Did Bush manipulate Iraq data?

[whereagles]

1. Motivation: OIL. Here you have to consider several things.

First is short-term consequences. The US gains little with the war, as oil wells need to be rebuilt and renewed production can take a while to hit the market. This is the argument the ppl give when they say "The war was not because of oil".

But this is short-sighted, because you have to look in medium- and long-term consequences. After the increased oil production hits the market, prices go down and the US can import oil (around 90% of US oil is imported) at lower prices. I researched some numbers and did a calculation. I concluded that in about 4-5 years, the 75 billion bucks spent with the war would be recovered in this way. But even this is peanuts compared to STRATEGIC CONTROL OF OIL PRODUCTION, meaning if some other country (like Europe or China) threatens the US economical position, the US can shut down the tap and make oil prices go sky-high, hampering the opposing economy.

So... if you keep your eyes open and don't succumb to the trash information given by the (heavily biased) US media, you'll conclude oil IS A VERY GOOD REASON to go to war.


2. Motivation: Saddam, the evil dictator. After WW2, the US have been involved in several wars, many of which ended up with the installation of a US-supported dictator. Here is a simple example: Pinochet in Chile. I could give you 20 more examples.

So, again, if you keep your eyes open and stretch your memory a bit, you'll see that human rights actually matter very little to the US government, as compared to economical/political interests.


3. Motivation: WMD. Last time the US took military action against a "suspicious WMD-producing facility" was in Sudan. This was done as pay-back against bombing of US embassies in Africa. It turned up that facility was actually a factory which produced nothing but 90% of the medicines of Sudan.

Anyway, why am I losing time explaining all this?... I wonder.