How the Iraq Invasion Changed the World
March 18, 2023
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IRAQ INVASION WAS ABOUT OIL
Millions of people knew invading Iraq was wrong.
Our estimate is that about 2.4 million people have probably been murdered in Iraq as a result of the historic act of aggression committed by the United States and the, United Kingdom in 2003.
Twenty years on, they've been proven right, time and time again.
The Bush administration never found weapons of mass destruction, and their dream of building a U.S., friendly government in Iraq blew up in their faces.
All while the Iraqi people endured decades of violence and societal collapse.
So did anyone benefit from the invasion? And how did the invasion change the world?
The key natural resources in Iraq include natural gas, petroleum, sulfur and phosphates.
Iraq is thought to have the fifth-largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 145 billion barrels of known reserves. This amounts to around 17 percent of the Middle East's overall oil reserves and 8 percent of the world's total reserves. Iraq also ranks second in OPEC's Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (after Saudi Arabia) in terms of oil production.
Commercial, Agricultural and Demographic Potential
In addition to its enormous natural riches, Iraq also has advantages related to its strategic location, which enables it to play a significant role in global commerce. Iran, which views Iraq as an essential commercial gateway to the east, and the Arabian Gulf, the region's most significant economic and financial bloc, are the country's geographical neighbors.
Additionally, it shares borders with the Levant, which provides important access to the Mediterranean Sea, and Turkey, which serves as a critical gateway to European markets. This clearly presents Iraq with an opportunity to combine the financial fruits of its natural wealth with the commercial capacities afforded by its location and the strategic role it can play vis-a-vis this location.
Furthermore, Iraq possesses nearly 23 million dunums of land (2.3 million hectares) that can be invested in agriculture. Mesopotamia is characterized by fertile soil and wide plains suitable for agricultural activity. This particular region is also home to an abundance of renewable groundwater, in fact more than 5 billion cubic meters, in addition to the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Perhaps the two rivers' abundant water supplies and the land's fertility contributed to the birth of great civilizations throughout history. Furthermore, if properly utilized, this potential may even enable Iraq to increase its agricultural exports and achieve food security self-sufficiency.
Brigadier-General James Ellery CBE, the Foreign Office's Senior Adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad since 2003, had confirmed the critical role of Iraqi oil reserves in alleviating a "world shortage" of conventional oil. The Iraq War has helped to head off what Ellery described as "the tide of Easternisation" – a shift in global political and economic power toward China and India, to whom goes "two thirds of the Middle East's oil." His remarks were made as part of a presentation at the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), University of London, sponsored by the Iraqi Youth Foundation, on 22nd April 2008.
"Iraq holds the key to stability in the region", Ellery continued, due to its "relatively large, consuming population," its being home to "the second largest reserve of oil – under exploited", and finally its geostrategic location "on the routes between Asia, Europe, Arabia and North Africa - hence the Silk Road."
https://rumble.com/v2duz1g-how-the-iraq-invasion-changed-the-world.html
https://www.bitchute.com/video/Y9VJID3ily3f/
https://odysee.com/How-the-Iraq-Invasion-Changed-the-World
https://consortiumnews.com/2018/03/22/how-many-millions-of-people-have-been-killed-in-americas-post-9-11-wars-part-one-iraq/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/mar/20/iraq-war-oil-resources-energy-peak-scarcity-economy
Original: https://youtu.be/Mk6_qwnd8tk
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Al Jazeera
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