As Yglesias suggests, I don't really think we went to war in Iraq for oil, or at least that wasn't the primary motive of a lot of the major players, but it is part (though again, not all) of the reason we'll stay there forever.
So we'll spend a hell of a lot of money and lose a lot of lives presiding over an occupation and using our military to provide security for the private security which will be guarding the commercial interests involved in oil extraction.
And since it's against Village etiquette to suggest that we we are engaged in an imperial colonial adventure, it will be almost impossible to debate the merits of our policies in Iraq or even have a vaguely honest discussion about what those policies are. Hiding behind peeance and freeance and a "desire for victory" and fears of the "inevitable" regional war if we leave to obscure just what it's all about.
