officially freaked out now

[starroute]

48. But the common motivation is profit, not religion or even ideology

I've been wondering for some years about the alliance between the Neocons and the military-industrial complex -- but it's becoming clear now that the common element is seeing intervention in the Middle East as a source of profit.

The Neocons are not so much pro-Israel as they are pro-free market. Islam is resistant to the free market ideology, so they see US invasion as a means of overturning that reluctance and bringing the backwards natives the blessings of free market capitalism. That's what the CPA office that Grayson Wolfe was part of was all about.

Many of the Neocons (as well as their more standard-issue GOP allies) also see US intervention as a source of personal enrichment. Check out the doings of Feith and Perle -- or for that matter, the involvement of Haley Barbour's circle in New Bridge Strategies.

And there are also wealthy Middle Easterners who are part of the free market push -- particularly Lebanese Maronite Christians (like the Khawams), who have been investing heavily in Iraq and particularly in the Kurdish region.

Finally, add in the military-industrial complex, and particularly the retired generals who wind up as well-paid lobbyists for government contractors, or as Pentagon pundits pushing for war on Fox News, and you get the third leg of the tripod.