Posted by Sir Four at 11:33am Jan 5 '05Before the war, I listed oil as the primary reason for invasion. I still believe this to be the case. World supply is maxed out currently and as China and India modernize, demand will only increase. Oil supplying nations like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are not politically stable. The idea of tapping Russian oil reserves has soured under Putin. A friendly Iraq would ease oil concerns and stave off price spikes. I don't know why the good Lord saw fit to put all the oil under unstable regimes, but that's the reality we deal with, and that's reason numero uno for toppling Hussein.
Beyond that, though, there was sort of a "perfect storm" around the idea of invading Iraq. Hussein was a known bad guy, widely despised by the US public. Bush had a score to settle with him. The neo-cons would get to test their fantasies. Bush could distract from the less-than-stellar outcome of the Afghanistan invasion and play up a war president persona during mid-term elections. Arguments for the existence of WMDs would be given credence. WMDs were always a red herring, but the Bush people probably believed that some stockpile would be found somewhere and they'd be able to say, "See, told you there were WMDs!" and that would have been accepted as a valid reason to invade. In other words, they thought their asses were covered no matter what the real reasons for war were.
So nearly two years later, what do you people think were the reasons for the invasion, and were they justified?
Beyond that, though, there was sort of a "perfect storm" around the idea of invading Iraq. Hussein was a known bad guy, widely despised by the US public. Bush had a score to settle with him. The neo-cons would get to test their fantasies. Bush could distract from the less-than-stellar outcome of the Afghanistan invasion and play up a war president persona during mid-term elections. Arguments for the existence of WMDs would be given credence. WMDs were always a red herring, but the Bush people probably believed that some stockpile would be found somewhere and they'd be able to say, "See, told you there were WMDs!" and that would have been accepted as a valid reason to invade. In other words, they thought their asses were covered no matter what the real reasons for war were.
So nearly two years later, what do you people think were the reasons for the invasion, and were they justified?