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i finally got around to watching syriana, a movie that i found to be surprisingly engaging after several people described it as painfully slow. i guess contemporary geopolitical conflicts are not for everyone, but i thought the film was great, if not a little too close to home. i have no doubt whatsoever that the situations ‘dramatized’ in this ‘fictional’ story resemble the reality of our current context in the middle east pretty accurately. our national addiction to oil has already been acknowledged by the white house, so i’m not sure why it seems like such a stretch for some people who think we have merely benevolent intentions in countries that just happen to have loads of black gold.

one memorable conversation in the movie occurs between two lawyers, one who is providing ‘the illusion of due diligence’ on behalf of a government investigation, and the other who is essentially defending the moral ambiguity that often occurs under tables, behind closed doors, or in strategically chosen nations with sympathetic views towards questionable behavior (extraordinary rendition, anyone?). the lawyer defending the cause of the US says, ‘corruption is our protection. corruption keeps us safe and warm. corruption is why you and i are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets. corruption is why we win.’

while it’s probably true that the relative level of corruption in our government compared to that in many other nations (particularly in the developing world) is fairly low, the difference with american corruption is the far reaching effect our policies have on the rest of the world. the impact of our ‘need’ for resources has a ridiculously disproportionate impact on the planet in every way- the US economic and military machine dictate global trends every day. so when three CIA guys in suits have their finger on a button that can easily shift energy commodities in their favor with one small laser-guided cruise missle, why should we be surprised when they push it? it’s the american way.

and we’ll continue to operate this way until we can’t afford to pay it off with arms, or until the budget deficit causes our economy to collapse, or until the entire two thirds world is recruited into islamic fundamentalist training camps for radical militant extremism because they have no independent national or economic viability as a result of our sanctions that target oppressive regimes but really just punish the children and families. it’s horribly shortsighted, but hey- who’s got time to think about the next generation when we’ve got bombs to drop, resources to steal, collateral damage to create, nations to exploit, and an earth to rape? uncle sam has a lot on his to do list.