Markets don’t like uncertainty.
And war is one of those things that don’t inspire much confidence.
Put the two together, and you’ve got everything you need to scare the hell out of investors.
That’s why Bush and Co. is so anxious to get their war on.
We didn’t see anything wrong with chatting for a while longer, letting the inspectors continue their grown up game of hide and seek.
But world stock market can’t wait around while Blix and crew putts around the desert in search of weapons that may or may not be there.
All markets move up and down together in relation to business and consumer confidence, demand for goods, services and corporate investments, unemployment levels, and world oil prices.
Oil prices rose to a 12-year high last week. War jitters are keeping businesses from shelling out cash on new upgrades and shoppers out of the malls. Millions of people are out of work.
Just the mention of war over the weekend caused oil prices to dip, and the Dow Jones to rise almost 300 points. European stock markets posted record gains.
The world is looking for the U.S. to lead a revival. But that can’t happen until it gets its own house in order.
Back in January, leaders from corporate America and Wall Street told Bush that recovery would be a pipe dream without a clear resolution in the Middle East
Despite Bush’s grandstanding on lower taxes, lower government spending, and “frivolous lawsuits” as an impediment to economic growth, the U.S. economy remains in the doldrums.
It will stay there until Bush and Co. give Tommy Franks the go ahead.
Their decision to speed things along never had anything to do with the troops, or the weather. The U.S. military can fight anytime, anywhere, anyhow. Moreover, the U.S. military’s number two guy said recently that waiting for an additional month would be better, and would not increase U.S. casualties
Nor did it have anything to do with shirking on diplomacy. If that were the case, then they would have never agreed to readmit inspectors, or table the issue in the Security Council.
Bush and Co. made the decision to resume the war a long time ago. It’s been going on for 12 years. Waiting any longer only the postpones the inevitable
If war must come, then it’s better to get it over with sooner rather than later.
