The TV is beaming images of Iraqis in the streets. Apparently, this is to signal the victory of the US over another third world power. First there was Afghanistan and now Iraq, both countries weakened by years of war and in the case of Iraq by almost fifteen years of sanctions, ‘no fly zones’, and strategic bombings. The message is clear to other weak governments, build up your weapons programs and fast. Apparently, it doesn’t matter if you try to disarm. As Iraq surely did as there were no chemical weapons used and no so-called ‘weapons of mass distruction’ found. You can expect weapons technology to proliferate as governments realize how insecure their power is against invasion and covert war. Expect our own government to feel this insecurity as they beef up defense budgets and strengthen ‘anti-terror’ laws. The jack-booted Republican party has already made clear its intentions to make the provisions of the Patriot Act permanent. I also expect weaker governments to engage in a frenzy of relationship building with stronger parties to counter the apparent power of the United States. This will be an interesting moment as it gives our own government a choice between more power or prudence.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2003 at 8:41 am and is filed under Military and defense. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.