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Israeli sinks to even greater depths of depravity. Israeli drones lure Palestinians with crying chil... 21:39 Apr 18 0 comments

Israel Continues to Shoot Itself in the Foot 20:25 Dec 16 0 comments

Is the Gaza-Israel Fighting “A False Flag”? They Let it Happen? Their Objective Is “to Wipe Gaza Off... 00:48 Oct 21 1 comments

Israel Confesses War Crime 23:49 Oct 10 0 comments

Ukraine and West prepare media space for their potential false flag attack on Zaporozhye NPP 23:34 Jun 26 1 comments

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Anti-Empire

North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?

US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty

The Saker

A bird's eye view of the vineyard

Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?

What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

Lockdown Skeptics

Labour U-Turns Over University Free Speech as it Brings Back Tory Law ? But Removes its ?Teeth? Wed Jan 15, 2025 19:30 | Will Jones
Labour has U-turned over university free speech as it brings back a Tory law clamping down on 'woke' cancel culture ? but removes its "teeth" by dropping the ability of academics to sue their institutions.
The post Labour U-Turns Over University Free Speech as it Brings Back Tory Law ? But Removes its “Teeth” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Israel and Hamas Agree Ceasefire Deal, Trump Confirms Wed Jan 15, 2025 18:09 | Will Jones
Donald Trump has confirmed that Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire agreement to end the war and release the hostages, saying he will continue promoting "peace through strength" throughout the region.
The post Israel and Hamas Agree Ceasefire Deal, Trump Confirms appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Reeves Jobs Bloodbath Continues as Currys Forced to Outsource to India Wed Jan 15, 2025 15:21 | Will Jones
The jobs bloodbath continues as Currys is forced to?outsource more British staff to India?as a result of Rachel Reeves's "tax on jobs", the Chief Executive of the electricals retailer has said.
The post Reeves Jobs Bloodbath Continues as Currys Forced to Outsource to India appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Woke Paris Theatre Goes Broke After Opening its Doors to 250 African Migrants for a Free Show Five W... Wed Jan 15, 2025 13:39 | Will Jones
A 'woke' theatre in Paris known for its radical Leftist shows faces bankruptcy after being occupied by more than 250 African migrants who were let in for a free event five weeks ago.
The post Woke Paris Theatre Goes Broke After Opening its Doors to 250 African Migrants for a Free Show Five Weeks Ago and They Refuse to Leave appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Declined: Chapter 4: ?A Promise Not a Threat? Wed Jan 15, 2025 11:29 | M. Zermansky
Chapter four of Declined is here ? a dystopian satire about the emergence of a social credit system in the U.K., serialised in?the Daily Sceptic. This week: Ella laments to see a tractor plough the last remaining field.
The post Declined: Chapter 4: “A Promise Not a Threat” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network

Voltaire, international edition

Trump and Musk, Canada, Panama and Greenland, an old story, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jan 14, 2025 07:03 | en

Voltaire, International Newsletter N?114-115 Fri Jan 10, 2025 14:04 | en

End of Russian gas transit via Ukraine to the EU Fri Jan 10, 2025 13:45 | en

After Iraq, Libya, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, the Pentagon attacks Yemen, by Thier... Tue Jan 07, 2025 06:58 | en

Voltaire, International Newsletter N?113 Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:42 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Baghdad Year Zero, By Naomi Klein

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press

Friday September 24, 2004 13:52

by redjade

Report this post to the editors

Pillaging Iraq in pursuit of a neocon utopia

Baghdad Year Zero
By Naomi Klein
Pillaging Iraq in pursuit of a neocon utopia

The honey theory of Iraqi reconstruction stems from the most cherished belief of the war’s ideological architects: that greed is good. Not good just for them and their friends but good for humanity, and certainly good for Iraqis. Greed creates profit, which creates growth, which creates jobs and products and services and everything else anyone could possibly need or want.

[....]

Iraq was going to change all that. In one place on Earth, the theory would finally be put into practice in its most perfect and uncompromised form. A country of 25 million would not be rebuilt as it was before the war; it would be erased, disappeared. In its place would spring forth a gleaming showroom for laissez-faire economics, a utopia such as the world had never seen. Every policy that liberates multinational corporations to pursue their quest for profit would be put into place: a shrunken state, a flexible workforce, open borders, minimal taxes, no tariffs, no ownership restrictions. The people of Iraq would, of course, have to endure some short-term pain: assets, previously owned by the state, would have to be given up to create new opportunities for growth and investment. Jobs would have to be lost and, as foreign products flooded across the border, local businesses and family farms would, unfortunately, be unable to compete. But to the authors of this plan, these would be small prices to pay for the economic boom that would surely explode once the proper conditions were in place, a boom so powerful the country would practically rebuild itself.

The fact that the boom never came and Iraq continues to tremble under explosions of a very different sort should never be blamed on the absence of a plan. Rather, the blame rests with the plan itself, and the extraordinarily violent ideology upon which it is based.

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