From the Sept. 14 issue, page 11:

"The [UN] Security Council, at first letting principle triumph over pusillanimity, repeatedly declared [Saddam] in open breach of his disarmament obligations. What it failed to do was rectify that situation. When it came to the crunch--authorising force to back up the inspector's right to search out and destroy Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological stocks--first Russia and China backed off, keen to close all weapons accounts, see UN sanctions lifted and return to oil-business-as-usual. Then France did the same, leaving America and Britain to attempt to hold the line."

Hmmm...so according to this, it wasn't America that was overeager to get its hands on Iraqi oil. Anyway, it would seem to bolster the idea that kicking Saddam's butt is neither the fastest nor best way to start sinking wells in his sand dunes.

If oil were the sole objective of American interest in Iraq...well, my bet is that Saddam would be our buddy and Kurds would still just be the stuff that Little Miss Muffet ate.