How to End the War (deny them the spoils)

[rodeodance]

Much more and well worth the read.

> Published on Thursday, May 5, 2005 by In These Times

http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2103/

>
> How to End the War
> by Naomi Klein
>
>
> The central question we need to answer is this: What were the real reasons for the Bush administration’s invasion and occupation of Iraq?
>
> When we identify why we really went to war—not the cover reasons or the rebranded reasons, freedom and democracy, but the real reasons—then we can become more effective anti-war activists. The most effective and strategic way to stop this occupation and prevent future wars is to deny the people who wage these wars their spoils—to make war unprofitable. And we can’t do that unless we effectively identify the goals of war.
>
> When I was in Iraq a year ago trying to answer that question, one of the most effective ways I found to do that was to follow the bulldozers and construction machinery. I was in Iraq to research the so-called reconstruction. And what struck me most was the absence of reconstruction machinery, of cranes and bulldozers, in downtown Baghdad. I expected to see reconstruction all over the place.
>
> I saw bulldozers in military bases. I saw bulldozers in the Green Zone, where a huge amount of construction was going on, building up Bechtel’s headquarters and getting the new U.S. embassy ready. There was also a ton of construction going on at all of the U.S. military bases. But, on the streets of Baghdad, the former ministry buildings are absolutely untouched. They hadn’t even cleared away the rubble, let alone started the reconstruction process.....
>

[EVDebs]

1. 14 permanent bases in Iraq going up

'Digging In'
http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2005/03/enduring_bases_iraq.html

" Over the past year, the Pentagon has reportedly been building up to 14 "enduring" bases across the country—long-term encampments that could house as many as 100,000 troops indefinitely. John Pike, a military analyst who runs the research group GlobalSecurity.org, has identified a dozen of these bases, including three large facilities in and around Baghdad: the Green Zone, Camp Victory North, and Camp al-Rasheed, the site of Iraq’s former military airport. Also listed are Camp Cook, just north of Baghdad, a former Republican Guard "military city" that has been converted into a giant U.S. camp; Balad Airbase, north of Baghdad; Camp Anaconda, a 15-square-mile facility near Balad that housed 17,000 soldiers as of May 2004 and was being expanded for an additional 3,000; and Camp Marez, next to Mosul Airport, where, in December, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the base's dining tent, killing 13 U.S. troops and four KBR contractors eating lunch alongside the soldiers.

At these bases, KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary that works in cooperation with the Army Corps of Engineers, has been extending runways, improving security perimeters, and installing a variety of structures ranging from rigid-wall huts to aircraft hangars. Although the Pentagon considers most of the construction to be "temporary"—designed to last up to three years—similar facilities have remained in place for much longer at other "enduring" American bases, including Kosovo's Camp Bondsteel, which opened in 1999, and Eagle Base in Tuzla, Bosnia, in place since the mid-1990s."

But Bush said on Mar. 16, 2005, that US troops could come home once Iraqis could defend themselves. Was he telling the truth ? And Helen Thomas doesn't get called upon at press conferences, which are rare, in order to actually ask a tough question like that.

[Joebert]

2. With the flood of investigative news coming out of Baghdad

(right)

If we had a reporter that would go there and get the pictures.

And a news organization that would show them.

And people that were interested in watching information instead of American Idol.

You could do a lot with this.

If we didn't have "black" budgets for these works, they could be scrutinzed.

If had representatives/senators that in large gave a shit, something could be done. (Bankruptcy bill anyone?)

I would love to see companies that caught overcharging have a block put on saying that they or any subsidiary/spinoff cannot bid for a government project or subcontract on one for 10 years.