Originally posted by SLY

Originally posted by Raskolnikov
No, it's quite common knowledge here that the CIA trained him when he was fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan and that fanaticism was a large part of that training. bin Laden won't admit it, but the US does.

As to imperialism - that accusation holds little water. As I said before, does the US buy or sell Kuwaiti oil? Does Japan and Germany go along with everything the US says?

Think critically of the critics, they're just as likely to have alterior motives as anybody else.

So you admit that Bin Laden was an U.S. mistake ?

Who doesn't? I don't know what your media has been telling you, but our training of bin Laden and it's very obvious repricussions have been very comon knowledge in the US since about 1993.

And now by the actions the U.S. is taking (like war against Iraq) , the U.S. is fueling fundamentalism ... Is it on purpose ? I mean , spreading extremism in the world (mainly arabic nations) so that the U.S. can invade them some other time in the future as "war against terrorism" ??!

Why would we possibly want to do that? Add up the costs of war, factor in the budget deficits that reduce the buying power of the US dollar and strap the economy... Making war doesn't make money. Another very key point in The Art of War.

You don't have to buy & sell or take over their oil wells to controle it ... You can't deny the great Influence of the U.S. on gulf states decisions to keep the oil price in the range you want it.

What are you talking about? I work full time and make about $270 a week after taxes. OVER HALF of that goes right into my rent, my electricity/water bill, and my phone bill. That leaves me with about $120, but of that I spend about $40 (sometimes $50) a week on gasoline leaving just $80-$70 for food and for spending money. Capitalism depends on people like me to be able to afford to spend money. If I spent less on gas, I could afford to buy stuff, I could travel more, I could eat at expensive restaurants, I could be a lot more profitable to a lot of businesses. But instead I have to watch my spending very carefully or I don't eat two days out of the week. In the past couple of years the price of gasoline has gone up about 50%. That increases EVERYBODY's overhead costs and HURTS the economy. Somebody has been feeding you a lot of crap.

Also after invading Iraq , there are going to be lots of investment deals to rebuild Iraq , most of these eventualy will go to the U.S. (in case the war doesn't turn out to be a new Vietnam).

You're probably right, but that's because a). the US has more capital to invest in developing areas than other places and b). the rest of the nations in the world aren't taking action and therefore put themselves out of the bidding. Foreign investment is good for a country with a poor ecomonomy, it means more and jobs for the citizens. Iraq has a fairly well educated population and can very easily fill a lot of high-tech, well paying jobs.

Also , it has been rumored that the U.S. can/will claim their rights in some portions of Iraqi oil to pay for the dues of war... Is that why they don't care about the expenses ? Is the U.S. taking war as a business ?

War might save money in the long run (as opposed to allowing Saddam to cause a much larger, much more expensive battle), but it never makes money.
The US still owes money from our Revolutionary War. That was over 200 years ago. That should tell you something.