The War of Profits

March 20, 2003 - Operation Iraqi Freedom kicks off in the Middle East and barely two months later, US President Bush victoriously declared that major combat operations have ended. Today, as a consequence of the US invasion, Iraq is on the brink of civil war, but it's all part of the Bush doctrine's War on Terrorism. Truly, 9/11 was the largest foreign attack on American soil and the US government responded by waging war against Afghanistan and Iraq, places they classified as havens of terrorism. On the surface it is a war of retribution but critics speculate bacause it was also a war of many rewards.
Behind the smoke and the bloodshed, there was money - lots of it. The Middle East is notoriously rich in black gold and invading it would be a way to cash in. American firm giants Unocal, Enron and Halliburton were companies with stakes in Afghan oil and incidentally, had excellent relationships with the US President and Vice President. When Afghanistan was invaded and a new president was installed, it wasn't surprising that pipeline agreements were signed between Middle Eastern countries with these companies as contractors.
Oil wasn't the only cash cow here. With Iraq in tatters, rebuilding is a must and who better to do that than American companies? Not just any companies, Halliburton and the Carlyle group did it. Estimates from Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments pegged the non-military costs to rebuild Iraq at $500billion. The US Council on Foreign Relations pegs rebuilding costs at $100billion. A lot of money there and they might've been lucky but close ties with the Bush family helps.
And what of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban? President Bush's utterance of, I don't know where he is. . . I don't just spend that much time on him, should be telling enough.