The Vietnam War and the Middle East Oil Struggle

     We have been discussing the major preoccupation of the US
governmental and business elite in the 1990s -- the confrontation with
Iraq, and the question of control of Middle East oil -- and its
similarities to, and differences from, the Vietnam War.

     Please go to my 
 'Imperialist Oil
War in Mideast' page. There are hyperlinks to many articles
from all over the English-speaking world about the Iraq and Gulf War
crises.

     Please "read around" as much as you can on this page and on the
pages linked to it. The more informed you are about interpretations of
the Iraq confrontation that are pretty much banished from the
mainstream American media, the better.

     Then, read carefully the following articles:

     * 'Capitalism
Inevitably Leads to Imperialist War';

     * ONE article from the several which discuss the immense number
of deaths caused to the Iraqi population by the UN sanctions against
Iraq, strongly advocated by the US;

     *  How the
public relations industry sold the Gulf War to the US".

     * 
'Crisis in the Middle East: U.S. Imperialism and the Gulf War'.

     [NOTE: I wrote this last essay in 1990. Some professors assign a
lot of their own material in their classes. I'm always leery of this,
since students may be unwilling to openly disagree with something
their professor wrote. 

     I don't feel this way at all. I EXPECT that you will NOT agree
with what I wrote, or some of it. Please do NOT feel reluctant to
disagree with it -- I won't hold it against you in any way.

     I think it's important for students to be _critical_ of
_everything_ you read, _including_ and _especially_ what is "assigned"
you to read.]

     ___________

     After reading much, and studying the 4 pieces above, please write
300 words on the Middle East situation. Is an anti-imperialist
analysis helpful in clarifying it, or not? What similarities do you
note between the MidEast oil situation and the Vietnam War, if any?
Explain.

     Please email to me and to your group.

     ALSO -- please PRINT OUT the four assigned articles, and bring
them to class with you.