Airstrip One

Why denigrate 'Interests'?

Now that the midterm elections are beginning to loom in the United States, opponents of the Bush administration have adopted the argument that the 'war on Iraq' has been adopted out of 'interest', particularly for oil. This is an obvious motive and not a bad one. If a country wishes to secure the supply of that commodity which furthers its economic prosperity, this would appear to be a reasonable argument for stating that the war is in the national interest of the United States.

Of course, this is a simplification since energy policy in the US is deeply intertwined with the Bush administration's relationship with the oil companies. Democrats will score valid points by making out how domestic 'interests' structure foreign policy, but their debate prevents many of them from concluding that domestic lobbies and their national interests may complement each other for now.

However, oil remains a secondary factor as the purported war is about security. Wouldn't oil be a far better reason to go to war?