What do you think the war in Iraq is really about?

Question

Some say its for the " war on terror." Some say its over oil, Alan Greenspan in particular. Some think September 11th provoked it. Others say this war was planned even before 2001. We were discussing this in class the last week. What do you think?

Answer 1

There were three really 'lame' reasons why the U.S. attacked another sovereign nation that in no way threatened, provoked or attacked the United States:
1. The Bush family had a personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein ever since the days of Desert Storm when George H.W. Bush was criticized, ridiculed and humiliated for not 'finishing the job' and ousting Hussein at that time;
2. Cheney covets all that OIL swimming underneath Iraq's sands;
3. The giant U.S. military-industrial complex [which Eisenhower warned us about] needed a new 'war' to boost its sagging profits from too many years of peace.

So, 675,000 Iraqis and 3,900 U.S. soldiers have sacrificed their lives to line the pockets of a handful of wealthy elitists, industrialists and power brokers. From the very first day, this 'war' was all about OIL and WAR PROFITEERING.

Bush lied to Congress, hoodwinked the American people, and conned our courageous troops into believing there was honorable purpose for this insipid invasion. In fact, he preyed on the emotions still pent-up from 9-11 (which may have been deliberately implemented as an excuse to attack Iraq). It is by far the most evil, vile, repugnant deception ever perpetrated on American voters and taxpayers.

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and all of their war-mongering friends deserve a special oil-soaked, blood-stained corner of Hell where they can rot for eternity, along with:
535 members of the most arrogant, contemptible, wicked, incompetent, cowardly, corrupt Republican-led Congress in U.S. history that stood by and allowed Bush to run rip shod over our Constitution
-AND-
535 members of the most arrogant, contemptible, wicked, incompetent, cowardly, corrupt Democratic-led Congress in U.S. history that promised to end this war if elected, and - to date - has done nothing to keep that promise.
May GOD damn them ALL!!! -RKO- 10/27/07

Answer 2

Someone answered "to stabilize oil prices". That can't be it, since oil just hit $90 per barrel. Guess again.
I believe the war is about several things. Oil,and the control of
who sells it, where the profits go, and what CURRENCY is
used in the sale. Money, and the billions the military-industrial complex is raking in on this venture. Do you find it coincidental that Dick Cheney was on the board of Haliburton,
and Haliburton has millions of dollars worth of contracts in Iraq ? Military bases, that some in our government feel we
need to "stabilize" the region, and to use as a base of operations for a probable war with Iran. Security for Israel,
where coincidentally, many of GW Bush's cabinet members
also have citizenship. Nice to know that high-ranking members of our government have dual citizenship, huh ?
September 11 had nothing to do with the war, as the Bush Junta has since admitted. I believe it was planned in advance of George W's initial election.

;-(

Answer 3

Right on the nose! It was in the planning stages before 9/11. And yes, it was about oil, and incredibly about revenge against Saddam Hussein for causing George H W Bush, Daddy, to lose face in the first Gulf War because it was thought by many that Saddam Hussein should have been taken out!
This whole conflagration is a humungous blunder and will make Waterloo look like a well planned strategic military success. This is an historical event that will forever be considered the costliest, least planned combat inititive; Foreign Policy was not even considered; that failed miserably.
Thanks

Answer 4

Well, yes it was planned for a long time before 9/11. Just look at the PNAC and the Downing Street Memos. That's common knowledge. But why? Well, I'd say control of oil, to destabilize the middle-east in order to have an excuse for continuing to occupy, to make it easier to attack Iran, arms profiteering and the military-industrial complex, etc....

Answer 5

For about the 1,185th time on Answers: Its the oil. Yes it was planned before 9/11. Also to establish a "permanent" air base in Iraq to relieve the political pressure from Saudi Arabia.

Hunt Oil got the Kurdish fields in the north. ExxonMobile got the shiite oil in the south. HR Hunt is on the Iraq government advisory board. Wana bet he's betting against the government actually becoming functional?

15 hijackers: 12 Saudi, 2 Pakistani, 1 Jordanian. Iraqis-0. Osama bin Laden- Omani cousin to the Saud family (king of Saudi Arabia on 9-11, now dead.)

To paraphrase james Courville: "Its the oil, stupid"

Answer 6

Well clearly it is not a new war as we were in a cease fire from the early '90s and this was a resumption.
Clearly it is not about oil... there is no scenario in which oil was going to come to us out of it.
Clearly 9-11 didn't provoke it because we know Iraq was not involved in the planning and execution of the acts.
It is somewhat complicated because the war was initially against the Saddam regime...but that mission was accomplished long ago.
Today it is a battlefield of the war on terror as Al Quaeda has chosen to confront us there.

Answer 7

It's about profits: Oil, weapons, mercenaries ("security"). Everything for Dubya and company but nothing for US.

Answer 8

Reasons, in order of importance:

1. To defeat Islamic terrorism by spreading freedom in the Middle East through regime change, and hoping this will act as a catalyst for internal change in bordering nations.

The idea is that representative republics don't fund terrorists or have less reason to do so. Cut the nation-level support from terrorists and they are no more dangerous than criminal gangs; they lose their strategic edge.

2. To counter uppity nations like Syria and Iran by planting a democracy in the center of the Middle East.

3. To eliminate any WMD's that might have been in Iraq. (You never know until you go in there, on this sort of thing).

4. Stabilize world oil prices.

5. Create goodwill among surrounding Islamic and Arab nations, by eliminating the "bad boy" of the Middle East, which was Hussein.

6. Revenge for Hussein's defiance against the first President Bush?

There may be many other reasons in descending order of importance.

Answer 9

plain,simple and clear.
fighting the "war on terror" due to the attack on Sept. 11

Answer 10

Again, this is why we are there.

We have been under attack by Islamic extremists for over 30 years. Look back to the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut, to the Iranian hostage standoff, countless embassy bombings, WTC bombing, USS Cole, 9/11. When will it end? The idea of taking out Hussein, did not have anything to do with 9/11 i agree, but the ends do justify the means here in my eyes. Here is why.

Since we have sent our troops to Iraq, where have the terrorist attacks against the U.S. occured? - In Iraq, on their own side of the world. Terrorist groups from all over the Middle East are focusing their efforts against U.S. forces in Iraq. THAT IS THE PLAN. If they want to fight us fine, we'll have the fight, but instead of having them taking up arms (or airplanes) against innocent U.S. civilians, we are sending our professional military to do the job it was meant for - to destroy our enemies.