Iraq

9/13/13

While Saudi Arabia is an important asset to the United States, Iraq could have been in Saudi Arabia's shoes if the U.S. reacted differently to the 9/11 attacks. Even though the U.S. focuses so heavily on having a friendly relationship with Saudi Arabia, Iraq is just as useful when it comes to the U.S.'s energy needs. First off, Iraq has roughly 140 billion barrels of proven reserves, or in other words has one of the top 5 largest amounts in the world.

When the attacks of 9/11 happened, the U.S. made the choice to attack Afghanistan and eventually Iraq. If instead, we attacked Saudi Arabia (the majority of the people responsible for the hijacking were from Saudi Arabia), then the U.S. could have had a friendlier relationship with Iraq, getting their oil from them as well. To me there seems to be a disconnect in the American government related to Saudi Arabia and our relations with them. Somehow, they can do no wrong and we will just continue paying them for their oil.When in reality, we are supplying the terrorist we say we are fighting against in Afghanistan and Iraq. Obviously it's not as simple as imagining the U.S. attacking Saudi Arabia and nurturing friendly relations with Iraq, but I still feel that it should be discussed. From a perspective 12 years in the future, it seems obvious to me that the U.S. needed to get away from their mindset that relations with Saudi Arabia were of vital importance, and instead focus on their own nation security unrelated to energy suppliers. Iraq is just as capable as Saudi Arabia for supplying oil with some initial start up help to increase the amount of oil wells. But because the U.S. was so focused on Saudi oil, they were unable to see that by supporting Saudi oil, they were supplying the terrorists they were trying to fight.

In this scenario, not only is the U.S. supplying the terrorists they are trying to fight, but they also created a rift in relations between themselves and both Iraq and Afghanistan - two countries with high potential to supply oil. The decision to stay friendly with Saudi Arabia and attack Iraq and Afghanistan have dug a hole for the U.S. in regards to energy suppliers. The American government is too stubborn to admit they made a mistake, meaning they must now continue to lean on Saudi Arabia for oil instead of a country that might not be supplying terrorists.

Iraq is also an important player in the Middle East due to an infamous dictator,  Saddam Hussein. This greatly complicates the previously discussed potential partnership between Iraq and the U.S.. If the U.S. were to have attacked Saudi Arabia, and tried improve their relationship with Iraq after 9/11, instead of supporting the terrorists in Saudi Arabia, America would be supporting Saddam Hussein. It seems the U.S. government weighed both options and decided that the lesser of two evils was sticking with Saudi Arabia.

With this dictator in power in Iraq, who can the U.S. safely rely on for their oil needs? Overall, it seems like there is no perfect candidate for who the U.S. should rely on for oil. While some countries are capable of doing so due to their oil reserves (Iraq and Saudi Arabia), they don't have America's best interests in mind. This real life relationship between oil-dependent America and Saudi Arabia is a dangerous and slippery slope with mainly negative consequences in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, as discussed, the entire situation in the Middle East is as complicated as can be. There doesn't seem to be a "perfect" or "correct" way of dealing with both the U.S.'s oil dependency as well as the conflicting leading parties in the Middle East. Some strategies just have less negative consequences than other strategies. Hopefully in the near future, the countries of the Middle East will repair relations with both the U.S. and the world, however, this does seem extremely unlikely.

"Think of what happened after 9/11, the minute before there was any assessment, there was glee in the administration because now we can invade Iraq, and so the war drums beat." (Ron Paul)