ABSTRACT
In the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq, the president George H. W. Bush administration officials were adamant in their insistence that oil played no role in the United States (US) planning for a possible military assault. Ever since the Carter administration, it has been explicit US policy to employ military force as needed to prevent any hostile power from achieving a position from which it could threaten the safe flow of Persian Gulf oil to the US and its allies. This dictum widely known as the Carter Doctrine was first applied to the Soviet Union and has since been applied to any nation that appeared to pose a threat to the flow of Persian Gulf oil. The impression this gave-that the sole US interest in Iraq was to seize its oil-has been given further credence by reports that funds intended for municipal reconstruction have instead been used to protect oil pipelines, refineries, and loading facilities.
