We may have crossed paths.
How often were you put in such risk?
But how many American lives is it worth liberating people who don't care to protect themselves after we leave? How much of the maiming and blood do we have to shed for those who wont shed thier own?
On top of that, why put our troops into such a situation when 8 years later the other party gets in and simply withdraws, basically giving the islamic caliphate the win?
Was it worth it?
well, it wasn't oil itself but a mini "cold war" between the US and the criminals at the United nations who used the oil for food program to enrich themselves while blaming the US for the sanctions.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140209063656/http://acepilots.com/unscam/
No, the logical reason for invading Iraq at the time that we did was the number of assets tied up there already. Due to distance, Northern Watch and Southern Watch used up separate Command, Control and Surveillance assets, CSAR assets, Air Defense Suppression assets, Ground Attack assets and Air Superiority assets. One squadron, at least, of each were locked into support of each operation, not one of each covering both operations. Even if you combine Air Defense Suppression and ground attack, how many squadrons did that tie up? How many did we have?
You may believe that we shouldn't have been there at all. Fine, however, isolationism has never worked and we benefit from trade and getting resources from elsewhere. We need them. Further, the planet, at present, is a closed environment. If we, the strong, don't stand up for the weaker and strengthen them, then in the end, how many of them can we stand off alone?