Savage makes a very interesting point here. If you will remember, it was promised that Iraqi oil from the newly liberated nation would (at least partially) pay for the war cost. As you should, that has not been happening - no money from Iraqi oil revenue has gone to pay for the initial invasion and daily operations by the US military. Having said that, read Savage's analysis below.
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For years, I have been calling for Iraq to pay us back for the cost of liberating them from the torture chambers of Saddam Hussein. Iraq's sustainable oil production capacity is almost 3 million barrels per day. The earth beneath Iraqi sands holds more than 112 billion barrels of oil – the world's second largest proven reserves – and unexplored regions could yield an additional 100 billion barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Iraq also contains 110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. And yet this war has nearly bankrupted our treasury.
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For years, I have been calling for Iraq to pay us back for the cost of liberating them from the torture chambers of Saddam Hussein. Iraq's sustainable oil production capacity is almost 3 million barrels per day. The earth beneath Iraqi sands holds more than 112 billion barrels of oil – the world's second largest proven reserves – and unexplored regions could yield an additional 100 billion barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Iraq also contains 110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. And yet this war has nearly bankrupted our treasury.
I was surprised to hear Senator Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, call for this very idea at the Petraeus hearings this week he said, "We need to put continuous and increasing pressure on the Iraqis to settle their political differences, to pay for their own reconstruction with their oil windfalls, and to take the lead in conducting military operations."
It is fascinating to hear a liberal congressman repeat my idea while the so-called "conservatives", the Whig Party of our time, the Republicans continue to pump money from American taxpayers to support this unpopular war instead of pumping Iraqi oil. We have spent 500 billion, half a trillion dollars so far on making the Sunni triangle safe for democracy, but it hasn't even kept our own Marines safe from prosecution. The month that President Bush was sworn into office, gas was $1.40 a gallon. This week, gas is averaging $3.30 a gallon, and near $5 a gallon in Los Angeles. Two dollars a gallon more for the war on terror! Make the Iraqis foot the bill for their own liberation!
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