There are plenty of justifications for attacking Iraq. However, none has the weight of the administration's now shaky claim that Saddam Hussein posed an immediate threat to the safety of Americans.
Eminent danger or not, Saddam needed to go. Just about everyone agreed there. Should we have invaded so brashly without the support of most of our allies, though? Maybe, maybe not.
I'm not about to suggest that it's only about oil, but I think it's important to acknowledge the following information, research it and factor it into the equation. The questions need to be laid on the table and explored. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
-รก?According to www.biography.com, President Bush and his father both got their start through their oil companies after time spent in college and the military. For both men, their connections within the industry allowed them funds for greater business ventures and eventual political campaigns.
?The Center for Public Integrity says that National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice was on the board of directors of Chevron for a decade and the corporation even christened a ship after her.
?"I didn't - I swear I didn't - get into politics to feather my nest or feather my friends' nests," Bush said while still governor of Texas in an Aug. 16, 1998 Houston Chronicle article. The piece goes on to show, in great length, the numerous instances in which Bush's business partners benefited from his actions as governor. Mere coincidences? Possibly.
? A CBS news article from Sept. 26 said Vice President Dick Cheney, as former CEO of energy company Halliburton (based in Dallas), still possesses 433,333 shares of their stock. Cheney claims that he will give all after-tax proceeds of the stocks to charity.
? The New York Daily News reported on Jan. 1 that the Pentagon ended Halliburton's no-bid Iraq contract after the corporation was accused of overcharging the government $61 million for overpriced gasoline.
? In issue 940 of Rolling Stone magazine, it was reported that a month before the Halliburton charges broke, "the Bush administration quietly instructed House Republicans to kill a measure that would have sent anyone who deliberately defrauds the United States or Iraq to prison for up to 20 years."
? According to Friday's London Financial Times, Halliburton was awarded a $1.2 billion contract to rebuild Iraq's oil industry, even though they are currently under investigation.
This is what we call "circumstantial evidence." I'm the first to admit that at this point it's almost impossible to conclusively prove anything - no smoking gun documents yet.
I'm not trying to get into the "no blood for oil" argument. Is it okay to go to war to secure 10 percent of the world's oil from an evil dictator? Maybe, maybe not. That's another discussion altogether.
Would we have done exactly the same thing had no oil been involved? Maybe, maybe not.
What's hard to dispute, though, is that for better or worse, this is an administration made up of oil industry insiders and sympathizers. Is that good for this country? Again, maybe, maybe not. That's for every American, regardless of their political leanings, to decide.
Instead of posing quick, easy answers to this multitude of questions we need to start exploring them, preferably before the next election.
Write to David at swimminginbrokenglass@yahoo.com
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