Link to a reprint of an article by the Long Island, NY Newsday.
http://www.casi.org.uk/discuss/2003/msg00093.html
I believe I've heard that some in the administration want Iraq to pay for the war as well as the occupation. Most comments I've read and heard say they don't know the cost of a war with Iraq but best guess is apparently $100 billion couple that with a pro-longed occupation and you could see a cost of $300 billion total. Normally Iraq produces about 2.8 million barrels a day. Give oil a generous price going forward on average of $35.00 a barrel. At those numbers it would take 3061 days of normal oil production to pay back the USA according to my calculations. According to the article Iraq could expand it's production a great deal. Who would finance such an expansion? Also certainly not all of the oil produced could be used to pay the USA as oil would be a key part of the Iraqi economy. Also a massive increase in Iraqi oil production would certainly bring down oil prices a lot and probably ruin OPEC (not necessarily bad) but I doubt if the Arab members of OPEC would stand for such a thing. Does anybody have other links that validate the supposed Bush administration plan?