Wastland

"They make a desert and call it peace"

Tacitus

Since this round of fighting started I had been wondering if we would push it to the limit. Why were the Romans able to desolate and control whole areas and identifiable groups of people? Other empires did it also. Of course the reason is that they were ruthless enough to kill all the people and to salt the earth if necessary to control their colonial (pre, real, and now neo) empires.

I think that we have now shown that we are more than willing to be as ruthless as the Romans in destroying any who stand in the way of our neo-empire. Our rulers wars in the east are being fought to provide us with incredibly expensive oil and our rulers and their friends with riches beyond their dreams of avarice (well ok probably not beyond their dreams). And of course to give the rulers those warm and tender feelings one gets when one crushes and destroys another.

I would guess one of, for me, the really distressing things is that the people of this country seem willing to back those rulers even when backing them is against the people's own interest. Let's face it the price of gas is higher than it has ever been. We are no more and probably less secure than we were in 2000. The economy is going down the shitter and the wealthier get wealthier. But still people seem unable to see.

Temporary success on the ground in Baghdad will strengthen the really crazy war party, but ............