Iraq has 100 billion barrels. most of them will be sold when oil is above $100 a barrel.

that's $10 Trillion worth of oil.

most of us understand that there is a causal relationship between the existence of a huge amount of oil reserves in Iraq, and the presence of the US military there.

i do wonder, does the planning go back further ?

the consensus is that the CIA has been aware of "Peak Oil", the eventual peaking and decline of world oil production, in the face of increasing demand, for 30 years, at least.

one of the result of sanctions during the '90's was to leave more oil in the ground.

was this done by the US government and its corporate sponsors, knowing that they would come back later to assert more complete control over Iraqi oil ?