Our
View: U.S. floods Iraqi merchants
The
new "freedom" enjoyed by Iraqis
will feel a lot more American than maybe
they had wanted. With the U.S. appointed
Iraqi leaders opening up the country to
a barrage of free trade in all sectors other
than their protected oil, the nation's merchants
may soon find themselves in a bind.
Although
the violence that continues to ensue may
keep huge multinationals and money-hungry
businessmen away for now, the opportunity
of exploiting a whole new market will not
be ignored forever. This unavoidable influx
of influence from the West may not be at
all what the Iraqis want. If our soldiers
are unwanted, how much will a little friendly
commercial competition be?
If
our plan for helping to rebuild Iraq is
taking away the merchant's market then the
United States is indeed a wolf in sheep's
clothing. Rather than giving the Iraqi merchants
the opportunity to let their businesses
flourish with a new found openness to the
goods of the rest of the world we will take
advantage of that openness as yet another
way to get a larger foot hold in the Middle
East.
Other
nations in the Middle East limit foreign
ownership of businesses and active foreign
involvement in the business matters of the
nation. But how could the merchants argue
with our very own appointed 25-member Iraqi
Governing Council and all those soldiers.
Apparently,
the United States is not a very good listener,
at least not to anybody but our own corporate
CEOs and corporations. We listen and we
listen to Vice President Cheney and to Halliburton
oil, and to all these other money and blood
hungry people and never listen to these
people who we're supposed to be "saving."
The
effect of these incursions could be monumental.
By taking away a nation's way of supporting
itself we could very likely create a nation
that doesn't just need to be rebuilt, but
needs to be supported after foreign forces
have taken over every possible way to make
a buck or two.
How
must the United States appear to these people?
We are a nation already strong and powerful,
rich compared to many, but that needs to
invade the mercantile dealings of a small,
weak and poor nation. This is ridiculous.
Before
we go around trouncing on everybody else's
business we should really look at what we're
doing to the rest of the world. All over
the place local farmers and merchants are
feeling the heavy weight of U.S. goods and
produce being imported at the expense of
their own. We are destroying economies all
over the world so that we can continue to
make more and more money.
Before
the United States does it to yet another
"free" country, we should check
ourselves before we end up having to support
Iraq forever.
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