Oil and Iraq

Earthside Comments: With the price of gasoline poised to reach new highs because of Hurricane Rita, we're reminded of another of the reasons for the unprovoked attack on Iraq: oil. Michael Klare once again writes an incisive analysis that demonstrates how this has backfired on the Bush regime ... like all of the other rationales for the war.

Link: Iraq's Missing Sea of Oil | Michael Klare

From all that can be seen, oil production in Iraq is likely to remain depressed for years, no matter how much more blood is shed in its pursuit. It is already evident that American military action will not lead to democracy in Iraq, merely to the division of the country into separate ethnic enclaves, one possibly ruled by Iranian-like ayatollahs; it can now also be said that we will not gain any additional petroleum supplies as a result of all this sacrifice and tragedy. Not only has the use of force to procure Iraqi oil failed to achieve its intended results, it has actually made the situation worse. ... Despite the debacle of Iraq, most senior policymakers appear to retain their blind faith in the efficacy of military force as a tool for securing access to foreign sources of petroleum. This, as Iraq makes painfully clear, is delusional. Yet they persist in risking the lives of young Americans and others in their continued adherence to a failed and immoral strategy. Any attempt to reconstruct American foreign policy on a more rational and ethical basis must, therefore, begin with the repudiation of the use of force in procuring foreign oil and the adoption of a forward-looking energy strategy based on increased conservation and the rapid development of alternative fuels.

Comments

[larry]

US did not go to war in iraq to secure oil. Iraq oil was always for sale, was never being withheld. After being driven out of Kuwait, there was absolutely no danger that Iraq would corner the market by taking over Saudi Arabia. Indeed, Iraq invaded kuwait, thinking pragmatic Americans could care less who owned kuwait, as long as the oil was being pumped and sold. That was a mistake of course. Bush the 1st. no longer trusted Hussein's judgement.