Question of the Day

"If America invaded Iraq for the oil, does that mean we invaded Germany for the beer?" 

-Ruth Russell, HOOAH military wife

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Comments

[Greta (hooah wife)]

Yes, but does our VP make money from the beer - that is the question.

[PCD]

We didn't invade Germany for the Bier, nor the sauerkraut, sauerbroten or schnitzel. It was for the Schanpps!! Yes, the truth can be told. IT VAS FOR DER SCHNAPPS, and not that damned peach schnapps.

[Aimz]

lol mmmm schnapps

[Amy Proctor]

I just want to know why if it was a war for oil gas prices have gone up. You'd think it'd be the opposite.

Hmmm..

3 of my 4 children wanted to go counterprotesting with us last night. They're hooked. They loved standing up for their President and their country. Good little Americans! I figure if the anti-war people let their kids protest the war, why shouldn't I let mine support it? We're a benevolent country fighting a just war.

[Crazy Politico]

If we did invade Germany for the beer our brewers did a lousy job of stealing formulas :)

[Amy Proctor]

Crazy, you got that right!

[Tom]

I think that America's reasons for invading Iraq were a lot more complex than what our newspapers are telling us.
I think that PART of the reason WAS for oil - but NOT in the simple sense of greed ("Hussein has control of it; we want it all for ourselves"). I think that the USA saw that, if that much crude oil reserves was to be left in the hands of an unstable regime such as Iraq, then Hussein could use it as an economic weapon for blackmail/terrorism, and he could potentially undermine stability and world oil markets.
Against this naive charge that America has "stolen the oil" from Iraq, I ask you to think about it: No matter whether Saddam or Bush controls the oil, where do you think it's going to end up being sold to? To the countries with the highest demand for energy, of course! (USA, China, etc). The same type of oil trading is going to take place, no matter who controls the oil! The only difference is, who profits from that trading - either a madman such as Saddam, whose unreliability (to put things mildly) would throw the oil markets into instability, or the new Iraqi regime, which (although it has a long way to go), now inspires confidence in the market, long-term. Or at least, traders feel more confident trading in Iraqi oil with the new half-formed regime, than they did when they were trading with Saddam's regime.
EITHER WAY, the end result is that THE OIL IS SOLD IN THE SAME WAY AS BEFORE! No-one has "stolen oil for blood"! The recent price increases in oil have more to do with the US hurricanes temporarily knocking out capacity, and traders' irresponsible speculations, (AND with OPEC countries wildly oversestimating their reserves, due to economic incentives) than they have to do with Iraq.
Second point - Iraqis have been freed from a horrible, oppressive regime, and boy, do they know it, and on the whole, they are thankful. We, in the Western world HAVE NO IDEA what it was really like, living in fear of opening your mouth in dissent. OK, it may not have been the US government's PRIME objective, but it stands as a worthwhile objective on its own. Don't ask me - ask an Iraqi (or read some genuine blogs from Iraqis). OK, electricity and gas/water supplies may be erratic at present, but you will find that often, people who have been freed from tyranny are willing to put up with practical difficulties (for a time), because now, at last, thay have the hope that things can get better. That means a lot.
I know, becaue I visited Lithuania just 5 years after they overthrew their USSR oppressors. Know what? - things in Lithuania were not exactly great in 1996, they had a lot of problems to overcome, economically and socially. BUT, I was honoured to be there on 13 January (their Independence Day) and there were flags flying from almost every apartment, and a real sense of jubilation and joy in the streets. It didn't matter that there was still no individual central heating in every apartment, or that you still shouldn't drink the tap water without boiling it, or that wheelie-bins were not provided. People were happy to be free, because now, at last, they could have a chance to work and make things better. That is what the USA (and the other coalition forces) has given to Iraqis.
Here in the UK, our mainstream media spews out such utter garbage about the situation in Iraq, for example, this week it makes baseless claims about the US army using "chemical weapons against civilians" (White Phosphorus). To anyone who believes the utter BULL that the Guardian/ Independent has written, may I direct you to Mr Scott Burgess's weblog, where he (with help from his sources) UTTERLY TEARS APART the rubbish spewed out by our MSM.
http://dailyablution.blogs.com/the_daily_ablution/
(Mr Burgess is not some armchair amateur ranter such as myself; his blog is what he does for a living, and is extremely well researched).

[Ruth]

quote by Greta (hooah wife)
Yes, but does our VP make money from the beer - that is the question.
unquote

I'm not so sure about how hooah you are if you harbor such ill thoughts about the VP, but seriously, I have repeated some facts that debunk your snide remarks about VP Chenney.

Dick Chenney neither benfits nor suffers based on Haliburtons successes or failures. Yes, he used to work for Haliburton. Yes, he retired from Haliburton with a pension. He chose to take his retirement pay in payments over years. He INSURED his payments so that if Haliburton were to go bankrupt, he would still receive his pension checks. His pension is completely unaffected by any gains or losses by Haliburton.
Haliburton has had contracts with the US military since Eisenhower was president. Do you think Dick Chenney set up that deal when he was in grammar school?

[Ruth]

I made the beer comment when I encountered a liberal nutcase (is there any other kind?) with a sign that read, "How many lives per gallon?" I was sick and tired of liberals perpetuating the "blood for oil" myth since there is plainly no evidence that we have benefitted in oil or money from Iraq, I can only conclude that they base their convoluted logic on the fact that Iraq has lots of oil and we invaded it. SOOOO Germany has lots of beer which (using liberal logic) leads us to conclude that we invaded Germany for the beer. The next question is : Did we attack Japan for the sushi?

[Amy Proctor]

Ruth, You should see how many other blogs carried/copied your quote. There are quite a few! Apparently your humor is appreciated!

[Ted]

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