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The west, the Middle East and oil: a conspiracy theory?

Western governments do not always get what they want, but arguing that oil is the key factor behind western actions in the Middle East is one of the most evidence-based statements that one can make.

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I want your oil
I want your oil

Is it that simple? Flickr/Vectorportal. Some rights reserved.

Speaking in the House of Commons in January 2003, just two months before the US-UK invasion of Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair stated “The very reason why we are taking the action that we are taking is nothing to do with oil or any of the other conspiracy theories put forward.”

Blair’s analysis was amplified by newspaper columnist David Aaronovitch who, ironically, would go on to write a book dismissing popular conspiracy theories. Addressing the more than one million people who marched through London in opposition to the impending war on 15 February 2003, Aaronovitch asked “Do you really believe that this parroted ‘war about oil’ stuff is true? If so, what were the interventions in oil-less Kosovo, Bosnia and Afghanistan about?”