War in Iraq

Invading Iraq was all about the oil. That's what everyone was saying. But recently I began to think that this wasn't the case, that there was actually a far simpler reason for the invasion. I didn't have any evidence, but now I do.

Just imagine you're running the World's foremost superpower. To maintain your prominence you use just about every trick in the book. You've been in this position for such a long time, that many believe you are untouchable. Suddenly in a seemingly absurd move, major locations of said nation are under attack.

I can tell you I was surprised at the news. Someone told me "The US is under attack". I was like "yeah yeah whatever". But when I switched on my TV it was shocking to see it actually happening.

So naturally those running the US couldn't possibly let this pass. Doing so would be a great sign of weaknesses and unacceptable to the local populace. So they went after the culprits and headed to Afghanistan. But they failed to capture Bin Laden who escaped. This seemingly appears as a failure.

To prove their dominance they go in to Iraq. I mean it's a bit strange that after all this time suddenly Iraq is developing weapons of mass destruction and now it's time to invade? But if it was about the oil... well it had been there for ages. So suddenly they go in and take over. The message is clear, we can and will invade if we have to.

Both invasions were the result of defensive (in the sense of maintaining prominence) measures designed to show a sign of strength. If it hadn't been for the 9/11 attacks, I doubt any military action would have taken place. Not to mention both invasions have been costly in terms of manpower and expenses. However it seems like the damage to the invincible image has been done considering the number of nations actively defying US influence.

So what's the evidence for dispelling the oil motive? Well it turns out that since 2003 the only oil extraction in Iraq has been undertaken by China, a strong economic rival to the US. Unless major players in the US government have stakes in the Chinese firms, they would not benefit.