Decimating weaker people has gotten us this far!
----> Indubitably
We are tired of trading, let's take the oil!
----> Lets
Even though we are supposedly fighting for the American way lets discourage free speech by accusing every rational person of being a traitor!
---->Brilliant
After Iraq lets keep going until either someone sparks WWIII (the big one with the nukes) or we take it all!
---->Good luck (planet Earth. We're gonna need it)

if your so in love with free speech you have to stop getting on peoples cases about calling you traitors when you attack the US President and Government, after all, it is only free speech. You call us war mongers and the like, and when we use our free speech back towards you we are trying to take away your free speech? So you want to have free speech only one way, and dont like it when we use the same right to do the same things to you you do to us, that being making uis sick to our stomachs with your leftist rhetoric. YOu sir, are a hypocrit.

I can't believe how many people are blind in this world, maybe we should just let Sadam stay in charge give him another 10-20 years so he can build up his army. Then when he starts bombing the sh** out of everyone these so called peace freaks will ask why didn't the U.S. do something about him back in 2003.

If we are going to war for oil then why aren't we pumping out of Basra right now? after all we have control of that city and the surrounding area. If all these peace freaks can say is that we are going to war for oil, well I've got one word for them, STUPID!!!

In a way we are going to war for oil... we want the Iraqi people to prosper from their oil instead of having it line Saddam's pockets.

Don't be naive guys. Oil plays a large role in our involvement. I'm not saying that's wrong, but it is a reality. We wouldn't give a damn about a crazy dictator if he were in a resource-poor nation like Cuba or Libya.

Please, do give me evidence of this. Do you think we're going to take over the oil? If so you are dumber than I thought.

Why, then, did Bush Jr ask them not to burn the oil wells during his "48 hours" speech?

Why do they report the state of the oil wells along with the rest of the war reporting?

The environmental impact of burning oil wells is staggering. There are significant health implications that result from inhaling & ingesting those petrochemical compounds as well. Unlike the US with it's multiple streams of income from many aspects of the economy, Iraq derives its' income from virtually one source alone. Don't let your thinking be so constricted as to believe that this conflict is about oil alone. Yes, oil is a factor in the overall picture, but not the only factor. The world wants to see Iraq get back on its' feet and become a viable member of world society once again. If their only major source of income is removed, then the world gains only another welfare state.

I agree oil is not the only factor or motivation, perhaps not even the primary factor or motivation. But the fact is that Baghdad's oil reserves will defray the costs of this war.

Notice that one of the major military objectives of this war was to capture the oil fields and refineries. Ask yourself why this is? Be sensible. We're not worried about these as a military objective; Iraq's oil-based weaponry are deathtraps for Iraqi soldiers and are hardly threatening to our superior technology.

We're worried about these things as an economic objective. American contractors are ready and waiting, and probably already started, to take over running the Iraqi oil industry. Let me be clear, I don't believe the U.S. is there to outright steal the oil, but I guarantee the price of oil in Iraq is going to be much lower than the cost of getting oil elsewhere. How much money that will equate to, I don't know. But I guarantee it'll be quite a bit when you have flocks jet-fuel munching warplanes and hundreds of Abrams (sp?) tanks that get 0.5 miles to the gallon traversing the countryside. And I suspect and expect no less than that we will have cheap Iraqi oil for years to come.

Once again, let me be clear. I don't think exploiting the benefits of Iraqi oil is wrong as long as we're reasonable about it. In fact, I want and expect our government to do this if we're going to war with Iraq. It's called "war spoils."

If a Country A provokes (Granted, I disagree with whether Iraq has been provocative enough to justify this war) war with Country B, then I believe it is only fair for Country A to pay a price, in the form of war spoils, to Country B to offset some of the costs to Country B for having to wage war.

So to please the leftists we should hav just gone around the oil fields and let em burn. we cant pretend they are not there man, it is after all the countries only source of income, if they are destroyed we will have to keep them propped up for years to come, the idea is to get them on their feet ASAP, and to do that they need money, lots of it, and they have a buttload of money under their feet, if they can get it out, now I am no expert, but getting oil out of a bazing inferno is probably a little dangerous.

Yes, we have two options:

1. Get control of the oil fields to prevent/extinguish fires.

Consequence: Left accuses us of trying to take Iraqs oil and make money off of it.

2. Leave the oil fields alone.

Consequence: Left accuses us of not caring about the environment and polluting the whole world.

OK, which US President said: ".....the business of America is business....."? ( Coolidge, perhaps?) Of course we're concerned with economic impacts. American petroleum engineers ready to take over the oil fields? This is not anything new. US oil companies practically built the Arab states oil business. Let's get those oil fields running at peak efficiency once again.

Originally posted by Travh20
So to please the leftists we should hav just gone around the oil fields and let em burn. we cant pretend they are not there man, it is after all the countries only source of income, if they are destroyed we will have to keep them propped up for years to come, the idea is to get them on their feet ASAP, and to do that they need money, lots of it, and they have a buttload of money under their feet, if they can get it out, now I am no expert, but getting oil out of a bazing inferno is probably a little dangerous.

For once, I think I actually agree with you, Trav. Get their oil industry up and running. Let them trade oil for money instead of food and get their nation back on its feet. In the meantime, we can contract all that oil trade to the U.S. so everybody wins!

So why whould they burn the oil wells in the first place? (Answer: So we can't have em... at least not easily)

This again is an example of constricted thinking. Yes, keeping the oil wells from falling into US hands is part of their reasoning, but only a part. Burning oil wells diverts rescources, and creates an image of terror. They might believe that the resulting smoke will shield potential battle areas. Additionally, it provides the US & the world with yet another indication of how little the present regime values the citizens of that country.

Originally posted by es347fan
This again is an example of constricted thinking. Yes, keeping the oil wells from falling into US hands is part of their reasoning, but only a part. Burning oil wells diverts rescources, and creates an image of terror. They might believe that the resulting smoke will shield potential battle areas. Additionally, it provides the US & the world with yet another indication of how little the present regime values the citizens of that country.

Setting fire to oil wells just shows how much Sadaams regime doesn't care less about the people & only cares about their own survival.

He did the same in Kuwait - and pumped millions of gallons of Oil into the gulf.