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warshawlawThe 9/11 commission concluded that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Sorry, but that's the truth. “We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaida cooperated on attacks against the United States.” National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, June 16, 2004
Plans for the Iraq war were made before 9/11. Even before the invasion the NeoCons planned to use Iraqi captured oil to break OPEC apart. That plan was scuttled by the oil industry insiders in the Bush administration, as reported by the BBC on March 17, 2005.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4354269.stm
The actual facts, as opposed to the right wing drivel that so many in this country follow, are quite interesting. The first plan prepared by the Bush administration was called “Moving the Iraqi Economy from Recovery to Sustainable Growth” and was written by a committee of Defense, State, and Treasury officials in conjunction with various corporate lobbyists. The cornerstone of the project was the sell-off of the Iraqi national industries, including, on page 73 of the report: “privatization… [of] the oil and supporting industries.” The fact is that six months before the invasion, the Bush Administration designated Philip Carroll to advise the Iraqi Oil Ministry once U.S. tanks entered Baghdad. In May 2003, a month after his arrival in Iraq, Carroll told the Washington Post that Iraq might break with OPEC: “[Iraqis] have from time to time, because of compelling national interest, elected to opt out of the quota system and pursue their own path. . . . They may elect to do that same thing. To me, it’s a very important national question.” This sent shock waves through the oil sector and they responded full force. In December 2003 in response to pressure from the petroleum industry, the State Department issued a new plan entitled “Options for Developing a Long Term Sustainable Iraqi Oil Industry.” The plan, nominally written by State Department contractor BearingPoint, was guided by a handful of oil industry consultants and executives. That plan calls for continued state run oil industry and adherence to OPEC limits on production.
So, my friend, you believe whatever you want but the reality is that Bush invaded Iraq for one reason and only one reason: oil. The Iraqi oil situation was never intended to help American consumers; it was intended to give US oil companies an inroad to the reserves. The administration's own documentation proves it. 9/11 and the supposed war on terrorism were just the smokescreen designed to convince the public to support it.