Quote:Do you honestly think we would have cared enough about what was going on in Iraq had they not controlled so much oil?

 

Read this, and resist the temptation to pass it off as liberal propaganda before reading.

 

As Vic often said, if you want to get to the heart of the matter, follow the money.

 

While I don't disagree with much of that opinion piece, there are/were several other underlying factors.  I do agree that you have to follow the money, but the sources of said money was not in the oil fields of Iraq.

 

Again, you have to go back and look at recent history in the region.  The U.S. made a fatal mistake during the Afghanistan war(s) in the late 1980's and into the early 1990's.  We were funneling millions of dollars, weapons and aid into the area via Pakistan in joint operations with the Saudis.  The goal was the fall of communist leaders in Afghanistan which happened.  The area quickly became a hotbed for radical Islamic fighters, and the country ended up in a civil war between moderates and radical jihadists.  Many who were trained there began to focus on what was happening in Iraq.  The fear was that there were known chemical weapons in Iraq that the U.S. did not want to fall into the wrong hands.

 

It was quite a mistake to leave Afghanistan after the fall of Mohammad Najibullah.  President Clinton wasn't interested much in foreign affairs, especially in that part of the world.  The CIA funding was cut back, and his appointed CIA chief was more interested in "technological intelligence" rather than human intelligence.  It was also determined at that time that terrorism should be treated as a law enforcement issue rather than a homeland security issue.  The CIA and the FBI did not share information between the two agencies.

 

Meanwhile Afghanistan as well as other areas in the mid-east and Africa became breeding grounds for radical jihadists.

 

Fast-forward to the second war with Iraq (which technically speaking was part of the Global War on Terrorism).  Many of the radicals that trained in Afghanistan, funded by certain "Islamic charities" and people such as Osama bin Laden were showing up in Iraq.  Much like what happened in Afghanistan, they wanted to establish an Islamic State ruled by Sharia Law.  There was no way that we (the U.S.) were going to allow radical jihadists to gain possession of chemical weapons.

 

Quote:So you're saying that it's ok for a President to lie about the motivations for going to war?

 

Nope.  President Bush never lied.

---