3,500 and counting. How many lives do we need to lose in Iraq before we realize this is a war about oil, not?

Question

terrorism? Saddam was our friend when he was the enemy of our enemy. Before he was elected, George W. Bush said he was not going to get involved with nation building. We could have bought all the oil we need for one trillion dollars and counting. It will be at least two trillion before we leave. A man who never served active duty( I served in Vietnam) is having others die for his flawed plan, and to save his legacy. Why is there not more moral outrage aimed at this hypocrite?

Answer 1

First, the war was supposed to be about taking down the terrorists who attacked us on american soil. Yet, we have a very small number of troops in Afghanastan vs the enormous amount that we have in Iraq. This is very strange to me.

Secondly, the desert storm incident was never quite finished in the young Bush's eyes and I do believe he wants to finish what his daddy started there.

Thirdly, if we utilized the resources we have here in America, we wouldn't be near as dependent on the foreign resources and oil would not be an issue. As long as we maintain our dependence is the length of time we will continue pursuing these ridiculous ventures out to form a society like ours in every single foreign country. This gives us access and control of the resources because won't those societies be so 'grateful' that the arrogant americans came in and took over their land, resources, and government in order to form a more perfect union?

I love America. We were built on some great ideas and principles. But our government and our ways don't work for everyone. They work for us. We need to get our little arrogant booties out of there, go kick some serious booty against the man who actually DID the attacks and bring our people home.

Answer 2

Another false Liberal anti-war cry! If this was about oil, why are the gas prices so high right now? Why aren't there oil tankers leaving Iraq each day headed for the U.S.?
This was never about Middle-East oil, (since the U.S. only gets 3-5% of our oil imports from the Middle-East), this war is another battle field on the War on Terror.....and the Libs/Dems can't get over their loss in the 2000 election. So they will "smear" anything and anyone that dares to have another opinion about world events our their politics.

Answer 3

Saddam was never our friend. Our troops which were still in Kuwait since the first Gulf War were being fired on quite often. A friend of mine who flies an F-18 said that our fighters where fired on several times per week from Iraqi forces while patrolling the no-fly zone.

This war is very controversial as it was not planned well at all. We should never have cut our troop levels in half. It will be quite a few years before the truth really comes out and shows if this was good or bad. I mean, think about it, WWII is still debated and many say we should have never got involved in that either.

Answer 4

this is about much more than oil. this is a classic bait and switch episode whose sole purpose is eliminaton of liberty. remember these steps: problem, reaction, solution.

PROBLEM
1. our federal govt. is just like any other govt. in history. they say they promote liberty, but they are statists. they desire total control over the populace. they need an excuse to take away freedom.
2. enter terrorists. they hate the US. on the surface it is about religion, but the religious nature of their hate came about AFTER the US formed israel.
3. it is unclear whether our government had an active role in planning the 9/11 attacks, or they just neglected security at a few key points to allow an al qaeda attack to take place. either way, it set us up for step 2.
REACTION
1. the media saturate the airwaves with the 9/11 attack footage. they start using words like "arab" and "muslim" with ominous undertones. its like a movie. public outrage ensues. anger.
2. the president makes speeches about how they attacked ALL OF US and how they hate america. we should all band together. patriotism on a large scale ensues. war starts
3. through the media's movie, people get scared. and angry, and partiotic. it is a mob energy. the media demands that the government do something, anything, to give us security.

SOLUTON
1. enter the patriot act. the most restrictive set of laws since the alien and sedition act. one wonders how they got those THOUSANDS of pages so quickly.
2. links between iraq and al qaeda are fabricated. iraq is the ONE place in the mideast that will destabilise the entire region if it becomes chaotic. war in iraq. patriot act 2. the price of oil goes up due to instability. big oil gets richer. the military-industrial complex gets bigger.

repeat!(predictions of the future)
PROBLEM
1. the war.
REACTION
1. peace protests(think vietnam era, but more narcisistic)
SOLUTION
1. the north american union(think the UN, post WWII, designed to prevent war from happening ever again, but really just another government style beureucracy.)
2. we all lose.

Answer 5

I agree Oil was a major factor in the decision to go to war. But I always thought what made Dubya so gung ho about starting this was because Saddam tried to assassinate George H.W. Bush (Dubya's father). And Dubya wanted Daddy's approval because Jeb was always considered the "star" of the family.

Answer 6

I agree that we should not have sent troops in.
We should have bombed them.

However, (and I mean this sincerely) We have not taken any oil, We are not getting MORE oil, The price hasn't dropped,
Both the President and Vice President are required to divest any interest in publicly traded companies before they take office, So how is this about oil?

If it were about oil, I would be all for it.
Oil is a resource that is necessary for the economic well-being of the country.
It is also an imperative for national security and defense.
But there's no proof that we've done anything in regards to oil.

So, if you are trying to argue against the war, I don't think the bumper sticker rhetoric about oil holds up.

By all means, argue against the war, but drop the oil aspect.

Answer 7

"Ours is not to reason why Ours is but to do and die "

A poem written by Lord Alfred Tennison about the charge of the light brigade

The officers ordered the light brigade into certain suicide - there was no hope - they were slaughtered

The soldiers knew it - The leaders or the "officer class" didn't


Sound familiar ?

We the little guy have been fighting for our Kings wealth for thousands of years

We fight and die so that some corperation can top the billion dollar mark - Oh yes we have modernized haven't we ?


The names have changed CEO ,President, Prime Minister

The game has not -

When we wake up and stop fighting for old men in arm chairs who would not and do not send thier children into the battle - then we can re- write Lord Tenision's poem


Until then


Ours is NOT to reason why

Ours is but to DO and DIE

Answer 8

Agreed.

The only way people will change their mind about the war is when it personally affects them.

When they lose a son or daughter, or the govt. instills the draft and some of the people on this site have to go to war, that is when they will start asking some detailed serious questions.

The American people have not sacrificed much for this war, maybe having to pay hefty gas prices, but other than that? Most of us lead a life that has not been changed. That is why it is easy to watch TV and treat the war like a Monday night football game or NASCAR adventure.

Answer 9

It's always been about the war. I think most American's are finally waking up as the bodies and crippled come trickling home. It was like everyone had a 9/11 haze over their eyes and Cheney and company took advantage of it and went after Iraq's oil. Really sad.

Answer 10

You're a retard. This war is NOT about oil.

But it SHOULD be.

If it were about oil, we'd have far fewer dead, we'd have spent far less money, and we'd have a lot more to show for our presence there.

If this war were about oil, we wouldn't have given a damn about Fallujah. We wouldn't even be in Baghdad. We would have pretty much ignored Saddam Hussein. The troops and weapons we have over there right now are more than sufficient to hold the Northern and Southern oil fields of Iraq. If all we did was guard the oil and the pipelines, we'd still have $1.75/gallon gasoline, our dead would number in the low one hundreds, and we'd STILL have the ability to strike fear into Middle Eastern leaders who didn't cooperate with us in the "Global War on Terrorism."