# Ok Brutus et al..it wasn't WMD or oil..it was about concern for the Iraqi's right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 7, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-brutus-et-al-it-wasnt-wmd-or-oil-it-was-about-concern-for-the-iraqis-right/186878 "2003-07-07T23:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-brutus-et-al-it-wasnt-wmd-or-oil-it-was-about-concern-for-the-iraqis-right/186878/21 "2003-07-08T02:44:04Z")
Y’all do know Kuwait was under drilling Iraq right? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-brutus-et-al-it-wasnt-wmd-or-oil-it-was-about-concern-for-the-iraqis-right/186878/22 "2003-07-08T02:47:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monster104 \* > \*\*You mean Iraq never _really_ fired banned missiles at coalition forces? > > Huh. \*\* The Scud story [was retracted.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2929411.stm#scuds) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-brutus-et-al-it-wasnt-wmd-or-oil-it-was-about-concern-for-the-iraqis-right/186878/23 "2003-07-08T02:59:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > \*\*Y’all do know Kuwait was under drilling Iraq right? \*\* I don’t get your drift. Are you saying Iraq was justified in invading Kuwait? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-brutus-et-al-it-wasnt-wmd-or-oil-it-was-about-concern-for-the-iraqis-right/186878/24 "2003-07-08T03:04:46Z")
I’m just saying read, learn, don’t take everything at face value. As for Saddam being justified. He was just as justified invading Kuwait as we were justified in invading Iraq. Neither had a real reason. ---
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-brutus-et-al-it-wasnt-wmd-or-oil-it-was-about-concern-for-the-iraqis-right/186878/25 "2003-07-08T03:18:09Z")
Who cares if he was justified in invading Kuwait or not? If he thinks Kuwait is slant drilling into his territory, and he invades on that basis, why in Heaven’s name should we care even one little bit? We had it right the first time: it was an intra-Arab dispute, and should have been settled as such. We had no business sticking our fool necks into that dispute, other than that Bush the First had some personal friends in the region, and decided to use the military as if it were his personal guard. If the UN decided to go in under the doctrine of collective self-defense, fine. In which case, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Jordan should have been leading the coalition, not us. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-brutus-et-al-it-wasnt-wmd-or-oil-it-was-about-concern-for-the-iraqis-right/186878/26 "2003-07-08T03:28:54Z")
> [@](#): > > **Splanky** : I wouldn’t call it greed; I would call it protecting the single most important resource of modern society. If we defended Kuwait because they had the largest diamond mine in the world, that would be greed. How many people have had to die because some of us greedy Americans want to drive fuel inefficient vehicles? There is blood on our hands. Even if _everything_ that Brutus says about the benefits for America are true, this is not the kind of country that I can be proud of anymore. Too many of our leaders are ruthless. I recently saw an interesting interview with George Bush the First from several years ago. In it he explained all of the reasons why he did not have the military to take out Suddam Hussein during or immediately after the first war in the Persian Gulf. He described all of the horrors that are happening today in Iraq. Would that his son had listened to his counsel. I agree that we must protect " the single most important resource of modern society." But it isn’t oil. It is human beings. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-brutus-et-al-it-wasnt-wmd-or-oil-it-was-about-concern-for-the-iraqis-right/186878/27 "2003-07-08T19:22:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by John Mace \* > Well, the whole Iraq mess pretty much dates back to the invasion of Kuwait, which **was** a hostile act, no? If that’s the case, then shouldn’t the decision of whether or not to invade Iraq in 2003 be made by the _United Nations?_ You know, that international group the Administration had a hissy-fit over when they wouldn’t rubber-stamp George’s war? > [@](#): > > At the time, I thought it was a poor decision not to “continue to Baghdad” while we had the troops over there. Probably because we waged _that_ war under the authority of the UN, and our authority there was limited to kicking Iraqis out of Kuwait. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-brutus-et-al-it-wasnt-wmd-or-oil-it-was-about-concern-for-the-iraqis-right/186878.md?page=1)