For weeks I've been watching this insanity over building mosques, burning Qur'ans, and whether Islam is a terrorist religion. I've even jumped in with letters to editors and postings on boards. Then it occurred to me that even participating in these conversations is part of the problem.
Leaders don't start wars over religion. And these conversations distract us from what is really going on. Hey, look over there!
This morning my local newspaper, The Courier Journal, printed my letter. Let's keep the focus where it belongs and why leaders really send us to war. The letter is below the jump. I could have written more but papers like brevity.
Here it is:
Reasons for War
Leaders do not start wars over religion. They start wars for political power and economic gain. Bin Laden attacked our financial center and military, not Christian or Jewish places of worship. Bush didn’t attack Iraq to convert them to Christianity. But after the Saudis gave in to bin Laden’s demand to remove U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia, occupying Iraq became a popular alternative for the Bush administration.
Geographically, Iraq is ideally close to the planet’s cheapest and most plentiful source of oil. It also puts our troops in the belly of Russia and near China. Likewise Afghanistan has key geographical significance. It too is next to the old Soviet Empire, even closer to China, and with our Iraqi troops we have Iran surrounded.
While Afghanistan has no oil, it is key to the huge international fight over a gas pipeline route. Does it go from Iran-Pakistan-India, from Turkmenistan crossing Afghanistan to Islamabad and India, or maybe a Iran-Pakistan-China pipeline?
This not to say religion is unimportant. Power brokers on both sides are happy to see us interpret this conflict in religious terms. It is good for recruiting warriors and it takes our focus off economic issues. The Cheneys, Bushes, and their friends at Halliburton, CACI, Blackwater, and Big Oil have gotten even richer from this conflict. Pawns die and argue about whose God is better.