Unfortunately, the following quoted material, though somewhat well written, that is to say it has completely sentences and demonstrates linear thinking, it is well and truly based on no factual information of any kind that I can detect.
We went into Iraq because it was the most logical target.
The September 11 atrocity was planned and financed by bin laden and al qaeda. Their money and people came mainly from Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, with the Afghan government (the taliban) being the most overtly anti-American and belligerent. Afghanistan also gave aid and shelter to the mastermind, bin laden. For this reason alone, they became target number one.
The pentagon knew that Afghanistan was too distant a target to make a truly effective demonstration of their new resolve against terror, so another target had to be chosen. The country that deserved it most was Saudi Arabia, but since they have been a "friend" of the U.S. for so long, there was no way we would attack them. Besides, I am sure that they have bankrolled a large portion of our activities in Iraq - trading money and oil for us to not invade them...
Though I don't buy into the War for Oil propaganda, if you are going to choose a country to attack, you should choose one that makes the most sense. These were the criteria for the countries that were considered for invasion in order of importance:
The country must be mainly islamic and located in the Middle East.
The country must not be too strong militarily or financially.
The country must have mediocre to poor relations with other islamic countries.
The country should have oil.
The country should have a secular government (for ease of transition to democracy).
The country should have a tie-in to terrorism (most of them do...).
It really didn't matter which islamic country we attacked. It was more important that we not back down again like we had under Clinton. We had to make a stong showing in the back yard of the islamic fundamentalists. Their extremist religion knew no national boundaries, so what difference should boundaries make when choosing a nation to invade?
Iraq fit the above criteria best. It had the added advantages of being the other bookend to Iran, having its air space already under de facto U.S. control, and it was still being run by Saddam Hussein who continued to be a burr in the Bush family's saddle.
Even if Iraq had nothing to do with September 11 (and they probably didn't) they were the most logical target for the reasons outlined above. Larger wars have started over less.
Iraq was invaded for the following reasons:
1. The invasion was part of a long term plan by the neo-conservatives, as written about extensively and published on their web site
The Project for the New American Century, planning documents that are in some cases written decades prior to the events of 9/11/2001.
2. On behalf of the Likud Party in Israel, the front for the
Zionist Movement (it's what they used to call themselves) dating back well before World War Two. Likud is ultra-nationalist in philosophy, well grounded in fascism in practice.
3. For control of mideast oil. This is not to "get the oil" for in fact America buys only about 7% of its oil from mideast sources, it is to get corporate America's hands on the spigot of mideast oil. The two rising industrial powerhouses that will need this oil, India and China, would be brought under more than just a little control were this to succeed. Both of those countries, and others, have more than a small vested interest in seeing the US government fail in Iraq, and the rest of the mideast as well.
4. For the Military-Industrial complex in America. The collapse of the "Evil Empire" shook these industries to their quick, so they immediately began to look for replacement "evil empires" for which to build their weapons systems to fight against. The "War on Terra" was a Godsend for these leeches.
5. The military itself. The US military is significantly smaller than it was when I entered service in the late 1960's, and it was smaller then than it had been in the 1950's era. When the Berlin Wall was torn down, the US government's military was aghast at the prospects of substantial reductions of forces in total, and removal of all or most forces from overseas. The "War on Terra" was the stopper they were looking for.
There are likely other reasons for the invasion of Iraq and the planned invasions or attacks against Iran and Syria; but those I've listed are some of the central reasons.
All are illegitimate and violate the restrictions placed ont he federal government by the Constitution. The constitution is an envelope within which the federal government must remain, at all times, every day, every week, every month; no matter where on the planet the federal government is located.
