Freedom or Oil? The Truth About Conflict in Iraq

After four years of a so-called War on Terror, the jihadists showed they could execute a sophisticated, multifront attack in the financial heart of one of the safest cities, in a nation with one of the most capable intelligence services.

Critics say that the war in Iraq has been a costly distraction from hunting down the terrorists, and it even may have become a recruiting center. But Iraq was never primarily about terror. It was about oil, although not the way conspiracy theorists believe.

The oilmen in the White House know that the great, one-time gift of petroleum is running out. Whether global oil production peaks soon, as some experts predict, or in a decade or two, the milestone is inevitable. It happened in the United States in the early 1970s, and more recently in the North Sea. Oil peaks can be seen only a few years after they occur.
The Arizona Republic