If the war in Iraq was started to get the oil...?

Question

... where's all the oil we should have got from there?

Answer 1

Frankly, I am sick of people saying this is a war for oil. If all we really wanted was oil...why didn't we invade and colonize Mexico?

It is the 4th richest oil nation, it is very close, AND most of their military aged men are already over here.

Sorry, don't buy it.

Let me explain a few things regarding Oil & Imperialism

It seems to me that people ranting about the US’s “imperialist” actions don’t truly understand the world we live in.

There is no such thing as a completely self-sufficient country anymore. We are all intertwined in the global economy.

Globalization is what has allowed EVERYONE in the world to improve their standard of living and average lifespan. Barring WWIII the global economy isn’t going anywhere. What that means is we import and export vast amounts of goods (and brainpower). You can’t just shut that off and expect life to happily go on.
It’s just a reality that oil is the lifeblood of any economy. Choke it off and the economy dies.

When economies die, people die soon after. Unemployment, starvation, the breakdown of society – basically conditions akin to the Great Depression (I know that was caused by speculation and a run on the banks, but money and credit is very mush like oil – it is the blood of our economy and in that era it got choked off).

Advocating that the US do nothing about events that might seriously cut off such a resource is not just nearsighted, it’s almost suicidal.

Here’s an analogy: New York City today gets the vast majority of its water from waaaay down south – I believe it’s Georgia or Virginia. Let’s pretend that Virginia decided to cut that water supply off or took some other limiting action. You think New York would sit there and smile blandly? Hell no. They would do whatever was necessary to make sure the water flowed, including war, or they would move.

So please try to understand this – that not only is blood worth spilling for oil (until we find a substitute), oil IS blood. You live in a city, use transportation, eat food that was shipped or trucked in and survive winter all thanks to oil.

Our country is built on exploiting natural resources. Every developed country must be. Anything that removes those resources, be it water, oil, gas, air, sunlight, etc. must be confronted and stopped, or many, many more people will die.

Securing access to natural resources isn’t imperialism – it’s survival. Imperialism is widening your scope of power for vanity, but there is no successful system of government that is not based on protecting and serving its population, and as populations grow, the demand on natural resources will grow too.

That is why war exists.

Since Cain and Abel, one people have desired what another group possessed, and took it by force if necessary. When a tribe polluted a river, the tribe from downstream came over and kicked their asses. And that’s why any modern tribe (read: country) who has control over a necessary natural resource agrees to sell some of it to other countries that need it. Threats to stifle that resource are as serious as a declaration of war, that is why when Russia shut off its gas pipeline to the Ukraine people went nuts.

So the US will continue to meddle anywhere that might hurt our “long-term interests” because “long-term interest” is just a euphemism for “life and health of our citizens.”

If anyone out there truly thinks that we fight for oil solely to make Haliburton rich, please take a course on economics and stop embarrassing yourself every time you open your mouth.

Answer 2

It was started for many reasons including the ones given by the government.

I do not have the time to list every reason from every facet of the government and private sector that influences the government through campaign contributions or the lobbyists.

The Iraq war has produced an instant bibliography of extremely informative books on the subject. Go to a borders or barns and nobel and look under politics and government. Plus when the say oil it doesn't mean oil in the respect of you pumping gas into your car; it means another oil rich state that can act as a swing state for America, increasing output when others decrease it thereby ensuring there is not a detrimental effect on the U.S. economy. Much as Saudi Arabia has done. When Iraq decreased its oil output to make more money because of its broken economy after the Iran-Iraq war, Saudi Arabia increased its output leveling out the costs.

Answer 3

Here it is for all who want to see. Big oil interest is not the same as the interest of the American people but to confuse that or to deny this war is about oil is naive.

"I'm saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: The Iraq war is largely about oil." – Alan Greenspan

According to the Bush Administration, the notion that the occupation of Iraq was a means to gain control over that country’s vast oil reserves is “nonsense” and “a myth.” However, in February, 2007, the proposed draft of a new law to structure Iraq’s oil industry was leaked, and it is now being considered by the Iraqi parliament. Several key features of the law would:

Allow two-thirds of Iraq’s oil fields to be developed by private oil corporations. In contrast, the oil industry has been nationalized in every other major Middle Eastern producer for over 30 years.
Place governing decisions over oil in a new body known as the Iraqi Federal Oil and Gas Council, which may include foreign oil companies;
Open the door for foreign oil companies to lock up decades-long deals now, when the Iraqi government is at its weakest.
Overall, the law would secure the agenda of ExxonMobil, Chevon, and the other majors, robbing the Iraqi people of their most basic source of wealth. Much is at stake. With 115 billion barrels of proven reserves ($7 trillion worth at $64 per barrel) and another 215 billion possible or likely ($14 trillion), there’s nearly a million dollars of oil for every Iraqi citizen. It’s a vast and precious national resource—but only if Iraqis are allowed to control it themselves.

Answer 4

This is a really silly question.

I'm seeing more evidence regarding the quality of the schools in the United States.

The U.S. is in Iraq trying to make sure that the oil is secure. Our troops were protecting the oil. Remember when they were burning? That's why the U.S. attacked Iraq back in the 90s.

The U.S. does not fight humanitarian wars as a rule. There is always an economic reason behind it.

Answer 5

Good points Flaming. Although it is odd you cited Mexico as a place we would want to invade if we were searching for oil feilds to secure. It is true they have large oil fields, but the majority of them are drying up. Most experts estimate Mexico's proven oil assets will last not much longer than 10 years. It is also odd that you proved in your own words just how important oil is to a large country. It seems you just gave credence to the idea that America would seize any oppurtunity presented to gain or secure large oil feilds. It is true, oil is the single most important resource in the modern world. However, it is not necessary to kill hundreds of thousands of innocents for it. That is why we have diplomacy.

To everyone else I pose the question, "If it wasn't for oil, then what?" There were no WMD's. No ties to al-Qaeda. So what then? Saving the Iraqi's from a dictator? Please, if we really wanted to liberate people from harm there are plenty of other places where our help would mean much more.

Answer 6

CONTROL of the oil is the issue. The price of oil can be controlled if you can control much of the source and eliminate troublemakers like Saddam who switiched to petroeuros from petrodollars.

This question has been answered many times before, so for more complete answers do a search within Yahoo Answers.

Answer 7

In the upcoming years, Iraq's oil (which has hardly been touched in the last 25 years), will be mainly coming to the US, and not China, India, or Europe. They haven't begun to take it yet due to the insurgency.

Answer 8

It is and was an invasion/occupation for the strategic military placement of United States troops in the Middle East.

Answer 9

Was given to North Korea in exchange for abandoning the nuclear program

Answer 10

It's about control of the oil, that's where the moneyand power come in; not just pumping it to us.