Unwinnable wars, etc.

[Bill Irwin]

Roger wrote:
Need we be reminded that one supertanker sunk in the Straits of Hormuz
 by bin Laden's crew could bottle up Saudi exports for months.

Not exactly true Roger. The Strait of Hormuz is 25 miles wide so would take
a hell of a lot of sunken tankers to block it.  25 miles is a little to far
for most artillery, missiles could do it but I would think the Air Force
would be all over them.  Iran would have to enter the war and threaten
tankers with missile attacks which would cause the insurance companies to
cancel their shipping policies and with no insurance tankers would stay
away.  Short of Iran entering the war I don't think there is any way to
block the Strait of Hormuz.  For a chart of the Strait see this link.
http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/reference/hormuz.html
Ewie

----- Original Message -----
From: Roger Baker <rcbaker@eden.infohwy.com>
To: <austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net>
Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2001 12:45 PM
Subject: Unwinnable wars, etc.


>
> "...this may be happening again, Bush having
> signed off for the military to conduct an
> unwinnable war..."
>
> Gratifying to see how quickly Mikey evolves from a fervent supporter of
> Bushwar as a means of slaughtering Arab evildoers to a doubter -- toward
> one who even suggests that bin Laden has snookered us into a trap with
> the help of conditioned reflex Pentagon power-junkies.
>
> If Mike stumbles into the obvious, can the rest of the public be far
> behind?
>
> Terrorism is a symptom (of decades of class oppression with the help of
> the CIA, the Pentagon. etc.) and not the disease.  To me this is a
> fascinating case of religion as a proxy for class conflict.
>
> Since Bush can't admit that his real underlying motivations are
> nationalist corporate interests defined by the Chaney crowd, George has
> to spin the war as a quasi-religious war of "Infinite Justice" against
> "evildoers" in many unspecified countries.
>
> Evildoers are Bushspeak for the growing alliance of typically Islamic
> victims of the corporate empire -- who are finally forming efficient
> alliances capable of fighting back, thanks to CIA help and training. And
> in accord with the classic behavior of tribal apes throughout history,
> all sides march behind flags and religious banners to conceal the class
> interests that really motivate their efforts.
>
> Amazing about this war is fast it is wearing thin as the public reads
> the paper and realizes it is unwinnable and how rapidly it has
> re-energized the peace movement.  It helps that Bush utters pure
> gibberish changing day by day about the details -- like who we are
> fighting and to what ends.
>
> History repeats itself first as tragedy and then as farce, which recalls
> the rather more successful efforts of George Senior in his Gulf War of
> 1990 (?).
>
> But this time, the international bourgeoisie found it easy to imagine
> themselves in an office in the WTC and appeared initially united behind
> kicking bin Laden's ass.  But the international brotherhood of the
> wealthy is weak glue when it comes to national squabbling over Persian
> Gulf oil.
>
> Need we be reminded that one supertanker sunk in the Straits of Hormuz
> by bin Laden's crew could bottle up Saudi exports for months. Or that
> world oil production will peak well within the decade and the price will
> then soar, despite the world economic slump reducing oil  price at the
> moment due to demand falling below amount Arabia wants to sell to prop
> up its monarchy.
>
> Way it looks to me, anyhow. -- Roger
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