What do you think America is going to War for the people or the oil? Because it sounds very strange that they are just considering to go to war without Iraq really sparking something up.

oil

The beauty of the situation is it is both.

Both oil and the ruler/people.

A lot like Vietnam and Korea. Sure; they were being "invaded". But we were there to stop the spread of communism.

And the beauty of all this is, it will be speculated about for a hundred years. Get a degree in history, write a book, and become a millionare.

Oil!!! We should take it over, annex it, and make it part of Texas...Yeeeeha!

You really think that the US government cares about the Iraqi people? If that is indeed the case embargo's of badly needed medical equipment would have got through to them.
It's the oil, roll on Ford with their water powered car.

Can't they just make oil of people? They are already putting them under high pressure, oil will come soon.

You're acting like oil isn't important.... What if a country with an industry like the US would run out of oil ? The country would collapse almost instantly. We're not talking about peanuts here.

Pac man, thats illustrating the point beautifully.
The country that has large resources of oil to tap into will be very rich and productive. If the US get the oil that is in the area you can imagine the benefits. People? Yeah right, they'll be left to fend for themselves in the ensuing chaos that will follow and dubbya will be saying aren't I great, vote me in again.

False dichotomy. Look it up.

I think in the future more wars will be fought over resources like oil, gas, even water.

The water thing is kind of happening in Singapore now too.

Of course my government is concerned for the Iraqi people. Just as they are for all the people under the heel of a tyrannical despot. The oil is just the kicker that motivates us to do anything about it, which greatly illustrates the sad state of affairs over here...

It seems people just ignore all th UN resolutions Iraq has broken but that is in anther topic.
ON topic everyone seems to underestimate the importance of oil,not just to the US but to the entire world.
Think about the food you eat,the clothes you wear,the house you live in.All brought to you on planes,trains and trucks.Most of which is run on oil.Gas for the transportation and to heat your homes.A sharp decrease in supply could rock the world economy.
When it costs more to ship these products to you the cost rises across the board.Stop this supply and the effect on world trade would be devestating.
Also Iraq has not supplied the US with oil since the war.Iraq supplies very little oil to the US and this seems to be overlloked by all the US bashers on this board.

Also Iraq has not supplied the US with oil since the war.Check your facts. Last I heard around 10% of our oil comes from Iraq alone. Not to mention its also about the cheapest we get too. We spent a ridiculous ammount of money making the oil flow from Iraq after the Gulf War.

Oh yeah... since when do they HAVE to supply us with oil? I wish they wouldn't...

[ January 24, 2003, 22:36: Message edited by: Alex ]

Just a note, 10% of U.S. oil does not come from Iraq. The assumption for some reason that many make is that the U.S. gets most of its oil from the middle east, this isn't true. From January through October 2002 the ENTIRE middle east provided just under 11% of U.S. oil.

The numbers I see look like this:
Canada -- 10.6%
Venezuala -- 8.6%
Mexico -- 8.2%
Saudi Arabia -- 8.0%
U.K. -- 3.0%
Nigeria -- 2.9%
Norway -- 1.6%
Russia -- 1.5%
Angola -- 1.3%
Algeria --1.2%
Other -- 12.9%

The U.S. does still import oil from Iraq under the oil for food program. However, within the last year that amount has dropped from 1 million barrels a day to about 100,000 a day. The reduction is apparently because Baghdad has started to demand kickbacks and has an oil pricing policy making it impossible to know what price a trader will pay for oil until after they've taken possession. Also, companies are searching for alternative sources in the event of military action in Iraq.

[ January 25, 2003, 02:07: Message edited by: Laches ]

I stand corrected.I was under the impression Iraq had rejected our food for oil program.