As the U.S. prepared to exit Iraq in 2011, Trump offered conflicting and muddled opinions about America’s role.
He incorrectly predicted that Iran would "walk in" and lay claim to Iraq's oil fields. In multiple interviews and a book, he said nothing about the threat of ISIS-style radicalism that many experts were publicly warning about at the time.
Trump fixated on the specific concern that Iran would take control of Iraq's oil. “Two minutes after we leave, Iran is going to come in and take the oil," Trump told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly
Trump seems to have shown no interest in counter-terrorism or the prospect of resurgent radicalism. For the mogul, America’s only interest in the country was petroleum.
In his 2011 book "Time to Get Tough," Trump argued at length that the U.S. should "protect and control the oil fields" of Iraq, which are mostly located in south Iraq, far from the Sunni territories where ISIS has operated.
Trump’s book also argued for establishing a "cost-sharing plan" that would divide Iraq's billions of dollars in oil revenue and reimburse the U.S. for its expenses from invading and occupying the country. "Call me old school, but I believe in the old warrior's credo that 'to the victor go the spoils,'" Trump wrote.
Trump suggested in his Wall Street Journal interview that oil profits were a reason why he approved of the 2003 invasion of Iraq—which in recent months he has insisted he always opposed, despite evidence to the contrary.
But in early 2011, Trump said he supported a speedy U.S. withdrawal from the country.
Asked by CNN's Piers Morgan what he would do about U.S. troops in Iraq, Trump said he would “get them out real fast.”
He incorrectly predicted that Iran would "walk in" and lay claim to Iraq's oil fields. In multiple interviews and a book, he said nothing about the threat of ISIS-style radicalism that many experts were publicly warning about at the time.
Trump fixated on the specific concern that Iran would take control of Iraq's oil. “Two minutes after we leave, Iran is going to come in and take the oil," Trump told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly
Trump seems to have shown no interest in counter-terrorism or the prospect of resurgent radicalism. For the mogul, America’s only interest in the country was petroleum.
In his 2011 book "Time to Get Tough," Trump argued at length that the U.S. should "protect and control the oil fields" of Iraq, which are mostly located in south Iraq, far from the Sunni territories where ISIS has operated.
Trump’s book also argued for establishing a "cost-sharing plan" that would divide Iraq's billions of dollars in oil revenue and reimburse the U.S. for its expenses from invading and occupying the country. "Call me old school, but I believe in the old warrior's credo that 'to the victor go the spoils,'" Trump wrote.
Trump suggested in his Wall Street Journal interview that oil profits were a reason why he approved of the 2003 invasion of Iraq—which in recent months he has insisted he always opposed, despite evidence to the contrary.
But in early 2011, Trump said he supported a speedy U.S. withdrawal from the country.
Asked by CNN's Piers Morgan what he would do about U.S. troops in Iraq, Trump said he would “get them out real fast.”
In June 2014, Trump echoed one of Obama's key reasons for his decision to exit Iraq: that the U.S. left at Baghdad's insistence. "Iraq told us to get out, Iraq is now falling, and Iraq now wants us to come back!" Trump tweeted as ISIS rampaged across the country.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-isis-oil-226925
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-isis-oil-226925
