Well, if that's the case then we're doing it wrong even if the "military" option was selected. It would have made more sense to sit out the Gulf War and hope Saddam took on Saudi Arabia as well as Kuwait. Ideal would have been Iran too but Saddam lost that war. Bottm line, the key being to wait until you only have to attack one country to get all of the oil.

I still stand by my beliefs that Bush Sr employed the US military to bail out his personal friends and former business associates in Kuwait as opposed to the declared "morally right thing to do" because these guys were actually tyrants. Then Bush Jr invaded Iraq because he hated Saddam for threatening to assassinate his father. I know it is a petty reason but I consider Bush Jr to be a very petty man. Two wars both for personal reasons that really had nothing to do with controlling oil without a single consideration related to America.

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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm
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One problem with your position. We had a spigot in Iraq as well so any Kuwaiti oil would have come to us as well.

Of course we know what our military bases in Saudi Arabia led to, the 1993 WTC bombing, the attacks on our African embassies, the attack on the USS Cole, and the attacks of 9/11. That was a pretty steep price for something we already had (i.e. oil from the Middle East).

__________________
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm
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Iraq was selling us all of the oil we wanted to buy often at a discount below APEC's rate to fund his war machine. Remember, we were the Middle East's biggest customer at the time.

Now things are quite different and we only buy somewhere between 30-40% of our imported oil from the Middle East or about 25% of our total needs. Middle East oil is not that big of a deal anymore because of other sources. If we exploited our own reserves we could live without a drop of Middle East oil which is why being there for oil is so stupid.

__________________
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm
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You forgot to mention a few important points. Iraq's oil production was not near what it could be under Western oil companies supervision. Saddam switched to the Euro in 2000 and the Middle East oil supplies will outlast all others on earth. We were past peak oil in the US in the 70's.

"Europe's dream of promoting the euro as a competitor to the U.S. dollar may get a boost from SADDAM HUSSEIN. Iraq says that from now on, it wants payments for its oil in euros, despite the fact that the battered European currency unit, which used to be worth quite a bit more than $1, has dropped to about 82[cents]. Iraq says it will no longer accept dollars for oil because it does not want to deal "in the currency of the enemy."

The switch to euros would cost the U.N. a small fortune in accounting-paperwork changes. It would also reduce the interest earnings and reparations payments that Iraq is making for damage it caused during the Gulf War, a shortfall the Iraqis would have to make up.

The move hurts Iraq, the U.N. and the countries receiving reparations. So why is Saddam doing it? Diplomatic sources say switching to the euro will favor European suppliers over U.S. ones in competing for Iraqi contracts, and the p.r. boost that Baghdad would probably get in Europe would be another plus."
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...998512,00.html

if you want to ignore facts, base your opinions on speculation that's fine with me. as i have said before you'll get there some day ~ by process of elimination. be prepared the longer it take the worse it will be for everyone ~ and i do mean everyone

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EDUCATION, n.
That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding. ~ A. Bierce

yes, Pax Americana;

guess what cat ~ same vatos

Elliott Abrams, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Norman Podhoretz, Donald Rumsfeld,
Paul Wolfowitz

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EDUCATION, n.
That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding. ~ A. Bierce