The Prince of Darkness still shits in his sleep

This blog has mostly steered clear of what's happening in Iraq, not because i don't care, or don't follow the madness that continues to consume Babylon. Au contraire, it is (in fact) the subject of most of the non-fiction tomes i'm able to get my hands on here; i find books are more penetrating and accessible, since they tend to try and offer something analytical about the bigger picture rather than magnify the horrific details of the day to day insanity. Also, to be honest, on some level i'm still in the same fetal weeping position into which i collapsed on the day the invasion began, way back when. (At the time, people said i was over-reacting; 6 years later, i have to admit that what's happened has surpassed even my most morose expectations.) It's hard to know where to start discussing Iraq now, since everything i find myself wanting to say is either riddled with fungal emotion or seems to require a hefty amount of 'background' - folks like Dahr Jamail do that for a living minus the despair, and do a much better job of it than i'll ever be able to.

However, i really can't let the revelation of Richard Perle's dealings in Iraqi oil go unremarked. The Prince of Darkness rises from the cubicle of his office over at American Enterprise Institute or wherever the hell he's been ensconced since the Pentagon revoked his parking space, and aims to make a pretty penny on oil concessions in Kurdistan. That's just so rich, eh? Given Perle's ties to Israel and Israel's ties to the Kurds, on top of US demands that American oil companies get to control the rejuvenation of broken down Iraq's oil industry, i suppose we can hardly be surprised to see him capitalizing on his own debacle. Still, i have to register my utter DISGUST at his totally SHAMELESS PROFITEERING; if there were any justice in this world, he'd be sharing a cell with Mr. Karadzic discussing ways to faith heal his evil little soul (hahaha).

This story was broken yesterday by the Washington Post, but isn't fully accessible there without a subscription. A synopsis here says that Perle is part of a consortium led by Turkish AK Group International, which puts an even more demented spin on the whole situation. Why the Kurds are allowing a Turkish company to come in is beyond my comprehension, but that's the Prince of Darkness for you: no offense exists which cannot be mitigated by fiscal 'diplomacy' or some such Mephistophelan backdrop. Mr. Perle is among that rare breed of en flagrant ideologue who can hypnotize people into believing evil is evolutionary, insurgent wars are missions accomplished and girls blowing themselves up in marketplaces indicates the time is right for foreign investment. Irbil or bust: don't you really really really want to see him go there and dare to walk down the street???