THE SPOILS OF WAR

Kermit C. Moss

The scriptures tell us that there will always be wars and rumors of wars; and certainly our history verifies the truthfulness of that statement. Ike Eisenhower, a great general and former President, when leaving that office, warned us to "beware of the military-industrial complex"; but late reports indicate, in spades, that we have not taken his warning seriously and acted wisely. According to recent Associated Press reports, Exxon's profit for year 2006 was $39.5 billion. Be sure to note that that is in BILLIONS of dollars, not millions. In case you missed it, let me quote the report to you. "Oil giant Exxon Mobile Corp. on Thursday posted the largest annual profit by a U. S. company --$39.5 billion -- even as earnings for the last quarter of 2006 declined percent. The 2006 profit topped the previous record, also by Exxon Mobile, $36.13 billion set in 2005. The record earnings amounted to roughly $4.5 million per hour for the world's largest publicly traded oil company, which produces about 3 percent of the world's oil".

Beware of the military-industrial complex indeed! And this in a country that has for several years steadfastly refused to raise the minimum wage! And it appears that the stage was set for this at the beginning of the Bush 43 presidency when VP Dick Cheney called a meeting of all the energy moguls to set the administration’s energy policy, and they took care of themselves and their companies. Also, Cheney has never disclosed  who all were involved in the conference, despite several attempts by congress and the press.

The spoils consist of many things. As a part of such spoils, young women are often raped, and in the past, men, women, and children were carried back home and used as slaves. And, of course, oil is a prime target, along with luxury homes and vehicles.

In an article found on the internet, written by one Michele Mairesse, it was claimed that the so-called "chickenhawks", long before war against Iraq had started, circulated a vision of post-conflict Iraq to five large companies: Bechtel Group, Inc., Fluor Corp., Halliburton, and 2 others, telling them of the very large construction contracts that would be available as soon as Iraq was defeated. It went on to say that such a contract was actually let to rebuild a bridge that had not yet been bombed!

Kermit C. Moss
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