Let's settle the 'America invaded Iraq for oil' meme once and for all

Op here
I don't like you
I like you

>Oil was undeniably a factor, since the oil fields were one of the first objectives seized by US military upon invading

But doesn't it make sense to seize the oil since US Army already had experienced environmental and industrial disaster of oil wells being burned by retreating Saddam in the last war? It's not like US troops packed it into barrels and send over the oceans back into the US. The Oil wells were taken over by private companies, most of them not even originating in the US. It's a resource, so it seems obvious it needs to be secured in some way. Just I can't see other reason for iraq invasion other than the whole WMDs and petrodollar line goes...

I'd much rather talk about the second Iraq war then see the umpteenth religionbait, racebait, holocaustproofs, fascismwank, commiewank and byzaboo thread but I think in the end it's important we stick to the rules if we ever want to get rid of at least all the shitty /pol/ and /leftypol/ threads

This. It is absolutely vital for the american economy that oil continues to be traded in dollars. Any nation that starts to trade for oil using another currency risks destruction by the US in one way or another.

I agree, we gotta stick to our principles if we ever want to rid ourselves of the shitty parts of Veeky Forums.

also securing oil cuts of funding for the other side

I've heard a pretty good argument that one reason there have been wars in the middle east is that it takes the theater to them, instead of the islamic extremists bringing attacks to america if we have a war there they will just target the soldiers. The soldiers being trained in war and knowing they will be attacked will suffer less losses than civilians in repeated terror attacks.

>falling for this /pol/ meme

*Everything* is traded in dollars, not just oil. This meme about how Nixon swapped the gold standard with oil standard is fucking retarded, one guy asked about it on Veeky Forums some time ago and got completely BTFO.

No.

One of the main factors was faulty information. The CIA basically wanted a reason and found some Saddam-hating fuck who lied his ass off about Saddam having WMDs.

Cheney may be a sociopathic old fuckstain who used the war to help his buddies, but oil was a nice side benefit, not the main cause. If anything, Bush Jr. being a fucking assclown and trying to prove to daddy he's a big boy is even more plausible tgan the oil meme because WE KNOW Bush Snr thought Jeb was the smart one and Bush Jnr was the retard, politically speaking.

This ain't Iran in 1975, yo.

explain why
so simple, yet i didn't consider that before

>The CIA basically wanted a reason
Why?
>Cheney may be a sociopathic old fuckstain who used the war to help his buddies
How?

I want to know more.

it's not a perfect argument and doesn't eliminate a lot of the corruption and politiking around the war, but it is the best justification from the war I've seen

Everything is traded in dollars because oil is traded in dollars, and oil is what the world economy is based on.

What Nixon did is not like a secret you know, it's pretty well documented.

No. Everything is traded in dollars because it was the only stable global currency after WW2 and still is the most stable one.

He did abolish the gold standard, but there is no oil standard.

Why did you (You) me? I wasn't even talking about oil

They tried to secure the oil wells first because they tried to prevent the iraqis from burning them AND more important because it is a strategic ressource needed for warfare. By conquering the oil wells you cripple them financially and on a strategic level so there is no way they can lead a drawn out war.

This Saddam tried to destroy the oil Standard meme has a conspiracy theory vibe for me. People tend to forget that the neocons were ideologicaly driven. They drastically overestimated american abilities and had no realistic idea what it would take to stabilize and reform Iraq.

No, it has nothing to do with stability, and the dollar sure as fucking shit isn't remotely stable now.

The dollar was taken as global currency at Bretton Woods because at the time over half of the world's manufacturing was American. It was also stable since it was on the gold standard. But neither of those things are anywhere close to true today. The Nixon shock ended the gold standard, and came with a massive devaluation of the dollar. The only reason it continued to be used as global currency despite its instability and despite the USA producing nothing is because Nixon got Saudi Arabia, and by extension the rest of OPEC, to continue selling oil in dollars. Every country, every industry, and corporation in the world needs plenty of oil, and thanks to this they also need dollars in order to purchase that oil. As long as no major oil producer sells their oil in anything but dollars, that system is safe.

>and the dollar sure as fucking shit isn't remotely stable now

Stopped reading there.

Well that level of laziness explains why you're such an idiot.

>explain why
Why what exactly? Why the collapse of the dollar's value and thus it's purchasing power would be bad for the average american? That's self-evident for anyone who knows anything at all about what hyperinflation does to an economy.

If you think dollar isn't a stable currency you're a monumental retard, probably the kind who gives his life savings to EPC and thinks we're two weeks from hyperinflation.

