There were no ad hominem attacks. I'd suggest reviewing what the term means.Irrespective of your ad hominems, Hussein certainlyhad full intentions of moving from the USD. Yes, he was embargoed, but we all know how well that worked. And, as one of the major oil reserve nations in the area, his influence in the Middle Eastern oil market was nothing to sneeze at even post-First Iraq war.IMO, a significant portion of the motivation for the invasion of Iraq was to prevent the USD from losing its dominance. And, it was a good idea with respect to the USD to prevent that. Sadly, Rumsfeld messed up, we spent more than we needed on that war because of that, then the homefront was mismanaged. And, now, we have even more mismanagement. I am not surprised and the sad thing is that subsequent mismanagement and inaction elsewhere has ensured that one of those (speculated) motivations for the invasion was in vain, IMHO.
That's the most idiotic explanation I've heard, and I've heard some beauts.
Saddam was in no position to do anything about the dollar. His oil was embargoed and in any case his infrastructure was damaged. He barely had the capacity to sell enough oil to keep his own country afloat.
That's a real boner of an idea.
Again, I remind you that I am making no claim that this USD issue was a primary reason for invasion. I am saying it was a significant consideration, though.
How do you know what his influence was? He had lost a major war with the US, and fought to a standstill with the Iranians. The Egyptians and Syrians are traditional enemies of Iraq and in any case the Saudis call the shots on oil.
Do you have ANY evidence that ANYONE in the administration thought of this as a consideration?