Alan Greenspan says ‘We invaded Iraq for Oil!’
“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.”
- BBC,
- FPIF,
- Global Policy Forum,
- Herald Sun, Australia,
- Times Online, UK,
- George Lakoff on the Huffington Post.
I’m also shocked that most of the coverage is out of the US.
But, now that the cat is out of the bag, let’s do the math. Iraq, according to the Global Policy Forum, and the CIA, Iraq has 112.5 Billion Barrels of “proven reserves” of oil. At $80 per barrel … Iraq’s oil is worth $9.0 Trillion. We’re only spending $1 trillion, so it’s a pretty good return on investment. 900 percent return on investment for the 112.5 billion barrels of proven reserves.
And they said George W couldn’t do math.
If the “probable” reserves – in addition to the proven reserves – are only another 100 billion barrels – that’s 212.5 billion barrels of oil. Black Gold. Texas Tea. That ups the ante to 1,700% ROI. Why that’s better than Microsoft’s historic $3 thousand in 1986 worth $One Million in 1999. And Iraq’s “probable reserves” are estimated to be another 200 billion barrels. Of course this is assuming we win the war, and get to keep the oil.