Duped By War and Profit

As the reasons for the Iraq War crumble one after another upon closer inspection, the real reason for why and how we fight reveals it's true, revolting nature: profit. Many pillaging capitalists have made a whole lot of money off the blood spilled by young, naive, underprivileged recruits.

Since the war, Blackwater has made $1 trillion. Halliburton's profits have gone up 284%. ExxonMobil's profits rise almost 50% a year. Defense contractor CEO pay has gone up 200 to 688%. The CEO's at General Dynamics, Halliburton, and Lockheed Martin, the top three profiteers, have made between $65 million and $98 million in four years.

The truly sick twist in this bloody game is that we, the taxpayers, are the ones paying these goons. The Executive Director of Oil Change International states, "While ExxonMobil is posting $10 billion profits in just the last three months, it is gouging each of us at the pump and taking billions more in taxpayer handouts."

How can this racket on the backs of the working poor continue? Who sold our young people out to die in a desert? Why are we suckers? There are many questions and still more answers.

It's not that we didn't need any strikes against Islamist extremists, it may just be that we didn't need to overthrow a country. However, science has shown that people are very susceptible to fear appeals. People are very emotional creatures. We can be swayed by plays to our emotions. If all that is needed are air strikes on military targets and the government instead has a secret agenda to build a democracy, the president will stand on an aircraft carrier in full flight gear or at ground-zero as the largest flag obtainable ripples in the background. These staged photo-ops are designed to manipulate our emotions. As the flag waves and the music swells and the call to action is plainly voiced, very basic feelings make us want to stand up to be who we are: brave, loyal, and free, bound to something higher than ourselves.

Sadly, the puppetmasters know exactly how to make us feel and act. The profiteers do not share the basic moral values of the populace. To them, "the greater good" was sold long ago to the highest bidder: Their souls are black: To them, there is nothing higher than the dollar. These super-capitalists know that Keynesian economics predicts that war is good for the economy, just as our president knew he always wanted to be a "war president" to use the power of consensus generated by war to get things done.

Will we stay duped? Will we allow world leaders to rationalize the death they have wrought because it is good for the economy? When will we take back our country?