I agree with much of what you said. I feel I must quibble with one
part:
---
Bush and Saddam aren't fighting over the price of oil; they're
fighting over who's the biggest, meanest, toughest male ego on the
block.
---

My disagreement is with what this does not say. Bush's ego was
certainly involved.  So was Saddam's ego, or his prestige in the Arab
world, and this is why he could not make a move until at least a few
days after the 15th; this Bush knew, and this Bush used to his
advantage.

Bush *wanted* this war. Actually, I, like you, believed war would not
happen; I based my belief on the costs of war being much, much, much
higher than Panama, and on Bush recognizing this cost to be so high as
to be greater than the benefits for Bush; these benefits are great,
and they won out.

What I'm driving at is that beside's Bush's ego, there are other
reasons, reasons beyond even control of that part of the world, why
War was good for Bush, and that's why war he chose, not merely his
ego.

I posted about this; I refer to the Military Industrial Complex (MIC).
I refer to a $300 billion military budget, when $100 billion is more
than adequate according to many experts. I refer to, along with this
theft of $200 billion, to the theft from the taxpayer of th eS&L
billions, and to the theft in taxes from lower and middle income
Americans, to the vast benefit of the rich, during the 80's, about
which I posted volumenous statistics from many sources, as you may or
may not have seen. I refer to this theft from the public for the
maintenance of the MIC and status quo system of power and privelige
for th elites, a declining Empire, crumbling from within, whose
economy has long been fueled through the "Pentagon system", which
includes also economic exploitation around the world.

I refer to the U.S. ranking of 20th in infant mortality; to an even
lower ranking in literacy (figure at home); the highest per capita
imprisonment in the world; the only industrialized country save for
South Africa without national health care (and similarly the only one
save South Africa using the death penalty);  a transportation system
in a sorry state, etc, etc. This is an empire crumbling from within.

The days of this empire, this system, are numbered. In desperation,
the designers and beneficiaries of this system are trying to prolong
its life with exactly the poison which has doomed it: prop up the
economy with the military; and justify the outlandish $300  billion
military budget with Panamas and Iraqs (after supplying Iraq *and*
Iran with weapons for years partly for the same reasons)

At any rate I don't think we activists are going to stop Bush unless
we put these issue in focus; for outselves, and to educate the public.
Seeing the demonization of Kadaffi, Noriega, and Saddam as distinct
phenomenons is not enough. The public must be educated about the MIC
and the overall designs because their existance means Bush will be
looking for a prolonged military role in the Gulf, and elsewhere; and
Bush will be looking for the next Devil, after Saddam, and the next
war, to perpetuate the system he knows and loves.