What political benefit did Bu$h see in Iraq?

[SHRED]

Help me out here.

Aside from Halliburton and his oil buddies what the hell was he pushing so hard for, to go into Iraq?

I think he could have benefitted himself greatly, politically, if he sent hundreds of thousands of troops into Afghanistan and spent hundreds of billions to get Osama and rebuild that country instead of Iraq.

This Iraq venture is blowing up on W big time now and just might lose him the election.

[ButterflyBlood]

1. I don't think it matters

part of the reason he was installed was for Iraq. It was the key of thier. So even if he loses, the mission was still accomplished.

[ulTRAX]

2. family grudge match...

"he tried to kill my dad". ;-)

[Lindacooks]

3. Part of it was a personal vendetta

according to his whine 'he (Saddam) tried to kill my daddy!'

Chimpy had to settle that score to make himself look like more of a man to his father, who is just another weenie, after all.

And then there's cheap oil and having strong American presence in a volatile area, which will only get other people's kids killed, about which chimp and other Repukes couldn't care less.

[NMDemDist2]

4. we went to afganistan to build the pipeline, when that didnt work

what else was there to do and where else to go? Bush has to get the oil or else why would they keep giving him millions in contributions?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0595261752/ref=pd_sim_books_1/102-4844012-2797769?v=glance&s=books

[alcuno]

5. It's a lost cause. When half the country has no idea why we are there

and the other half doesn't really know but repeats the administration's line, you are in serious trouble. Why did he do it? Because he felt like it. They MUST have thought that when we got there, the country would continue on as it did; that if you chopped off the head of the snake, the snake would continue to function.

[Junkdrawer]

6. Second largest oil reserves in the world...

Many, many wars have been fought for far less.

[Robbien]

7. Afghanistan wasn't a big enough retaliation for many

The GOP base was not really satisfied by the bombing of little towns and villages in Afghanistan. They needed a bigger and more well known enemy to take down to repay for the "Assualt on America".

[Poiuyt]

8. War president

I think bush just wanted to be a war president. He saw how the country rallied around his father during the first Gulf War, and he wanted the same. You could tell from his rhetoric since the first day he entered office that Iraq was where he wanted to go.

As far as Iraq vs Afghanistan, I think a lot of it was avenging his father. Also remember how Rumsfeld said that there were no good targets in Afghanistan, but there were in Iraq? And of course there was the oil, and PNAC, and military bases in a strategic Mid East country, blah, blah, blah.

[ulTRAX]

9. pathology of imperialist america

On a more serious vein... I suspect that once one is President... and especially a Right wing President... that they actually believe that the world must bend to the will of the US. After all, we are uniquely benevolent among the nations.

Who knows how this started in US history. I suspect there's a feedback loop... powerful economic interests need the government to push other nations around. Military spending goes up to implement these policies... leading to the their self-justification that more such policies be followed to justify the expenditures. Soon outspending the next 25 nations combined still isn't enough for military spending.

Eventually this psychology becomes more pathological that we must not tolerate anyone who opposes these imperial policies... or does anything that threatens US pro-rich and pro-market ideology... because it can only make us look like a paper tiger. So nations who want basic land reforms... or labor protections become a threat. Better to install murderous right wing dictatorships in other nations than face down business interests back home. That pathology, too, becomes self-justifying.

[Doctor_J]

10. He's a War President

as he himself stated. he doesn't know how to deal with stable situtations. His whole being is based on punishment and retribution. It started when he was a kid blowing up frogs, and continues to this day. His main emotions are hatred and envy.

IOW, he is only comfortable when kicking ass.