The New York Times comments on the U.S. invasion of Iraq:

Before the invasion, Iraq’s oil industry was sputtering, largely walled off from world markets by international sanctions against the government of Saddam Hussein, so his overthrow always carried the promise of renewed access to the country’s immense reserves.

Hey, I thought that was just a conspiracy theory!

Well, it hasn’t turned out quite the way the conspirators—(you know, the people who plotted to wage an illegal war of aggression on a pretext of lies)—had hoped:

“We lost out,” said Michael Makovsky, a former Defense Department official in the Bush administration who worked on Iraq oil policy. “The Chinese had nothing to do with the war, but from an economic standpoint they are benefiting from it, and our Fifth Fleet and air forces are helping to assure their supply.”

The Times explains:

China already buys nearly half the oil that Iraq produces, nearly 1.5 million barrels a day, and is angling for an even bigger share, bidding for a stake now owned by Exxon Mobil in one of Iraq’s largest oil fields.

“The Chinese are the biggest beneficiary of this post-Saddam oil boom in Iraq,” said Denise Natali, a Middle East expert at the National Defense University in Washington.

But not all is lost, the Times adds further down the page:

At the same time, China’s interest in Iraq could also help stabilize the country as it faces a growing sectarian conflict.

Imagine that! Helping to stabilize a country like Iraq by trading with it, rather than bombing, invading, and inflicting sociocide upon it!