Iraq War - Was it Worth it?
October 8, 2012
The Iraq war cost $3 Trillion. 4,800 US soldiers were killed and 32,000 seriously wounded. Iraqi civilian casualties range around 600,000
Was It Worth It?
"This war will be long seen as boon for the few, and a bane for the many."
by RA
(our Baghdad Correspondent)
In the build-up to the Iraq war, the United States used Iraq's alleged "weapons of mass destruction" to justify the decision to invade the country.
What were the real reasons for the war? What were the costs and benefits from the US point of view?
REAL REASONS OF THE WAR
1. Control of Iraq's oil: Second only to Saudi Arabia, Iraq possesses more than 60% of the world's known oil reserves, amounting to 115 billion barrels. Thanks to the war, American oil companies returned to Iraq, 36 years after Saddam nationalized them. Remarkably, when the war started, oil was just at $26.00 a barrel. After the invasion, prices kept rising to new heights and reached a record of $145.75 in 2008.
2. Preservation of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency: In late 2000, Iraq converted to the Euro in exchange for oil. Had an increasing number of countries followed suit and shifted away from the dollar, the U.S. would have been dealt a huge blow inflicted by a plummeting dollar.
3. Elimination of a threat to Israel: The centrality of Israel in any U.S. Mideast strategy is a foregone conclusion. Iraq possessed Scud long-range ballistic missiles which directly threatened Israel. In 1991, Iraq attacked two Israeli cities with Scud missiles. It was the first time Tel Aviv had been hit in the history of the Israel-Arab conflict. Saddam also doled out thousands of dollars to families of Palestinians killed in fighting with Israel. Toppling him stemmed a source of support to Palestinians and eliminated the direct missile threat.
4. Weapons field-testing: In real-battle mode, the Pentagon could use a long list of high-tech and newly developed weapons, such as the highly destructive nano-wave weapons, e-bombs, sensor fuzed weapons, laser weapons and agent defeat bombs.
5. War profiteering: The U.S. targeted the privatization of the Iraqi infrastructure by granting lucrative (no-bid) contracts to the likes of Halliburton, Blackwater, Chevron, Shell, Lockheed, DynCorp, and KBR, all of whom were unwavering supporters of the Bush administration.
COSTS OF THE WAR
In 2011, the Congressional Research Service estimated that the U.S. will have spent almost $802bn on funding the war by the end of fiscal year 2011. The actual cost, however, may exceed 3 trillion dollars when replacement and maintenance costs for equipment and the care for wounded troops are factored in.
On the other hand, 4,487 U.S. troops were killed in addition to 32,223 wounded (one-fifth of whom have suffered serious brain or spinal injuries and one-third have developed serious mental health problems - chief among them, post-traumatic stress disorder - soon after end of deployment).
The war did also exact a toll on Iraqi civilians and government forces. UN reports state that Iraqi civilian casualties, commonly reported to have ranged between 50,000 and 100,000, have been significantly under-reported. Some informed estimates put Iraqi civilian casualties at over 600,000 (including 55,000 Iraqi insurgents), whereas about 5 million Iraqis were permanently or temporarily displaced. Besides, more than 10,000 policemen and soldiers were reported killed as of July 31, 2011.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: A STRONGER IRAN
During his rule, Saddam marginalized the Shi'a and stood as a bulwark rival against Tehran on behalf of neighbors like (Sunni) Saudi Arabia, which funded Iraq's eight-year war against Iran.
The power vacuum in Iraq has been largely filled by Tehran. The invasion had shuffled the cards of the Iraqi domestic power equation: Shi'a have risen to power in Baghdad, Kurds have achieved autonomy, and Sunnis have been pushed to the sidelines. This has played into Iran's hands, enabling it to increase its political and religious influence in a friendlier Iraq.
The post-war Iraq has eased the pressure on Iran. It has created breathing room for Tehran to pay more attention to the U.S. army presence in Afghanistan and to Saudi Arabia, the longtime U.S. ally.
The fall of a longtime foe and the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq have significantly strengthened Iran - hardly something the United States originally intended.
AMERICAN COMPANIES PROFIT
Several American or U.S.-based oil services companies such as ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Weatherford International have won huge drilling and well refurbishment contracts and subcontracts.
Some analysts estimate that nearly half of the expected $150 billion that international oil giants are expected to spend at Iraqi oil fields over the next few years will be awarded to American drilling subcontractors.
While other international companies have established a footprint for building facilities and processing pipelines, U.S. oil services companies are set to take over most of the drilling contracts in the six major Iraqi oil fields.
WAS THE WAR WORTH IT?
Looking at it from an American prism, the Iraq war turned out to be a bloody, prolonged and high-cost commitment in terms of lives and treasure.
The U.S. credibility has been tarnished by the groundless pre-war claims set forth by the Bush Administration. The removal of Saddam Hussein was eclipsed by the rise of a more belligerent Iran.
The U.S. dollar has maintained its supremacy but the trillions spent in Iraq will burden the U.S. economy for years to come. Israel was relieved from a historical threat only to be replaced by that of the Mullahs in Tehran. The war gained the U.S. unlimited access to Iraqi oil. But while American companies have emerged biggest winners, the U.S. taxpayers have borne the brunt of its gigantic cost.
This war will be long seen as boon for the few, and a bane for the many.
