On 2013-05-18, at 11:26 AM, Carl G. Estabrook wrote:
> I think Carrol has got this quite right...If the primary product of the Greater Middle East ("Central Command") were asparagus, we wouldn't have half the US military there
I have no more wish than the US political and military establishment to re-fight the Iraq war, but which of the following facts do you and Carrol dispute?
"1. There are no longer any US military bases in Iraq.
"2. The permanent presence of US troops in the Middle East is small - about 5000 troops, mostly in the Gulf states and Turkey - and their deployment predates the invasion of Iraq by the Bush administration.
"3. Following the invasion, American oil companies were not given privileged access to Iraqi oil by the al-Maliki government, which awarded concessions on economic rather than political grounds. China is expected to soon become Iraq's biggest market and Chinese state-owned oil firms are partners or operators in several major Iraqi oil fields, dwarfing the presence of US oil majors who have shown little interest in developing the country's oil reserves."