People who suggest that oil is the prime reason America might invade Iraq have tended to oppose the war for that very reason—fighting over oil would seem to be an unacceptably mercenary endeavor. Tom Friedman squares the circle today, saying the war is about oil, and that’s okay. “There is nothing illegitimate or immoral about the U.S. being concerned that an evil, megalomaniacal dictator might acquire excessive influence over the natural resource that powers the world’s industrial base,” he writes. “It is impossible to explain the Bush team’s behavior otherwise. Why are they going after Saddam Hussein with the 82nd Airborne and North Korea with diplomatic kid gloves–when North Korea already has nuclear weapons, the missiles to deliver them, a record of selling dangerous weapons to anyone with cash, 100,000 U.S. troops in its missile range and a leader who is even more cruel to his own people than Saddam? One reason, of course, is that it is easier to go after Saddam. But the other reason is oil–even if the president doesn’t want to admit it.”
For a good overview of the oil stakes, the folks at Foreign Policy in Focus have issued a new and excellent report.