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Related - Iran & Iraq sign Defence Cooperation Agreement
Iraq to become World's 2nd Largest Ol Producer by 2030's
also by RA -Iraq Stymied in Face of Challenges
First Comment from Dan
The Iraq occupation was part of the larger strategic goals of the
New American Century plan to control 7 Middle East state in 5
years. Saddam's army was easily beaten but Rumsfeld underestimated
the magnitude of the blowback or 'insurgency' that ensued as soon as
the "Shock and Awe" wore off.
The ferocity of the Battle of Feluja coupled with the unpredictable
reactions of Gaddafi and Assad cost the Bush/Blair Blitzkrieg to
lose the momentum far short of their goal. A lot of people missed
this. The plan called for Gaddafi and Assad taking hostile
actions. Instead, they offered to cut deals with the US State
Department.
Israel's summer of 2006 attempt to start a war with Lebanon
backfired. The plan was to make it seem Israel was in dire danger
from a Hezbola onslaught, thus gaining world sympathy to draw in
NATO forces to occupy the Israel's flank in North Africa. Instead,
Sharon's attack on Lebanon was such vicious overkill that NATO
balked and nothing came of it. The US State Department had to go
back to the drawing board and proceed setting up "Plan B" - CIA
backed "spontaneous democratic revolutions", brand name: Arab
Spring â„¢.
The State Department says they like democratic governments, but what
they really want is the appearance of Anti-American, Anti-Israel
Muslim regimes out of chaos. While media pretends that Iraq,
Libya, Egypt and soon Syria are more dangerous, in reality their
military strength has been rendered incapable of fighting an
international war.
Through it's policy of de-stabilization through support of
subversive mercenary 'revolutions', the State Department is setting
up them up to be paper tigers that a US/NATO war can strike down in
the event of war with Iran. Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria currently
pose a much weaker military threat to Israel's flank in the event of
Iran war than they did in 2010.
If the Iraqi government seems for the moment to have turned out
unfavorably for US State Department policy, consider the peculiar
value of copycats of Iran to US rhetoric. How can anybody say that
Iraq is 'stronger'? They have no army. They lost two generations of
Iraqi manhood. The US State Department killed 600,000 civilians
during the last ten years, and I can't find a figure for how many
children were crippled and maimed. During the 1990's the
Bush/Clinton Administrations killed 500,000 children through the
same kind of sanctions they've imposed on Iran and Syria. Here's
Madeleine Albright in 1996. saying 500,000 dead Iraqi Children was
"worth it".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Before the "Gulf War" in 1991, Donald Rumsfeld was selling Saddam
Hussein weapons under the table for the "Iraq/Iran War" that killed
a million Iraqi and Iranian young males between 1981-1988. So the
notion of that Iraqis and Iranian are allies is a media con that
only Westerners would believe. Iraqis are Arabs, Iranians are
Persians. They've often been at war with each other.
I'm sure everybody's seen this photo. Rumsfeld gives Masonic
handshake with Saddam and State Department diplomat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
So in fact US policy killed over 1.6 million Iraqis since 1981.
If the Iraqi government seems for the moment to have turned out
unfavorably for US State Department policy, it's a setup for pretext
for WW III to get Iran too.
--
Red Pill said (October 9, 2012):
Jack is right, wrt to the big picture, and I'd be very curious to hear more from him about what is coming and what it willl mean for earth's inhabitants when this tower is again activated.
I enjoy Henry's blog and read it regularly. Henry is correct about many things, especially the destruction of the family and promotion of debauchery as a way to weaken us. However I believe Henry is missing the one piece that puts it all together and explains why we are under attack spiritually, physically, financially, socially. For that we must look beyond this earth, and yes, based on the perspective I've gleaned from numerous sources, I believe the ultimate controllers at the top of the pyramid are not human. They want this planet for themselves and we are being set up for a situation that will lead to our ultimate enslavement or our death.
Getting back to Jack's comment: I believe he is right, as I have heard from other sources that there is an extremely valuable item that was buried here on earth millenia ago and the US invaded Iraq to control that item. I also believe that 9/11 was a demonstration of technology that we had never seen before and the event itself a mass sacrifice.
I urge people to consider the following books: The Threat by David Jacobs, and Life in the Universe by Marshall Vian Summers. These books warn that we are in great danger and time is of the essence.
There is a reason why any mention of aliens or UFOs is a cause for mocking laughter. The aliens themselves have masterminded the media campaign that has created the absurd situation where, even as we are being invaded, no one speaks of it for fear of being laughed at! Our human need to avoid humiliation is stronger evidently than our self-preservation instinct. Yet with so many thousands of rock-solid examples of encounters with ETs, can anyone seriously still doubt that we are being visited?
But why now? These aliens aren't dumb. They wait until we have advanced to the point where there is instantaneous global communication. Also, they don't want us to destroy the earth with a nuclear war, since they hope to harvest its resources (including us). So once we went nuclear in the 1940s, they stepped up their plans.
Based on all I've read, the situation is dire. These aliens have done this elsewhere and have it down to a a science: how to take over a planet without a shot being fired. They wage war with propaganda and bribery, not messy and destructive guns and bombs.
I urge all readers to increase their commitment to their spiritual path and get closer to God. We will all need tremendous courage, wisdom and serenity in the coming years, which will be very difficult.