Wars are Occasioned by the Love of Money
by Adrian Banks
2/6/03
Around 2500 years ago, a man named Socrates said: "For wars are occasioned by the love of money." The reasons the current administration have given for potentially going to war with Iraq have poured forth since the last elections. Many people in the country have blindly believed what they have been told. Others have dissented. The fact is that Iraq poses no threat whatsoever to this nation. Iraq would be very foolish to try to attack this nation, or for that matter, any nation at all. Any aggressive posture by Iraq would be dealt with swiftly, just as it was when Stormin' Norman was the commander of the forces that liberated Kuwait a little over a decade ago. In a recent Washington Post article, even Mr. Schwarzkopf did not agree with the pro-war mentality of the current administration.
If we simply put aside all the mass of rhetoric and propaganda and apply Socrates' basic principle of around 2500 years ago, we shall reveal the truth about the war that now is about to erupt in Iraq. As the Today show pointed out a little over a week ago, around $200 billion have been spent on war preparations already, and $17 billion have been promised to Turkey in order for 20,000 troops to be able to pass through that nation so that Iraq can be invaded from the north too. This represents a large investment. Any person who takes the risk of investing large sums of money expects a large return - that is - if the gamble works.
The only thing that could potentially result in a profit from the war is oil. Iraq has enormous oil reserves, and their military is no match for the military might of the United States. This nation, as well as other nations, consumes massive amounts of oil. The old gold was yellow - the new gold is black. Since the present administration has gone to such expense already in preparation for war, I cannot see how war can be averted. Any political power that spends over $200 billion in a military buildup intends to use that military power; and we are daily told that the buildup continues.
When George W. Bush appeared in Clemson in a campaign rally for Lindsay Graham during the 2002 campaign, Mr. Graham said that this president would not let Saddam Hussein stay in power. When Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his sixth annual message to Congress on January 4, 1939, he stated: "We have learned that long before any overt military act, aggression begins with preliminaries of propaganda, subsidized penetration, the loosening of ties of goodwill, the stirring of prejudice, and the incitement to disunion." After the 2002 election, just look at the flood of propaganda that has been unleashed to try to mold public sentiment in favor of this nation instigating a war with Iraq - a nation that is at the very heart of the world's largest oil reserves.
It is also worthy to note that Israel has become emboldened since the recent U.S. military buildup in the middle east. They are acquiring land by bulldozing the homes of Palestinians, not to mention killing some of them too, and the world simply watches.
The bottom line is that war kills people. Let us not be calloused toward the sanctity of human life just because it is halfway around the globe - and more importantly, let us not allow human lives to be sacrificed in the interests of Mammon.
Yours in Liberty
Adrian C. Banks