The strange logic of the Iraq bombings seems so obvious, yet the manufacturers of public opinion brainwash most westerners with great success. It is no wonder that a majority of US-Americans (who all were forced to sing the national anthem in school) are in favour of the bombings. They are in general very US-centric and uneducated about the realities of foreign affairs.
Yet to most people it is obvious what is going on. As always, it pays to check who is making the money? Here the answer is simple. The US military now gets more money for fresh, new missiles. They must have used up 1000 cruise missiles ... Now thats money. And the US-tax-payer will not complain about the next ridiculous military budget. It will keep the military hawks quiet for a while.
Its also quite easy to see what ill fortune this behaviour will bring about. The last sentence in this commentary from a New Zealand newspaper gives us a hunch.
Who knows whether the next US president isn't even more removed from the world's reality?

DAVID HASTINGS, Foreign editor,  New Zealand Herald, B10 -- 19December1998
It's time for a breather -- and a reality check

In the brief space of 36 hours it has become conventional wisdom that Slick Willie Clinton was wagging the dog when he ordered the cruise missiles to hit Iraq. This is too obvious to be true. Slick Willie does not need Holly wood scriptwriters to work out his plots for him, he's clever enough to do it for himself. With chirpy Tony Blair as co-scriptwriter he was able to come up with a fictional scenario much more compelling than anything you would see in a movie. Given the gravity of the crisis into which he has plunged the world, a reality check is timely. According to the script the US and Britain are the agents of the international community, acting to protect the  world  against a tyrannical monster.

Reality check: Bill Clinton let slip that the real reason was to protect the national interests of the United States, and that's the way it has always been.

The script: The international community is unanimous on policy towards Saddam Hussein.

Reality check: No it isn't. Numerous  countries have  expressed opposition to what is happening, including the two most populous nations on earth - China and India.

The script: We are acting with the authority of the United Nations Security Council.

Reality check: Three of the per manent members of the Security Council - Russia, China and France - say that the United States and Britain have no authority to attack Iraq.

The script: Other countries possess weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles but the difference with Saddam Hussein is that he uses them.

Reality check: Was that the Pentagon we heard boasting about the 280 cruise missiles it rained down on Iraq as recently as Thursday this week?

The script: Our objectives are clear, we aim to inhibit Saddam's capacity to develop and deliver nuclear weapons.

Reality check: The trouble is, we don't know where he has hidden 600 tonnes of chemicals which can be used to make deadly VX gas. Nor do we know what has happened to thousands of chemical warheads we cannot account for.

The script: It would be a nice bonus if Saddam himself were to be killed.

Reality check: We've got no idea where he is either.

The script: Don't worry. The weapons we are using this time are much smarter than those used during the Gulf War.

Reality check: True, but they're still pretty dumb. One cruise missile was so far off target that it missed Iraq altogether and hit Iran.

The script: Saddam's defiance of UN weapons inspectors presents a clear and present danger to the stability of the Persian Gulf and the safety of people everywhere.

Reality check: So do air strikes on Iraq.


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