You're lucky to be going to college; I on the otherhand am complete draft-fodder should it be reinstated.

As for the oil argument - unless US companies can find a way of seizing the wells or the rights to the wells (and I don't know of any international laws that would allow that), US oil companies would be hurt by a war with Iraq. In the short term, they'd profit from the increased price of oil, but once the war is over and sanctions are lifted, Iraq's oil production would go up a great deal from what it is now. That means lower long term oil prices. Interestinly enough, the Russian government just signed a HUGE oil deal with Saddam Hussein's government - I wonder why they're opposed to regime change.

Now drilling in ANWAR, [u]that[/u] is a direct pay-off to US oil interests, have no doubt about it.

I agree that Saddam Hussein has to be removed from power. His history tells us all to clearly what kind of man he is, what his intentions are, and that if something isn't done about it now, it will be much harder to put it right later. In the meantime, Iraqi citizens are suffering and dieing under UN sanctions that shouldn't be lifted until Hussein proves he has completely put his WMD programs to rest. That isn't going to happen because he isn't going to give up on them. It's not his nature.

What ticks me off about Bush is that he made two or three bogus stabs at regime change in Iraq before he hit upon the UN resolution violations. Trying to link Saddam Hussein to Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorists (who hate him) is pure bull pucky, and quoting documents that don't exist to make the case completely screwed our crediblity in the international arena and have very effectively destroyed any chances of forming a broad coalition. That would be OK to a certain extent, but if those extra troops are needed, I'm probably going to be ones wishing I had a well-connected father to get me into the Texas Air National Guard where I could spend my time AWOL, snorting cocain, and defending the skies of Texas from Mexico rather than in the line of fire.