Consider this.
KRG in Erbil, Iraq
Americans in Irbil make the most of nightlife near a war zone
by Greg Jaffe, The Washington Post; stripes.com -- October 6, 2014
IRBIL, Iraq — For the first time since Islamic State fighters advanced to within 25 miles of this Iraqi city last month, T Bar Sports Lounge is hopping. Jimmie Collins takes a sip of white wine and brushes back a loose strand of hair. [...]
Outside of this city in northern Iraq, Islamist insurgents and Iraqi Kurdish forces, backed by American fighter jets and drones, battle for ground. But at this bar, the American version of life goes on. Oil workers cluster around flat-screen televisions tuned to National Football League games and women's professional wrestling. They have returned after a brief evacuation, along with aid workers and English teachers who fill the tables by the bar's windows, tinted so people outside can't see in.
[...]
American oil companies had invested billions of dollars in rigs and drilling contracts in Kurdistan that in early August were suddenly at grave risk. So, too, were American lives. Within 48 hours of the Islamic State's advance on Irbil, the U.S. military was dropping bombs.
"And that," Talabani said, "is unprecedented."
[...]
That military intervention, conveniently coincided with
this one ...
Convenient genocide: Another failed war to re-arrange the Middle East
by Ramzy Baroud, middleeasteye.net -- The Yemen Times, in Opinion -- 18 Sept 2014
A few months ago, not many Americans, in fact Europeans as well, knew that a Yazidi sect in fact existed in northwest Iraq. Even in the Middle East itself, the Yazidis and their way of life have been an enigma, shrouded by mystery and mostly grasped through stereotypes and fictitious evidence. Yet in no time, the fate of the Yazidis became a rally cry for another US-led Iraq military campaign.
[...]
The rest of the story was spun from that point on, as the Yazidis -- whose very existence was rarely acknowledged in most international media -- became a rally cry for US-Western intervention in Iraq. The logic for intervention that preceded the latest US bombing campaign of IS targets, which started in mid-June, is similar to what took place in Libya over three years ago. [...] Libya is now ruled by two governments, two parliaments, and a thousand militia.
[...]
It goes without saying, US policymakers care little for the Yazidis, for they don’t serve US interests in any way. However, experience has taught that such groups only become relevant in a specially tailored narrative, in a specific point in time, to be exploited for political and strategic objectives. They will cease to exist the moment the objective is met.
[...]
Yazidis refugees, add them to very long list of
war resource-allocating refugees ...
The human pawns of endless "national security" protecting, Geo-political chessboard 'moves'.
With no end credible U.S. Energy Independence plan, in sight.
And now consider this:
Consider a small sampling of quotes from U.S. officials:
“The idea that the United States covets Iraqi oil fields is a wrong impression. I have a deep desire for peace. That’s what I have a desire for. And freedom for the Iraqi people. See, I don’t like a system where people are repressed through torture and murder in order to keep a dictator in place. It troubles me deeply. And so the Iraqi people must hear this loud and clear, that this country never has any intention to conquer anybody.”
(U.S. President George W. Bush)
“This is not about oil; this is about a tyrant, a dictator, who is developing weapons of mass destruction to use against the Arab populations.”
(U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell)
“It’s not about oil and it’s not about religion.”
(U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld)
“I have heard that allegation (of oil motives) and I simply reject it.”
(Coalition Provisional Authority Paul Bremer)
“It’s not about oil.”
(General John Abizaid, Combatant Commander, Central Command)
“It was not about oil.”
(Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham)
“It’s not about the oil.”
(the Financial Times reported Richard Perle shouting at a parking attendant in frustration.)
“This is not about oil.”
(Australian Treasurer Peter Costello)
“The only thing I can tell you is this war is not about oil.”
(Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger)
“This is not about oil. This is about international peace and security.”
(Jack Straw, British Foreign Secretary)
“This is not about oil. That was very clear. This is about America, and America’s position in the world, as the upholder of liberty for the oppressed.”
(Utah Republican Senator Bob Bennett)
“There’s just nothing to it.”
(White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer on the U.S. desire to access Iraqi oil fields.)
Condoleeza Rice, in response to the proposition, “if Saddam’s primary export or natural resource was olive oil rather than oil, we would not be going through this situation,” said:
“This cannot be further from the truth. He is a threat to his neighbors. He’s a threat to American security interest. That is what the president has in mind.” She continued: “This is not about oil.”
The government line was loud and clear: The Iraq war was not about oil.
-- Source: Preparing for the Collapse of the Petrodollar System, Part 3
The Petrodollar Wars: The Iraq-Petrodollar Connection -- by Jerry Robinson
(Parts One and Two? Start here.)
When so many government officials tell you -- it's NOT about Oil, at some point maybe we had better start wondering:
Hey maybe all these endless conflicts in the Middle East, just might be About Oil?
-- Source: Welcome to the Gold Rush of the 21st Century: Iraq Oil
by jamess -- Apr 07, 2007 [No. 4 out of 2244 to date.]
Could be. Because stranger things, just keep happening. (When it comes to protecting America's National Security Interests -- in places decidedly NOT America.)