When I have been campaigning in Texas' Tenth District and delineate my position for getting our troops out of Iraq, I am frequently asked if I thought that we invaded Iraq because of the oil. No, I don't think that was the primary reason, though securing oil supplies for US refineries certainly was a consideration.
The Bush Administration invaded Iraq because of "Shock and Awe". Just as we should all listen when Karl Rove gives a strategy speech, we should remember what the President, Vice President, Rumsfeldt, and all the other Chickenhawk NeoCons in the Department of Defense said at the time. The intent was to pick off a big target in the Middle East that would be easy and that wouldn't do great damage, in the short run, to our oil supplies. The intent was to do a "shock and awe" campaign of regime change and frighten all of the other countries in the region to seeing things our way. Look back at what they said at the time. It was only after no weapons of mass destruction were found that the mantra became "bringing Democracy to the Iraqi's".
It probably worked with Muammar Khaddifi and Libya. Remember that he and his family had already been personal targets of a US bombing raid. It might have worked with some of the other bad actors in the region if the US had declared victory and taken our troops out after they helped the Iraqi people pull down the big Saddam statue in Baghdad. But Bush didn't and we have been stuck in a quagmire of our own making ever since. And any "Shock and Awe" message is long gone. We have freed Iran from the their perceived threat from Saddam and we have seen the result in Lebannon. The Israelis tried their version of "Shock and Awe" and it didn't work, either. Now, Israel has had it's own version of the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive. Israel may have inflicted more damage to Hizbollah than they received, but they have made Iran's proxy, Hizbollah, a hero in the Middle East as the first Arab force to still be standing after armed conflict with Israel.
The folly of Bush's invasion and occupation strategy for dealing with terrorism could not be more evident. He abandoned the search for Osama bin-Laden to invade Iraq, and Osama is still out there facillitating more attacks on American airplanes. We still don't have detection equipment for explosives or inspect airplane or container cargo because "it is too expensive", while we spend 6 billion dollars a month in Iraq. There are no combat Brigades of the US Army in the US that are combat ready, because all their equipment is in Iraq. The Mexican Army could invade the US, and the only thing to stop them would be a citizen militia. Even George Will has acknowledged that a strategy of containment and law enforcement cooperation as set out by John Kerry in the 2004 campaign is the one that has worked to prevent the latest attack!
Surely, none but the delusional can believe that the Bush strategy is anything but discredited and counterproductive. We must restore the Congress to it's Constitutional role of being a check on the power of a failed Presidency and prevent any further wild-eyed adventures that will surely occur if the Congress stays in Republican control. I tell people when I am campaigning: "If you don't like what Congress is doing, send a different person to Congress." I spent four tours in Vietnam, and the voters in my District have been listening to me on this foolish war because of that. I need your help. Check my website HERE and send money HERE