KILL THE FAMILIES, TORTURE WORKS RANT

      Take Iraq’s oil. It’s what we should have done and what Donald Trump might do (or so he claims) if the opportunity arises. This assertion, with its echoes of a colonial past, makes folk on the left cringe. Unthinkable even a few months ago, Don the Con repeats it so often, and in the face of such criticism, I have to believe that he means what he says. And why not? While Trump might reap some of the rewards, neither he nor any of his children will bear the costs.

     Taking Iraq’s oil will require a military presence able to counter the mass hatred inevitably generated when Country A steals the resources of Country B. Nor does it help when Country A self-identifies as Christian, while Country B is almost entirely Muslim.

      So, how many American soldiers will it take? The oil fields of Iraq are spread across thousands of square miles, but even if Trump settles for the most productive fields near Basra, Iraq’s only port, our presence will extend 150 miles into Iraq’s interior, cover several thousand square miles and come within thirty miles of the Iranian border. Each field, of course, will have to be protected against sabotage, both from without and within, as will the pipelines connecting these fields to various tank farms, as will the tank farms and the port facilities at Basra.

       I have no expertise here, but it’s hard to imagine fewer than 50,000 soldiers on the ground, and easy to imagine many more. Along these lines, we’d be wise to remember that the United States had more than 300,000 combat troops in Vietnam, yet couldn’t subdue the southern half of the country. But however many soldiers needed to steal the oil, each man or woman will have to be maintained. That means supply lines extending as far as 150 miles will also require protection.  

     Lots of troops in Iraq. Lots of suicide bombers in Iraq. Lots of Shiite militias, and IED’s, and pipeline saboteurs in Iraq. Can the death of a thousand cuts be far behind?

      Let’s call it what it is, let’s name the course of action urged on us by Don the Con. If the United States established an indefinite military presence in Iraq, a military presence sufficiently large to accomplish the objectives already stated, and then sold off Iraq’s oil and kept the revenue, Iraq would become, for all intents, a colony of the United States.

      Did I say colony?

      Kill their families. Torture works. And how have colonists, throughout history, maintained themselves in the face of local resistance? Kill their families. Torture works.