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Capt Richard I P.
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COL Ted Mc Sir, good article, thanks for linking to it. Reminds me of a book I read about Afghanistan, it was either Reaping the Whirlwind or Taliban. Either way, it talked a lot about pipeline development in Afghanistan, and geopolitical economic interest confluence.

I think any time a major Nation-State commits to military conflict if you look you can always find three things 1. Strategic National Security Interest (basing, posturing, etc.) 2. Economic Interests (usually guaranteeing access to major raw resources) 3. Ideological: "bringing them freedom!" "spread the word of god"...etc.
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COL Ted Mc
COL Ted Mc
10 y
Yep, "Macho, Money, and Mojo" pretty much cover the ground except for the odd case where blind ignorance kicks in.

My guess is that the second factor is likely to have been the most frequent achieved one while the third factor is likely to have been the least successfully achieved one.
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SPC Phillip Ludlow
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you know, i really have always wondered how intrinsic the connection between the wars in the middle east and the the supply of fuel's really are.
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COL Ted Mc
COL Ted Mc
10 y
It looks like it's more about WHO is going to get to control of the DELIVERY of the fuels so that they can use that control to "persuade" other government to do what they want them to do rather than about profits. (Although I don't totally discount the profit motive - especially if you can get someone else to pay for your wars.

[Did you realize that well over 80% of the US military's financial cost of Gulf War I was paid by foreign governments?]
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SPC Phillip Ludlow
SPC Phillip Ludlow
10 y
COL Ted Mc you know what, i did and didnt know that. i mean its common sense that everybody's gotta pay something, but not the percentages.
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COL Ted Mc
COL Ted Mc
10 y
Please forgive the cynical sarcasm here, but "Our brave, valiant, courageous, freedom loving soldiers, sailors, and airmen" sounds one heck of a lot better than "Our rented out military".

I'm not an economist (and don't want to be one either) but it would be an interesting theoretical analysis to see what shape the US economy would have been in in 2003 if the US government had actually had to pay full fare in GW I.
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