Well, even if this
was a war for oil, doesn't look like we're getting much out of it:
A Promise Unfulfilled: Iraq's Oil Output Is Lagging
...As recently as this April, a senior Iraqi leader evoked the eternal dream that Iraq could produce 10 million barrels a day - close to the Saudi levels - within 10 to 15 years.
...But two years after Saddam Hussein was toppled production is limping along at about two million barrels a day, less than before the war, and even at that rate it may be causing long-term damage to poorly maintained fields.
American officials had hoped that output at this stage would be at three million barrels a day, generating badly needed funds for reconstruction. That level of production could also reduce oil prices, which are now around $50 a barrel and a global source of inflationary pressure. But close to $2 billion worth of American technical aid to the oil sector has brought only limited gains.
The insurgency has been very effective in attacking the oil infrastructure, which is a weak point and will continue to be a weak point. There is absolutely no way we can completely guard it against sabotage, even if the insurgency dies down in other ways (which it shows no signs of doing). And even then, any progress will be dependent on the long-term calming of tensions within the country.
As for revenue, what happened to the guy who claimed, two years ago, that:
There's a lot of money to pay for this that doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money, and it starts with the assets of the Iraqi people...and on a rough recollection, the oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 and $100 billion over the course of the next two or three years...We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon.
Of course, proven 100% wrong, he got a promotion.
Well, at least they've got their man in charge now.
Honest Ahmed:
As far as we're concerned we've been entirely successful. That tyrant Saddam is gone and the Americans are in Baghdad. What was said before is not important.