by Manuel García, Jr.

A key motivation for the Iraq War must certainly be the desire of American policy planners to secure petroleum reserves with which to fuel the American military in the 21st Century. American armed forces are all about mobility and global reach, and they require a tremendous quantity of fuel for all that high-speed, long-distant and low miles-per-gallon mobility. Without liquid hydrocarbon fuels, there is no "superpower" military, and without that there is no American empire. Petroleum is the lifeblood of the American war machine. The American consumer, as well, has an unquenchable thirst for petroleum, using it in large inefficient automobiles, luxury trucks, and recreational vehicles of many kinds. Reducing America's desire for oil would help rein in American imperialism and aggression. Any such reduction is unlikely to occur in the military, by the very nature of its purpose. So, Americans opposed to the Iraq War and American imperialism favor a significant reduction in the civilian consumption of petroleum, most particularly as gasoline fueling transportation....

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