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... A Conspiracy of Good, Not of Greed : There are grand ambitions at stake here, but the real treasure isn't underground. It's freedom.(America on Iraq)(Illustration)
The enduring genius of conspiracy theories is that they can never be proved wrong. Those who fancy themselves too smart for the "official story" will always be convinced that World War I was started by "merchants of death," JFK was killed by the military-industrial complex and the World Trade Center was leveled by the Mossad (or was it the CIA?). And who is to disabuse them? Proving a negative is impossible.
So it is with the coming war in Iraq, which has given rise to two popular theories. First: the Jews are behind it because Saddam Hussein threatens Israel. Second: the oil companies are behind it because Saddam threatens their supplies. These theories would appear incompatible, since oil companies are hardly known for doing Israel's bidding. To address this difficulty, former CIA analyst Stephen C. Pelletiere has "revealed" in a New York Times op-ed that the war is really about seizing Iraq's water and pumping it to thirsty Israelis. So it looks as if Gulf War II is being sponsored by Perrier, not ExxonMobil.
Forgive me for not treating these theories seriously. Black gold has been used to explain American interventions from Vietnam to Afghanistan, though no one has found much oil in either place, or in Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo or myriad other places where U.S. troops have been sent. Ironically, when oil supplies actually were interrupted by the 1973 embargo, the United States did not contemplate military action. If we were ready to fight for cheap energy, we would long ago have invaded Saudi Arabia, home to 25 percent of the world's proven reserves. Instead, the United States overlooks Saudi funding of Islamist extremists. Appeasement, not war, is America's favorite strategy for guaranteeing oil supplies.
If this administration were run by an oil cabal--as critics allege--that would be its strategy, too. Big oil companies have never met a dictator they couldn't do business with, from the Shah of Iran to Saddam Hussein. During the 1990s oil companies were lobbying not to overthrow Saddam, but to ease sanctions on his regime.
It's improbable to think that a president with a Harvard M.B.A. would calculate that ...
- Modest 52 to 43 Percent Majority Believes Invasion of Iraq Has Not Helped to...
- Press release article from: PR Newswire April 23, 2004 700+ words
...the invasion of Iraq has not helped to protect the United States." While most...the invasion of Iraq has helped to protect the United States from another...to protect the United States against another...44 5 Invading Iraq has helped to...
- For Years, United States Had Love-Hate Relationship with Iraq.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News February 6, 2003 700+ words
...in part because the United States and Iraq have shared enemies...Ronald Reagan. The United States' love-hate relationship with Iraq over the years is one...quite surprised the United States removed Iraq from the terrorist list...
- Arab public opinion on the United States and Iraq: postwar prospects for...
- Brookings Review Telhami, Shibley June 22, 2003 700+ words
...running against the United States as American troops massed outside Iraq. Only 4 percent...this day that the United States is in Iraq for oil. The regional...the one hand, the United States does not want to withdraw from Iraq prematurely and...
- France, the United States & Iraq: the story of the Iraqi adventure is not over,...
- Magazine article from: The Nation Hoffmann, Stanley February 16, 2004 700+ words
...between France and the United States that emerged during...up to the war in Iraq persists, despite...reputation in the United States has been damaged...French position on Iraq is still widely...after all, the United States had deterred the...powerful adversary than ...
- Iraq and its implications: Sir Marrack Goulding considers the situation in Iraq...
- Newspaper article from: New Zealand International Review Goulding, Marrack September 1, 2004 700+ words
The United States' venture in Iraq has so far achieved...s adventure in Iraq about how the United States is going to use its...of the war against Iraq. I have heard forecasts...catch up with the United States militarily. It is...
- IRAQ TARGETS NO-FLY ZONES UNITED STATES: PILOTS WILL CONTINUE TO PATROL THE...
- Newspaper article from: The Virginian Pilot Meixler, Louis December 27, 1998 700+ words
...of a threat the United States considers Iraqi...aircraft had flown over Iraq on Saturday but...airspace since the United States and Britain ended...airstrikes against Iraq on Dec. 19. The...fly zones the United States and its Persian...allies imposed on Iraq: ...
- United States holds large numbers of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan.
- Magazine article from: American Journal of International Law October 1, 2008 700+ words
...Camp Cropper in Iraq, down from about 25,000. (1) (The United States transferred the...in May 2008, the United States was holding 500 juveniles in Iraq and 10 in Afghanistan...Continuing Between United States and Iraq on Terms of Future...
- The ethics of exit: Iraq's first democratic elections in decades have passed,...
- Magazine article from: Foreign Policy May 1, 2005 700+ words
...merits of abandoning Iraq. Now that the United States has turned that...stability is returned to Iraq, the United States would be guilty...vantage point of the United States, whose troops continue to bleed in Iraq, it isn't so...
