Joe W. _____________
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/04/25/INGA1684PJ1.DTL&type
First, consider the myths:
He did it for the oil. George W. Bush was in the oil business, this argument goes, and so are his political friends. The invasion of Iraq was a power grab pure and simple, designed to reap billions for friends at Halliburton and the energy companies. The trouble is this theory ignores the realities of the world oil market. Both Kuwait after Desert Storm in 1991 and Iraq now make their production decisions and sign their contracts with international companies that best serve their national interests. There was no American oil company boom in Kuwait over the past decade, nor will there be in a future Iraq.
Far from being advocates of intervening to put clients in power, over the past two decades or more, American oil companies have been quite content to do business with whomever is in power. During the 1980s, they opposed the Reagan administration's strategy to arm anti-communist guerrillas in Angola, content to do business with the Marxist government. Many companies advocated ending oil sanctions against Saddam Hussein in order to compete for contracts. Invading Iraq did not serve the corporate interests of American oil companies.
Bush did it for his pals, the Saudi royal family. The real beneficiaries weren't the oil companies, but instead the Saudi royal family, longtime friends of the Bush clan, or so goes this theory. Iraq was a menace to the region and a direct threat to the oil-rich Saudi kingdom. George W. Bush, whose family connections to the Saudis go back multiple decades, removed Hussein from power to serve their interests.
But there is a slight problem with this theory: The Saudis have never been advocates of removing Saddam from power. During Desert Storm, they had to be led kicking and screaming into the coalition to expel him from Kuwait. Then- president George H.W. Bush so distrusted the Saudis he had the National Security Agency bug their phones, for fear they were trying to cut a deal with Baghdad before the war. When American forces began their buildup in 2002 to remove Hussein from power, the Saudis would not allow American forces to be positioned in their country.
Far from serving Saudi interests, George W. Bush's pro-Israel positions and his commitment to democratize the Middle East make him unpopular in the Saudi royal family.
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