Yet Another Wasted Effort in War?
Yesterday we questioned the worth of the effort put into the war in Afghanistan - the longest war in American history. Today, here's a story related to the war in Iraq.
So why did the U.S. military invade Iraq. The clearest, simplest reasons I was able to discern were two:
1) Get rid of Saddam Hussein and install freedom democratic government in Iraq, a great benefit to the people of Iraq. We'll call this the positive reason, the one that many Americans thought made sense and that galvanized support for the war. (Remember that the initial primary reason - "threat" of Saddam harboring Weapons of Mass Destruction proved to be unfounded. So switching over to the idea of "freeing" the people of Iraq then became the primary reason.)
2) Get access to Iraq's oil. This we'll call the "cynical" reason, one that a significant segment of Americans believed. The U.S. military was being used to grab and secure the rich Iraqi oilfields. Since Iraqi oil exports were severely restricted for years due to sanctions placed on Iraq by the U.S. and other governments, the increased oil production that would result from securing these oil fields and dramatically increasing production would be a great not just the U.S., but for all oil importing countries: as the supply of oil was increased, the price would decrease all over the world. (That was twist that took the cynical "take the oil" thesis and turned it around to a great benefit for all mankind.)
Well neither result was accomplished despite the years of war. And now, it seems, after all that expenditure of U.S. blood and treasure, it will be the Chinese who will ultimately benefit.
So why did the U.S. military invade Iraq. The clearest, simplest reasons I was able to discern were two:
1) Get rid of Saddam Hussein and install freedom democratic government in Iraq, a great benefit to the people of Iraq. We'll call this the positive reason, the one that many Americans thought made sense and that galvanized support for the war. (Remember that the initial primary reason - "threat" of Saddam harboring Weapons of Mass Destruction proved to be unfounded. So switching over to the idea of "freeing" the people of Iraq then became the primary reason.)
2) Get access to Iraq's oil. This we'll call the "cynical" reason, one that a significant segment of Americans believed. The U.S. military was being used to grab and secure the rich Iraqi oilfields. Since Iraqi oil exports were severely restricted for years due to sanctions placed on Iraq by the U.S. and other governments, the increased oil production that would result from securing these oil fields and dramatically increasing production would be a great not just the U.S., but for all oil importing countries: as the supply of oil was increased, the price would decrease all over the world. (That was twist that took the cynical "take the oil" thesis and turned it around to a great benefit for all mankind.)
Well neither result was accomplished despite the years of war. And now, it seems, after all that expenditure of U.S. blood and treasure, it will be the Chinese who will ultimately benefit.
"We lost out," said Michael Makovsky, a former Bush administration Defense Department official who worked on Iraq oil policy. "The Chinese had nothing to do with the war, but from an economic standpoint they are benefiting from it, and our 5th Fleet and air forces are helping to assure their supply."More...
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