulling them in. They didn't find WMDs and Saddam wasn't really connected to 911 but where keeping them over there as opposed to here.

[Straw Man]

There are more contractors (180k) than US Soldiers (160k) and there's no end in sight for this thing.

I'm inclined to think the this "war" is mostly about the looting of the US Treasury by private (for PROFIT) companies.

Most of the reconstruction projects are a joke and that money could be much better spent rebuilding New Orleans or any multitude of projects within the United States (perhaps for example repairing our roads instead of selling the out to foreign corporations:  http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/highwaymen.html)

[OzmO]

There are more contractors (180k) than US Soldiers (160k) and there's no end in sight for this thing.

I'm inclined to think the this "war" is mostly about the looting of the US Treasury by private (for PROFIT) companies.

Most of the reconstruction projects are a joke and that money could be much better spent rebuilding New Orleans or any multitude of projects within the United States (perhaps for example repairing our roads instead of selling the out to foreign corporations:  http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/highwaymen.html)

Careful the resident neonazi's on the board will claim you listen to the liberal media too much and none of what is said is factual.

[ieffinhatecardio]

There are more contractors (180k) than US Soldiers (160k) and there's no end in sight for this thing.

I'm inclined to think the this "war" is mostly about the looting of the US Treasury by private (for PROFIT) companies.

Most of the reconstruction projects are a joke and that money could be much better spent rebuilding New Orleans or any multitude of projects within the United States (perhaps for example repairing our roads instead of selling the out to foreign corporations:  http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/highwaymen.html)

This is a frightening prospect. I think nearly everyone except a few loyalists questions the motivation for this war but to think it could be to financially profit a select few is something I'm not ready to believe. The concept itself is so utterly outrageous and my pessimism hasn't reached that point yet.

I think we're all used to the concept of War ultimately boosting the economy of the country but to have it benefit a select few? YIKES.

[seauantea]

There are more contractors (180k) than US Soldiers (160k) and there's no end in sight for this thing.

I'm inclined to think the this "war" is mostly about the looting of the US Treasury by private (for PROFIT) companies.

Most of the reconstruction projects are a joke and that money could be much better spent rebuilding New Orleans or any multitude of projects within the United States (perhaps for example repairing our roads instead of selling the out to foreign corporations:  http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/highwaymen.html)

Excellent post! I was unaware contractors outnumber servicemen, though it is not surprising with the increasingly outsourced, and “coincidentally” more lucrative, nature of this conflict. There is a fox watching the henhouse scenario at play as the administration that pushed for the war was heavily supported and is intimately tied to the very corporations who are profiteering the most.  Unfortunately, the looting does not stop at the Treasury; future generation's wealth has been pre-emptively redistributed to these corporations via the financing of this war as the national debt is growing at roughly twice the rate of the comparatively peaceful 90’s.

We can be sure of the profiteering so I agree with your inclination. With respect to the utilitarian angle, only time will reveal how beneficial this conflict actually is to your average American; I am not optimistic.

[headhuntersix]

It would benefit us if we actually intended to win this war..but as a whole we. Congress, industry....the media..nobody but Bush wants to win and he does for self preservation reasons.