August, 2005 when I last wrote in this blog, was a long time ago. Since then, Arial Sharon has had a massive stoke and now lays in a coma. Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament. The insurgency in Iraq continues unabated and messages from Al-Qaeda suggest that hatred and fear of the United States are also largely unabated.
In the mean time, Iran moves forward with a nuclear energy program that Europe and the US fear will include the development of nuclear weapons. Exxon amasses the largest profit of any US corporation ever, 36.3 billion dollars in 2005, on an annual net income of 371 billion dollars, more then the entire GNP of Saudi Arabia for the same year.
It is hard not to be cynical. America harbors unfettered capitalism not unlike the harboring of Al-Qaeda by the Taliban in Afghanistan. There is a saying, be careful what you ask for, you might just get it. Hamas has become the ruling party in Palestine through democratically held elections. The folly of the United State’s invasion of Iraq becomes more apparent as the civil war of that country continues, Islamic fundamentalists encouraged by the lack of a strong central government. Once Iraq, under the rule of Saddam Hussein, was a moderating influence on Iran. But now Iran shuns concerns over it’s bold pursuit of nuclear capability. Iran, of course had received their initial technology and support for nuclear development from the US, France and Germany during the days when the US was its “friend.” The government back in the 70’s, though not a democracy, was amenable to US influence. The Shah was happy to kowtow to a large superpower for the rewards that he could accrue for his country. As the Hamas election victory shows, democracy is not, in itself, something that the US government considers to be sufficient for favorable foreign relations, any more then monarchal governments (such as the late Shah’s) were necessarily bad for US relations. The rhetoric of the current Bush administration belies the truth of record profits by Exxon and what they imply, that our war with Iraq is a war meant to commandeer, cajole and otherwise influence foreign powers that have the raw crude under their soil to keep it available to the US economy.
I have no allegiance to the hateful words of Hamas, or the threats of Al-Qaeda, but I also find the overthrow of the former monarch of Iraq by the US to have been equally hateful and threatening to the people of that country. The Bush administration listens to the Christian fundamentalist beliefs of its base of supporters that say that ending the life of a fetus is never justified, nor is it ever merciful to use drugs to mercifully end the life of a person in constant pain. Yet the killing of Iraqis is tolerated, promoted, continued – without any moral outrage. In fact, it is justified as the moral thing to do.
Issues of abortion, euthanasia, war, and the wide distance between poverty and wealth in income and medical care are deserving of debate and discussion. The answers to questions posed are, perhaps, less important then that discussions are held. But such discussions will never have credibility until we cease to blame others and look at ourselves.
