Obama Says that Part of US Interest in Middle East is Oil
Obama just said to a group of voters in South Bned, IN, that part of the reason we send troops to Iraq is for oil. I have never heard him say that before. He presented his statement by comparing our response to trouble in Tibet and Dafur vs. the Middle East. Not sure how this will play.
Advertisement
For context, he was discussing how energy independence would change our military stance.
May 1, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gee, who'd've thunk it? What's unusual isn't the statement itself, but that a major party politician had the temerity to say it.
Kudos to Obama, because even though it's obvious, sometimes people are afraid to state the obvious.
May 1, 2008 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
If he really did say that I might just have to throw my full support behind him.
May 1, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
He certainly is doing his share of being a straight shooter this week.
May 1, 2008 4:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Damn, that latte-sipping, Volvo-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, arugula-eating, orange juice-drinking Obama just ran the Straight Talk Express right off the road! Must've been talkin' on his cell phone.
May 1, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
My right wing friends get all bent out of shape anytime someone mentions Iraq and oil in the same sentence and call us all liberal idiots.
I simply respond with why if not for oil are we even engaged in that part of the world? Why are we "friends" with Saudi Arabia or other countries over there? If it were not for oil we wouldn't even be engaged at all.
They don't have an answer for that.
May 1, 2008 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right. The key, however, is to throw them a bone. Make sure you acknowledge that it's not just the oil. Just point out that there are lots of other nations with murderous thugs and/or are a danger to the US (whatever reason they think justified us going into Iraq) but who don't have oil and who we didn't "liberate".
May 1, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, right, I forgot. We're also spreading democracy to the Middle East. The Iraqis are free to vote for any pro-American government they want.
May 1, 2008 5:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone think the media will make it a story?
May 1, 2008 5:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
He did not say Bush went to war in Iraq because of oil. He specifically rejected that, and offered Bush's ideological wet dream of transforming the Middle East into the Hoover Institution as his chief motivation.
He did say that our dependence on the middle east for a huge share of our energy supplies is why it is a constant national security issue for us. No president would let our energy supply be put in jeopardy. I.e energy independence is a security issue
I don't see those as contradictions at all, since Iraq was not threatening to cut our energy supply. But if Iran closes the straits of Hormuz....
May 1, 2008 5:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please. If Iraq was in Africa on a plot of land without any oil, we would have done nothing. Our presence in Iraq is make sure we have unfettered access to oil.
May 2, 2008 7:40 PM | Reply | Permalink