"Why would they want to do that Carol? How would they 'control Iraq's oil resources'? With Chavez, that darling of the left, giving his oil away to the United States of America, why the hell would the US go to all that expense and bother in Iraq, they never supplied the US before so why would it be so essential now."

What with world peak oil flow due to hit between 5 and 30 years from now, and with the anticipated rise of China wanting to use more oil than the world can produce, it's nice to get your grubby little mitts on as much of teh resource as possible.

The next (nuclear) war between the uSA and China will be safely (for the USA and China, that is!) fought on the territory of that annoying little island that is a would be breakaway part of China off the coast of China...