Is "defending your country" the same thing as "defending your country's vested interests"?

Question

Your government wants the oil in another country. So, the military is sent there to make sure the oil stays secure. Is this "defending your country" or is it "defending your country's vested interest" ? Answers of the type that say, "It's both," will be considered null and deleted.

Answer 1

The vested interest of the few is not the "country's" vested interest. So no, it's more like being conned into defending the interests of the rich elite.

Answer 2

This nonsense about wanting another country's oil confuses me. How do you steal oil ? You can secure oil so that it's available to purchase, so yes, we are protecting the vital interest of our country by securing oil in another country.

We protect our country when a threat is made, such is the case with the Islamic extremists who have already made their point on 9/11. How much more graphic an enemy must be to convince even the slimiest of liberals, I don't know . But, somehow we have let the slimiest into our Congress to try an convince the lemmings in this country that we should have no concerns. That we should bring our troops home because the ragheads mean us no further harm.

We have imbeciles like Obama, Edwards, Billary (sometimes), and the other liberals stoking the flames to bring our troops home, when right here in our own country, home grown Islamic extremists are planning their next attack on our nation, while bonehead mayors like Mike Bloomberg and Richie Daley preach for greater gun control.

We haven't gotten it right yet, folks. but, getting it right doesn't mean putting down your guard, even for a minute. So please, don't get sucked in by these political infidels who keep banging the drum for troop withdrawal. We are in the middle of a war that began 1979 with the Iranian revolution, if we give up now, you better start teaching your kids to speak Farsi !

Answer 3

"Is "defending your country" the same thing as "defending your country's vested interests"? "

It can be. Your example of securing an oil source would be one which can be easily debated. We did not militarily respond in the early 70's when the OPEC nations crippled our economy with their embargo - neither have we ever invaded a country for their resources, we have always paid dearly for them. That is why the OPEC nations are so rich.
Consider, if oil was the main objective, we would have merely kept Kuwait after we drove the Iraqis out.