The Preposterous Notion of a War For Oil

It seems ridiculous to have to reiterate this, but America did not go to war over oil in Iraq. What we did go to war for was the confrontation of a power-mad dictator who was in violation of international demands concerning his ambitions for becoming a nuclear power. What we did go to war for was the opportunity to remove a dictator who viciously tortured and butchered his people, in favor of establishing a functioning democracy in the center of the Middle East.

Consequentially, we succeeded.

The only people who insist we made war for the sake of oil are the people who have consistently ignored the threat that Saddam posed to the free world.

Of course, the question quickly arises--why didn't we attack North Korea then? Because, contrary to what the critics of the war in Iraq believe, America under the leadership of George Bush is not carving out an empire for itself. Iraq had violated the terms of the ceasefire which ended the Gulf War--and had done so for years under the Clinton administration. By the time Bush came to power, the standard take on the issue was that it was being essentially ignored. Then 9/11 happened and the US was given the incentive to look proactively towards securing the peace for the future. Hence we invaded Afghanistan--with the aim of removing the Taliban and closing one of the terrorist's primary training grounds. Hence we aggressively confronted Saddam's blatant definace of the internationally upheld demands for the cessation of any and all nuclear development. Hence we responded when that was ignored.

In North Korea, the situation is a little different. There are still diplomatic options available--due in part to the fact that North Korea's most important benefactor, China, has the responsiblity of restraining the North Koreans. The situations are not the same. The fact that Iraq happens to possess oil is irrelevant--Afghanistan didn't and we attacked there first.

You would think this wouldn't be something we'd need to go over again. But, you'd be wrong.