The REAL reasons we went to war in Iraq....waiting for the first righty to explain this one to me!

[kpete]

The REAL reasons we went to war in Iraq....

1st Vengeance...didn't matter who we beat up but we were peoed after 9/11 and "somebody" had to pay. We blew it trying to capture the real perpetrators and so Saddam became an easy boogie man to distract from the Bush Admin's failure to both prevent 9/11 and to capture the perpetrators who are thumbing their noses at us to this very day.

2nd G.W.'s huge ego. He was out to accomplish what "poppy" failed to do. His Texas swagger has cost this country between 3-5 TRILLION $ and close to 5,000 American lives and who really knows how many innocent Iraqi lives. Oh but that's collateral damage and we all know we're exceptional and Iraqis are not, so we don't really give a rat's arse about them, only the 5,000 Americans count.

3.) $$$$$$$$$$ One can never discount the power of the almighty $$. Cheney and Rumsfeld and their crony capitalist buddies all made vast fortunes because of the Iraq war. Of course those on the right find this a completely acceptable conflict of interest. The M.I.C. represented by reprehensible organizations like Blackwater..as well as mainstream American Corps like Lockheed Martin all PROFITED greatly from our profligate killing and destruction.

There is NO EXCUSE for Iraq! It was worse than Vietnam! G.W. Bush is already down to the bottom quartile in Presidential rankings by historians and he is sinking not rising. History will not judge this arrogant preppy buffoon well.

Again follow the logic...attack one nation SUSPECTED of having WMD while allowing another to actually POSSESS WMD under the control of a mad dictator with missile systems that are improving. I'm waiting for the first righty to explain this one to me!

Posted by: rukidding7 | March 6, 2011 9:14 AM
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2011/03/sunday_open_thread_24.html#comments

[Angry Dragon]

1. Don't hold your breath

[rfranklin]

2. My wingnut employee explained the vengeance aspect to me...

a while ago. "I just wanted to blow up someone, I didn't care who."

Recently when I showed her the counter showing how much we've pissed away in Iraq and Afghanistan, she just said, "I don't believe it."

[Zoeisright]

4. That's pretty standard. They deny reality and make up their own facts.

They also think opinions are the same as facts. Basic repuke stupidity.

[MisterP]

14. ask him how that's any better than Abdulmutallab

(though I doubt he'd know of the 60 Yemenis slaughtered by the US)

[JoePhilly]

3. 4) PNAC

Its members had been calling for an Iraq invasion since the mid-90s.

Many of its top members were in top roles in the Bush Administration.

[Aristus]

5. I've been saying this for years. None of their excuses hold up under minimal reasoning.

"We went to war in Iraq because they had weapons of mass destruction".

Leaving aside the obvious fact that they did not, why didn't we invade North Korea, which we KNEW had WMDs?

"Saddam Hussein was a brutal military dictator".

So is Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, and we considered him an ally.

"We're fighting Muslim terrorists".

Then why didn't we invade Saudi Arabia, the home of Al-Qaida?

"We're bringing democracy to the Middle East".

Again: Saudi Arabia?

"We had to help those poor oppressed Iraqis".

Really? Then why the indiscriminate, murderous, rampaging bombing of Shock and Awe?

"We gave the Iraqis freedom".

Then why did we leave an occupying army on their soil for 8 years?

[Charleston Chew]

6. Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers

Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers is the story of what happens to everyday Americans when corporations go to war.
Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[middle distance]

7. number 3

I would go with number 3. Obviously WMD was a joke excuse, as was the attempts to tie Saddam to 9/11 or Al Qaeda in the public mind. The other reason is the dollar--maintaining oil on the dollar is key to propping up the dollar and maintaining its status as the world's reserve currency. Saddam was getting ready to start selling oil in other markets.

[kpete]

8. middle distance

welcome, i agree
number 3
- slam dunk
peace, kpete

[guruoo]

9. A means to transfer $$$ from the US Treasury to their corporate supporters

[KG]

10. there was a convergence of opportunity for several factions.

[ladjf]

11. Why isn't Bush in prison? And, if I ask the next question my

post will be deleted. (I've had more response from the moderators today than from fellow posters. That's pretty discouraging to a veteran poster who deeply loves America.)

[B Calm]

12. All wars are for corporate interests

[A HERETIC I AM]

13. There is only one real reason we went to war in Iraq.

Only one.

Oil.

The second largest known reserves in the world and they are close to the surface which means easy and cheap to get to. The fact that the production isn't way up doesn't matter because the oil in the ground is money in the bank.

Saddam wagged his dick at the US and threatened to cut us out of his oil.

He wanted to control it. To paraphrase the late George Carlin; "Fuck you, that's OUR fuckin' job!"

For this reason alone is why I see the Bush presidency as a total send up - a put on. A dimwitted, C student, 2 term Governor of Texas who failed at every other business endeavor he ever undertook. Why him? Cause he would do what the oil guys wanted and they knew they could get him elected or at least installed.

Invade Iraq.

It would have happened even if there had been no attacks on 9/11