bubblyrat,

The situation is Iraq is complicated. The problem with Hussein is that he used the enormous oil revenue to buy arms, including chemical and biological weapons. He waged war, killed his own countrymen, supported terrorism against Israel, and was an all-around piece of crap. The US had to stop him because of what he did with the oil-gererated billions, not because Iraq had oil. Not exactly the same thing.

If Iraq were a dry desert with no oil, there would still be a few warlords trying to kill other warlords with knives and cheap rifles. Not a pleasant place to live, but not a real threat to the rest of the world.