Posted on 04/14/2011 1:03:32 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Donald Trump said Iraq oil can make the US "a fortune," in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Iraq, currently occupied by US forces, has $15 trillion in oil reserves, second behind only Saudi Arabia, said Trump.
If the US were to get its hands on some of that oil, it could make money and pay back its allies like the UK for their involvement in the Iraqi invasion and occupation, he said.
Trump mentioned that the US financial cost of invading and occupying Iraq totals $1.5 trillion.
To justify taking Iraqi oil, Trump said if the US were to simply leave Iraq, Iran will invade and take over the country. Letting the oil fall to Iran would be a bad idea, according to Trump.
If the US takes control of Iraqi oil, Trump said he would give some of the oil revenues to Iraq and some of it to the US and its allies.
On Libya, Trump said the US has already spent billions of dollars on the civil war there. However, the US isn’t likely to see a drop of oil from the efforts.
Below are other positions of Trump, stated in previous interviews:
Foreign Policy
- China: Threaten them with a 25 percent import tariff if they refuse to appreciate the yuan faster. The mere threat of a tariff would induce the China to revalue the yuan.
- OPEC: The US economy can’t handle oil prices at $100 per barrel. Make OPEC lower their prices. When pressed for specifics, he didn’t give any details except that if the message is delivered the right way (by him), OPEC would listen. He also said the US protects Saudi Arabia with their soldiers, but the latter doesn’t pay anything for that protection.
- Pakistan: They know where Osama Bin Laden is. Cut off all financial aid to Pakistan until they hand him over.
Wall Street
-No additional regulations. Otherwise, Wall Street wouldn’t be able to compete with London, Zurich, and Hong Kong.
Defense Spending
-Trump implied he’ll increase defense spending, build better weapons, and have better intelligence so that the US military can achieve its goals with fewer human casualties.
Immigration
- The US border with Mexico is a joke. It should be militarized so that no illegal immigrants can come in. Moreover, doing so would stop the burgeoning US-Mexico trade in illegal drugs.
- For illegal aliens already in the US, decide on a case-by-case basis who can stay and who should be deported or jailed. It’s a lengthy process, but Trumps believes this is the best option.
Social Issues
- Pro-life and anti-gay marriage. However, America has bigger problems than these two issues, which shouldn’t be the focus of presidential elections.
Taxes
-Simplify the tax code and make it fairer. When pressed for specifics, Trump didn’t give any details.
Romney is worse.
Because the United States is an honorable country. We are not like Saddam Hussein, who invaded Kuwait to profit from their oil. I disagreed with the left when they said the U.S. was as bad as Iraq etc. Apparently, not everyone agrees with me. I'm not supporting anyone who wants to turn the U.S. into a third world dictatorship.
I don’t know how far Trump will get but Romney’s toast
Old Chinese saying “If you look for faults you will find them.”
This man has got to be legions above what we all endure now.
Who else ya got with the exposure Trump has?
Plus, inaugural day, to celebrate a presidency with some sorely needed humor, he can look in the camera and say “Barack Hussein Obama, or whoever you are, you’re fired!
We're also a broke country
Does anyone else notice Trump is conforming to the left’s parody of what conservatives are. Are we know going to agree that everything the left said about conservatives is true? What’s next, Trump is going to say mandatory inbreeding and no education beyond the third grade? And conservatives are going to cheer?
We are an honorable country. I think we proved that for all time at the end of World War II. We rebuilt Europe, Japan and other parts of the world. We had a monopoly on nuclear weapons for about four years, yet we did not conquor the world with those super-weapons. Do you think the Russian, German, Japanese, Roman or any other historic empire would have done the same?
I always thought the only reason to invade would be to secure Oil Supplies. You can not liberate Muslims. They are unliberatable due to the fact they are Muslims.
Nope. But now that you mention it I do see Obama conforming to what the left exaggerate and accuse conservatives to be.
So we give up on our beliefs like that? Next time you get robbed or mugged, just remember, the person needed the money. Since we are broke, do you also think we should raise taxes to 90%? Did I wake up in the twilight zone?
Exactly. No reason to change now.
Amen! It's not very honorable to have politicians so weak and wobbly that they are afraid to anger the environmentalists and allow drilling and the building of refineries in our own country resulting in our own people having to take loans from the bank to heat their own homes.
If Romney’s toast. Then who? Huckabee, Pawlenty, Santorum?
Bachmann and Trump are favorites on FR and so is Palin, but I don’t think she’s running.
Will see though....
I see nothing wrong with the President of the United States telling Iraq... you pay us or we leave today.
Nope. I'm surprised you don't know that taxation destroys jobs.
That’s true. But your argument is that we should just do the easiest thing because we’re broke. I disagree. We don’t need to tax, and we don’t need to steal. Even Bush didn’t want to do that. It’s disgusting that some “conservatives” want to turn the U.S. into everything the U.S. has always been against.
Heck yeah! Why should the American Tax Payer have to foot the bill for Iraq. They need to pay for their own freedom. End of story!
I’m sorry but Kuwait paid the US for what we did for them.
Bush also mentioned the possibility of Iraq paying us back with oil (or money from oil)
That is NOT anything new.
According to your logic, we should give the Southwest back to Mexico, return Hawaii to the natives, return Puerto Rico to Spain, and then send all white people back to Europe and all blacks to Africa.
What I find dishonorable is invading a country and getting nothing in return except a bill for a trillion and half and bunch of dead Americans.
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