Re: state of the union preview(summized)
[quote=Morgan;441580]Oil is the reason we are still in Iraq.
If there was no oil we could leave the Shias and the Sunnis to all out civil war. The Saudis would back the Sunnis and Iran the Shias. In some ways it would take the heat off us, instead of Muslim V West it would be muslim on muslim.
Sadly it's not going to happen, the whole region would collaspe, no oil exports and Israel would be stuck in the middle. I'd guess if it came to it Israel would have to launch some nukes.
War in Iraq is bad but what is the alternantive?
It is however good to see Bush starting to ge the USA on the right track in reducing oil imports. I would have been much happier to see some major tax breaks and a huge focus on alternavtive power sources.
It still amazes me how the neo cons trained a shaved monkey to talk.[/quote]
Yes.... when you get down to it.... it is all about oil.
Iran wants to take over Iraq, because if they did.... they would control the largest oil supply on earth. Once under their control, they could set prices aywhere they want.... and sell to anyone they want. China will pay damned near anything to get more oil. The only thing that has been keeping China from making ever more progress is that they can't get enough oil to supply their industrialization.
So Iran would control all this oil.... and they could deny the USA access to it.... and sell it to China. The US economy would take a huge hit, as gas prices skyrocket. Iran would get a huge boost in their powers dealing with the rest of the world. It would all but guarantee they get their nuclear weapon, which would mean the destruction of Israel.
But, of course, Israel won't allow Iran to go nuclear.... even if the rest of the world just stands by and does nothing. So before Iran actually finishes their nuke, Israel would attack them using conventional airstrikes on their weapons production sites. This will stir up a shitstorm of anti-Israel sentiment across the entire Middle East, and the USA will get dragged into it because we must help defend Israel.
So.... yes..... it's about oil. But oil leads to a lot of other stuff which we would like to prevent.