I am not agreeing with any of the Iraq war lunacy either, But according to their plan, it delayed China for 8 years and they had to pay very high prices for their oil all that time. Notice the oil prices steady rise from lows in the 1980's that were designed to bring down the Soviet Union, to highs in the late 1990's that were designed to keep China, Japan, Asia paying high oil prices ! Read all about it right here: theoilcard.com