Why Are We Really Going to War with Iraq?

This impending and inevitable war is about one thing and one thing only-greed. It is not about preserving the security of the American people. It is not about liberating the Iraqi people. It has nothing to do with the “war on terror.” It is about a opportunistic power grab by the USA at a time in world history which appears most suited for it.

President Bush has said that Saddam Hussein (we can all agree a very bad man) has weapons of mass destruction and this poses a clear and present danger to the American people. The first problem with this fact is that if he does have WMD, why wasn’t there a clear and present danger to the American people almost 2 years ago when the President took office? If there was, why didn’t the Bush Administration address the issue then? If Saddam does have WMD why didn’t he use them against the US before? What has changed that would make him use them now? If Saddam does have WMD, how can he use them against the US ? He certainly doesn’t have the missile capability to reach the US . So how are the WMD (if he has them) a danger to us? The Bush Administration has claimed that Iraq can affect the US with WMD because it can sell them to terrorists who would then use them on the US . We certainly know that there are terrorists who would love to get their hands on WMD and use them on the US . However, there is no evidence that Iraq has provided or wants to provide WMD to terrorists. My legal training begs me to ask the question, what would be Saddam’s motive in providing WMD to terrorists? What would Saddam gain by this? Wouldn’t this be the ultimate pretext for the US going to war against Iraq if ever discovered? Saddam is a ruthless dictator and has the same goal of every ruthless dictator-staying in power at all costs.

What country helped overthrow the Iraqi government and helped the Baath party take over which led to Saddam Hussein eventually being the leader of Iraq ? US. What country funded Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran while he was murdering his own people? US. Why is it that we have created every monster that we have later come to demonize? We created Saddam. We created Noreiga. We created Somoza (fellow West Point Alumnus of mine). We helped create Osama Bin Laden. The CIA called him the greatest jihadi. We helped create Al-Qaeda. We gave money to the most extreme, hard core, fundamentalist fighters in Afghanistan and then we seem surprised with the result after we bailed out when the Soviets left. We supported the ISI in Pakistan who in turn supported the Taliban and helped them come to and stay in power. We launched the Iranian revolution by propping up the Shah after installing him against the will of the Iranian people to, sound familiar, protect our energy interests in Iran .

Some have said that we should follow the money trail and I have sadly reached the same conclusion as well. What US company made the most money in post gulf war-Iraq? Dick Cheney’s Halliburton. What company does the National Security Advisor sit on the board of? Chevron. Whose son is the CEO of an energy company? The Commerce Secretary Don Evans. Who’s oil company received money from Osama Bin Laden’s brother in 1979? Arbusto Energy- the oil company of our current president. Whose company Harken Energy has an investor Bin Mahfouz who is an alleged financial supporter of Osama Bin Laden’s terrorist network? President Bush. What member of the Bush Administration won’t release the texts of his energy-policy deliberations with Enron’s Ken Lay even after being sued by the GAO? Dick Cheney.

The Bush Administration is using the fear that exists in the world after 9/11 to create a new world empire. Our government does not care about creating a democracy in Iraq . It does not care about the Iraqi people. In 1996, Secretary of State Madeline Albright was asked if the deaths of a half-million children in Iraq were acceptable. She didn't contest the number but instead said: "I think this is a very hard choice. But the price -- we think the price is worth it." The current administration has not lifted sanctions either and thinks that the price is worth it as well. After promising the Iraqi opposition groups (the Kurds in the north and the Shia in the south) that we would support them in their desire for “regime change,” when they did rise up after the first Gulf war ended the first Bush Administration reneged on its promise and let them be slaughtered.

We are not planning to go in to Iraq turn the country around and let them rule themselves. We want to control the second largest oil reserve in the world. We still have troops in Germany . We still have troops in Japan . We still have troops in Korea . We still have troops in Saudi Arabia . Say what you like about Osama Bin Laden (we can all agree very bad man), but he was right when he stated that if the Saudi government ever let in American troops they would never leave. So far he has been correct. We are going in to Iraq to establish a base that will allow us to gain greater control of the region. Iran is likely our next target. We already have troops stationed in and/or training of foreign troops of Saudi Arabia , Kuwait , U.A.E., Bahrain , Qatar , Yemen , Egypt , Israel , Jordan , Turkey , Georgia , Armenia , Azerbaijan , Pakistan , Afghanistan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , and Tajikistan . We are not in Afghanistan foremost because of the war on terror, we are there because of energy interests in accordance with the U.S. Energy Information Administration documentation before 9/11 of Afghanistan's strategic "geographical position as a potential transit route for oil and natural and gas exports from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea," including the construction of pipelines through Afghanistan.

I love this country and consider myself a patriot. That is why I feel that it is my duty to state that I am afraid that the US military is in danger of becoming a mercenary army used by the current administration to protect the economic interests of the energy companies that have an undue influence on and in the administration and to enforce the political interests of those in the administration who are seeking a new global empire.