I have ONE question about Iraq.......

[serryjw]

I will always be in the school that we invaded for the oil. The Oil wells are a mess. The insurgents are constantly torching them and now Bin laden has requested the the insurgents continue their good work.....are we 'eventually' going to leave and let the Iraqis have their oil back? Or are we going to keep the oil with the protection of 30,000 troops and send everyone else home so the Iraqis can have their country back?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. its all about the oil

I really think we'll stay there just for that.

[hatrack]

2. We're not going anywhere as long as there is oil there

Once it begins to run low, maybe it'll be time for a "new Middle East strategy", but I wouldn't hold my breath until then.

[BlueManDude]

3. We will have some level of troops there until they are all killed

meaning we will maintain a military presence until a government similar to the one that took over Iran and deposed the Shah comes to power. At that point they will either take all US personnel as hostages or kill them all.

[leftchick]

4. no way ...

it is all about the oil....All of the US wars in the last century have been about oil. Here is an excellent book on the subject...

http://www.waragainsttheweak.com/edwin.php

<snip>
Black's latest book is Banking on Baghdad, which chronicles the tragic and turbulent 7,000-year history of Iraq. Banking on Baghdad is the first history of Iraq from a global stage, as determined by the corporate boardrooms and governmental war rooms of London, Paris, Istanbul, Washington and the other centers of commercial and political power that coveted its geography and geology. Black led a team of thirty researchers in five countries, accessing more than 100 repositories and securing some 50,000 documents. Black was granted access to the corporate archives of numerous oil companies involved in Iraq and the Middle East. Sir Martin Gilbert wrote, "Every hour spent reading Banking on Baghdad will be well rewarded. The historical detail is fascinating; Edwin Black's mastery of it reads like a detective story and thriller combined, and the relevance of the past has seldom been so graphically portrayed. This is a gripping expose... this is fact not fiction, more endlessly intriguing and absorbing than any novel could be." Banking on Baghdad has been nominated for a Pulitzer. More information on the book can be found at www.bankingonbaghdad.com.

[OhioBlue]

6. I agree a major part is the oil

But wasn't the plan to invade Iraq on the shelf and written by the neocons for Netanyahu? (sp?)

[FormerDittoHead]

5. We would have supported *Saddam* if he had given us control of the oil...

If Saddam had promised to keep his oil traded in dollars, if he offered US companies access and the offered the oil for exclusive US access, we would now be calling Saddam a hero and Bush and Co. would be discrediting all of the stories there were demonizing him.

We will support ANYONE over there as long as the pipelines stay open.

Business is amoral. Business-wise, we simply don't care HOW Iraq ends up as long as the piplines remain open.