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Old 05-23-2008, 12:04 PM
 
2,776 posts, read 3,965,884 times
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Alright folks - the following article caught my attention this afternoon: MichaelMoore.com : Iraq could have largest oil reserves in the world

To summarize - Iraq has three times the oil previously estimated sitting below its land. More oil than even Saudi Arabia.

My reaction - Why doesn't the US just start taking this oil to both 1) pay back all debts and costs incurred from the Iraq war, and 2) use domestically? I won't claim to be a foreign relations nor economic guru, however, I feel like now more than ever before the US can justify such action. What are the real pros and cons as well as best and worst case scenarios for the US doing this? What is a good strategy for the US government to make such actions "palatable" internationally?
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Old 05-23-2008, 12:07 PM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
9,059 posts, read 12,948,319 times
Reputation: 1401
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbuszu View Post
Alright folks - the following article caught my attention this afternoon: MichaelMoore.com : Iraq could have largest oil reserves in the world

To summarize - Iraq has three times the oil previously estimated sitting below its land. More oil than even Saudi Arabia.

My reaction - Why doesn't the US just start taking this oil to both 1) pay back all debts and costs incurred from the Iraq war, and 2) use domestically? I won't claim to be a foreign relations nor economic guru, however, I feel like now more than ever before the US can justify such action. What are the real pros and cons as well as best and worst case scenarios for the US doing this? What is a good strategy for the US government to make such actions "palatable" internationally?
That oil is for the Chinese, mister!
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Old 05-23-2008, 12:07 PM
 
1,955 posts, read 5,258,875 times
Reputation: 1124
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbuszu View Post
Alright folks - the following article caught my attention this afternoon: MichaelMoore.com : Iraq could have largest oil reserves in the world

To summarize - Iraq has three times the oil previously estimated sitting below its land. More oil than even Saudi Arabia.

My reaction - Why doesn't the US just start taking this oil to both 1) pay back all debts and costs incurred from the Iraq war, and 2) use domestically? I won't claim to be a foreign relations nor economic guru, however, I feel like now more than ever before the US can justify such action. What are the real pros and cons as well as best and worst case scenarios for the US doing this? What is a good strategy for the US government to make such actions "palatable" internationally?
So, the U.S. government should in effect steal this oil to pay for the costs it incurred in killing Iraqis?

Doing so would COMPLETELY justify my assertion that the only thing the state is capable of doing effectively is killing people and stealing things.
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Old 05-23-2008, 12:16 PM
 
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
36,641 posts, read 67,289,763 times
Reputation: 21179
Funny how we go there on a wild goose chase, kill hundreds of thousands of them, embolden terrorists to come there and reak havoc, destroy their country's infrastructure and then some expect to be reimbursed?

It would funny if it werent so incredibly sad.
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Old 05-23-2008, 12:20 PM
 
Location: ABQ
3,771 posts, read 7,071,189 times
Reputation: 4893
Machiavelli would say, "Yes! Finally this war could have done us some good!" Because without the oil, this war obviously only hurt U.S. interest. (Realist thought)

But then, of course, you have to tell the 26 million people (minus 1 million and counting -- deaths from the result of war) that it's now undeniable we lied the entire time (they already think that though, you know, from when we instituted the Food for Oil program 2 weeks after we went in... oh yeah, and their lives are a living hell.)

But, I'm almost fine with it. It's not as though we have much integrity left. Britain has only been taking advantage of the Middle East since 1890 and the U.S. since 1953, so what the hell, right?
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Old 05-23-2008, 12:23 PM
 
Location: Earth
67 posts, read 198,848 times
Reputation: 37
Well well well.
Oil is the real reason why we went to war....again..........hmmmmm why is it not surprising?
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Old 05-23-2008, 12:40 PM
 
Location: At my computador
2,057 posts, read 3,406,349 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mbuszu View Post
Why doesn't the US just start taking this oil to both 1) pay back all debts and costs incurred from the Iraq war, and 2) use domestically?
1)I believe there was an amendment proposed to the Iraq funding bill (I don't recall the name... even though it was being worked on yesterday) that called for Iraq beginning to help fund the war. It was defeated.

Truth be told, Americans don't pay attention. The Dems, who you'd expect to be on board with something like that, can defeat it and claim that we're throwing money at Iraq because no one really knows what happens in Congress... I mean... it's only televised on CSPAN.

Over the past two weeks, I've probably seen three or four Senators speaking on that subject. At this point though, if it's a funding issue, call your Congress people and ask why.

You have three representatives in Congress. Two are in the Senate and they are voted by your entire state. One is in the House and that person is voted in by your district.

To contact your Represantitive (the person in the House), go to United States House of Representatives, 110th Congress, 2nd Session. In the top left, there's a spot for you to enter your zip and get the contact info. Call them and ask. You really can do that.

To contact your Senators, go to U.S. Senate. In the top right you enter your state to get their contact info.

You can also see what else, besides the war, they've been spending your money on at Citizens Against Government Waste: Homepage (http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer - broken link)

Regarding question 2)It's not our oil. It's theirs. The U.S. went in for any number of reasons... which ones are fact or fable? I don't know. However, on no level I'm aware of did Bush send in the military to exploit the people of Iraq.
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Old 05-23-2008, 01:20 PM
 
Location: Foothills of Colorado
290 posts, read 523,307 times
Reputation: 92
Did they just find that oil while looking for the WMDs?
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Old 05-23-2008, 01:35 PM
 
69,368 posts, read 63,955,691 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Puddy4LyF View Post
But then, of course, you have to tell the 26 million people (minus 1 million and counting -- deaths from the result of war) that it's now undeniable we lied the entire time (they already think that though, you know, from when we instituted the Food for Oil program 2 weeks after we went in... oh yeah, and their lives are a living hell.)
I know its hard, but please attempt to post accurate data. We have not killed 1,000,000 people in Iraq.. please..

Iraq Body Count
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Old 05-23-2008, 01:40 PM
 
Location: Santa Monica
4,714 posts, read 8,448,210 times
Reputation: 1052
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbuszu View Post
Alright folks - the following article caught my attention this afternoon: MichaelMoore.com : Iraq could have largest oil reserves in the world

To summarize - Iraq has three times the oil previously estimated sitting below its land. More oil than even Saudi Arabia.

This assertion is relatively speculative on Moore's part, unless he has pretty recent and new information. See the page for Iraq at the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Energy Information Agency (EIA) web site. (That page's content has been changed, to offer LESS information, at least a couple of times during Dubya's Administration -- I've been watching it. It used to say that only about 25% of Iraq's territory has been surveyed geologically for oil deposits. So, granted, there is some big upside to their so-called 'proven' reserves.)
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