War for Oil

Here ya go, Christopher.

Upon doing some research (read, Google searching) I found this article that Tom Tomorrow had actually linked to a while back.

While debate intensifies about the Bush administration's policy, oil analysts and Iraqi exile leaders believe a new, pro-Western government -- assuming it were to replace Saddam Hussein's regime -- would prompt U.S. and multinational petroleum giants to rush into Iraq, dramatically increasing the output of a nation whose oil reserves are second only to that of Saudi Arabia.

Also,

American firms are barred by U.S. law from making contracts with Iraq and have had to watch as the rival firms of other nations sign contracts with the Iraqi dictator to pump oil after U.N. sanctions are lifted. Assuming Hussein is overthrown and U.S. and U.N. sanctions are lifted, Goldstein said, "you'll see the U.S. companies will be very, very interested."

Furthermore,

"Given Iraq's dire financial situation, any Iraqi government after Saddam Hussein will need massive amounts of money and will try to produce as much as it can," said (Muhammad-Ali) Zainy, now a senior energy analyst at the Center for Global Energy Studies in London.

So, with a pro-U.S. puppet government installed, we would be in the position to set up all sorts of sweet deals. However,

For domestic oil producers, however, such a collapse could be unwelcome.

"I don't think it's really in the interest of the United States to have OPEC disintegrate and have a crash in oil prices," Zainy said. "The United States is a large (oil) producer; there are interest groups, oil corporations and independent oil producers that want a reasonable price level."

So, either the war isn't really over oil, or the Bush administration is so incompetent they can't even get their evil schemes right. I'm not sure which sounds more plausible to me.