The myth of freedom by focusing on higher GDP numbers: The case of the Iraq war
Prince Albert - Saturday - November 13, 2004 - by: Mario deSantis
"That our actions do not meet the depravity of terrorism does not justify them. Since when have terrorists provided the moral standard against which we judge ourselves?" Waleed Aly, Melbourne lawyer [1]
	Last Tuesday, I attended the funeral of my wife’s aunt Jean Sollosy in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. The church service ended up with what Aunty Jean wanted, the singing of "Let there be peace" by Daniel O’Donnell. At this time of social confusion there was nothing better but to celebrate life with the singing of peace.
	I heard Thursday (November 11) that ‘coalition’ troops have found hostage slaughterhouses in Falluja.[2] I also understand that Americans have so far liberated Iraq by killing some 100,000 Iraqi civilians[3] at a current cost of some 1,100 American soldiers. The Bush administration wants to install the Free Market in Iraq so that Iraq can become the epicenter where the freedom of the Free Market will spread all across the Middle East and the Muslim world.[4] In the crazy world of the Bushes the sanitized killing of 100,000 Iraqi civilians doesn’t count; instead, the finding of hostage slaughterhouses becomes the focus of a new additional evil.
	The fact is that Iraq is being reduced to rubbles by American bombs and that the Halliburtons make billions of dollars[5] as they increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For me, it is natural to see the current correlation between the waging of social violence and the pursuing of ever greater GDP, yet conventional economists cannot validate this correlation since their only focus is the increase of an ever higher GDP number.
	In order to understand the idiocy of ever pursuing a higher GDP number we need to understand that a destroyed car, because of a traffic accident for example, becomes a source of GDP when it is repaired, and we have to understand that ultimately, a destroyed country like Iraq becomes a source of GDP even before this same country is repaired. Now, maybe, we can understand the absurdity of waging preemptive wars[6] and increase the GDP number.
	Sometime ago I mentioned how financier George Soros created his Open Society Institute[7] to promote democratic values. It is important to point out that Soros created his foundation only after he made sure he had more than enough money to provide for the needs of himself and of his own family. The key to promoting democratic values is associated therefore with the concept of satisfying our need to feel alive. There was no need for the Bush administration to attack Iraq since Iraq was not a threat to America. In attacking Iraq, Bush has been responsible for the killing of American and Iraqi lives, and in so doing, Bush has destroyed that country and undermined democracy all over the world. There are many social problems which can be readily understood under the broader light of social "need". Instead, we focus on whatever is the democracy of selfish politics, on whatever is the enlightenment of "focus groups", on whatever is the scientific conclusion of any focused statistical study, on whatever is a certain focused distraction from the real reality, that is our social need to live in peace.
	At the end of Aunty Jean’s funeral service we were able take home some of her flowers and we are enjoying them today on Remembrance Day.
	Mario deSantis
References:
1. .	Aly, Waleed How many dead innocent Iraqis is too many? November 9, 2004 The Age, http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/age14.htm
2. .. .	Associated Press Hostage slaughterhouses’ found in Fallujah. Iraqi general says troops found records of captives (pdf) November 10, 2004 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6451731/
3. ..	Ritter, Scott The War on Iraq Has Made Moral Cowards of Us All: More than 100,000 Iraqis have died-and where is our shame and rage? November 1, 2004 The Guardian http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/110304F.shtml
4. .	White House President Bush Discusses Importance of Democracy in Middle East February 4, 2004 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040204-4.html
5. .	Halliburton Watch http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/
6. .	Daalder, Ivo H. and James Lindsay The Preemptive-War Doctrine has Met an Early Death in May 30, 2004 Iraq Los Angeles Times http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/daalder/20040530.htm
7. .	Open Society Institute http://www.soros.org/
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