DoD briefing: Oil as a weapon for terror

I’m surprised this came from the Department of Defense. You could use this slide deck to support war with Iraq or argue against it. It says quite clearly that our military intellegence sources state that if we attack Iraq Saddam may destroy the nation’s oil sources, costing the Iraqi people (ahem, American oil companies), upwards of $20 billion dollars. I read this slide deck to say: attack Saddam, lose oil, don’t attack, don’t lose oil.

This explains the military buildup in Turkey and not Kuwait. We’re going to first secure the oil fields, then go after Saddam.

Here’s my suggestion to President Bush (“Robert Rose: aka Jr. Foreign Relations Officer”): Lift all of our trade embargos on Iraq TODAY. Let Iraq toy with this idea of complete and totally free trade. Let them repair their broken oil industry on their own terms. Saddam will figure it out on his own.

This war is about oil. It’s not about terrorism; it’s not about “freeing” the Iraqi people from an oppressive regime; it’s not about human rights; it’s not about political stability in the Middle East. Anyone who thinks otherwise is horribly misinformed.