Reply #126: Best thread in a long while,

[PRETZEL]

thanks H2O man for the OP as well as all the DU experts weighing in.

The confluence of the many scandals, shady associations in one thread is the makings of a good book.

If I may indulge the experts and allow myself the opportunity to add my .02 cents on just a surface of the topics.

The underlying reasons why Dick Cheney annointed himself as most qualified for Vice President is an interesting question. I thought Bart Gellman did as best he could in understanding the process, but IMO, didn't go back to the root. The question as to why it was Dick Cheney who was chosen to lead the VP vetting process may be a better question. Did Cheney lobby for this? Was this a decision GHWB forced upon the RNC given Junior was the presumptive nominee? One thing we do know from past history is the relatively close relationship Cheney had with Bush Sr. I also learned through Gellman the attention to detail that borders on the obsessive that Cheney has and apparently is widely known for. This leads me to believe that GHWB did indeed push for Cheney leading the vetting process. What I did not know and learned through Gellman just how much of an opportunistic ideologue Dick Cheney actually is. I've read in the past many of the PNAC white papers and was aware that Cheney was indeed part of that orgainzation as were many of the other players that ultimately became the key players.

Cheney's reign at Halliburton may connect some of the dots as to Iraq. First and foremost Cheney would be very aware of the Peak Oil concepts especially as they relate to the Middle East. Oil extraction and equipment services were their mainstay and the biggest area of expertise. He would also be expertly aware of both US consumption vs. domestic/foreign supplies. He would have known, to a great degree, what the untapped reserves were in countries like Saudia Arabia, Iran and Iraq. He would also be keenly aware of discussions and actual switching of petrodollars from the US dollar to the Euro. As we have seen over the past few years the effect that has had on the dollar vs. the Euro. If this backround has merit and apply it to Kevin Phillips' views in (I believe) American Theocracy we may gain an understanding as to why Iraq was the ultimate target. His view based upon an understanding of historical "empires" show that their decline was in a major part due to their inability to maintain the resources needed to sustain their economies. I don't think it much of a stretch to say that our economy is oil based. We use well over a quarter of the oil produced in the world despite limited reserves and domestic production. It's also not a big stretch that the best way to control the resources is to control them militarily.

One thing I learned, especially through Bart Gellman, was just how differently Bush and Cheney saw the Iraq War. Both were strongly in agreement of overthrowing the Iraqi government, but for very different reasons. What I wrote in the paragraph above is why I believe Cheney thoroughly felt the need to invade Iraq. Bush, on the other hand, was by this time fully engulfed in the Apocolyptic views of the fundamentalist Christian Right. I've firmly believe now that that viewpoint was his driving force behind the invasion.

The truest of scandals (and quite possibly the most treasonous) are without a doubt the Plame, Sibel Edmonds and AIPAC scandals. I'm certainly going to defer to those who are so much more educated on these than myself, but it is by no means a large leap of faith connecting them. I say that mainly because they aren't necessarily borne out of ideological or policy positions. I'm not sure I can add anything new.