Sadam was planning on switching from the petrodollar to the petroeuro before the 2003 war started.

Except that everything is not traded in dollars

The euro, the pound, the Swiss frank, the old German mark, have all been much more stable currencies than the dollar.

Tbqh putting W. In the oval was Bush Sr's biggest mistake. He should have just run for a second term.

>Euro

Big fucking NOPE.

>Swiss frank

Yes

>German mark
>using currencies that haven't been in circulation in 14 years

One does have to understand that, in the long term, it's less about who has the oil, but what they trade it in.

Saddam signed his death warrant when he started selling oil for African Dinars and Euros, much like Gaddafi did. The petrodollar depends directly on what oil is traded in, and who actually controls the oil, in the long term, is secondary. Icing on the cake, as it were.

Dick Cheney did, America and its people just footed the bill.
Even Bush got played like a chump

Bush invaded Iraq because he could hardly invade Saudi Arabia after 9/11 and because his father was criticized for not moving on to Baghdad after liberating Kuwait in the first Gulf war.

The risk of Saudi Arabia becoming an unreliable source of oil, in the aftermath of 9/11. Iraq at the time was seen as a safe source of oil, if they could get to it quickly.

how was it a source of oil? Most companies that worked there were not affiliated with the US

All i know is maybe

Most people here completly ignore the fact that the second Iraq war wasn't started with clear defined and reasonable objectives. It was presented as part of the war against Terror and as a preemptive strike because of muuh wmds. The underlying motives were different and all the Players in the bush Administration had different motives.

Some general beliefs were that the US should have the ability to wage multiple wars at the same time. This was combined with the belief that it would be easy to install stable societies even in developing countries. These ideas came from several think tanks who now had the governments ear. This, in combination with post 9/11 belligerence and Saddam beeing an old enemy, led to the disaster we experienced.

Most people vastly overestimate the Bush gov. They slipped in this disaster due to completly unrealistic goals regarding occupation and war while ignoring more experienced military minds like powell who advised them to at least use enough occupation troops etc. Instead they envisioned all the iraqis would be eternally grateful for removing Saddam, so that they can create some sort of middle eastern germany.

tl, dr

Ideological motives+overconfidence+massive incompetence= the meme war we got

Did we get the oil? No.

Was the oil held away from us buying it? No.

Was most of the oil held under the thumb of a brutal dictator? No.

Which was the point.

That's pretty dope explanation, thanks friend.
Now I'm gonna watch Generation Kill again I guess.

Thanks friend. Also waltz with bashir is a really based movie. Generation Kill is on my watch list

>Most people vastly overestimate the Bush gov.
Didn't they also start ignoring CIA analysts and try to analyze spurious intel themselves? I recall reading something like this years ago; the administration was so scared shitless of another terror incident that they were neurotically combing through unsubstantiated intel.

>For one, Iraq was in fact a safe haven for extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda

Am I living in 2002 here? Thats just one of the lies they told on fox news to drum up support for the invasion...which was purely for the oil.

> it takes the theater to them

Yes, of course, that's exactly what we need to do, smash apart centralised authority leading to a cluster fuck of sectarian violence because that's not the sort of environment radical islam thrives in.

Instead the Islamic terrorist 5th and 6th battalion will face the wrath of the mighty marines on their hometurf, getting rid of the factories and oil wells they rely on is crucial. How else will we fight our enemies if not with the tactics we lost the last war with?

The Talibong manpower will be sufficiently drained when we bomb civilian areas because that will prevent them from recruiting from the local populace and totally won't result in a generation of pakis with a deep seated hatred for americans because we shot up uncle abdul and his kids.

wow friendo, you're great at strategy, i see you've been putting in the hours at rome total war.

URA URA URA

This isn't a matter of opinion, those currencies have all been more stable than the USD.

We're forgetting the 1973 OPEC oil crisis that caused severe problems for the global economy. Never again could the USA face such a risk. At the time, it probably seemed like a pragmatic move, to get rid of a strongish military within the region that could go on to become like Nasser's Egypt and clog up the amerifat arteries.

It's only in the start of 2014 with new oil wells being discovered, fracking technology improving and a massive oversupply that it became completely retarded to throw trilllions of dollars on a relatively small amount of oil. Without the power of hindsight, they couldn't have known it wouldn't end up being a money loss.

Time and time again throughout american history from the uss maine in 1898, to luistiania in 1917 and ww2 and tomkin bay, the yanks have always exported domestic malthusian youth bulge overseas to straighten out creases out home and secure export markets.

Ameirca stronk and in the money.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4354269.stm

Redpill yourself, fug.