Invading for freedom—or fuel? Democracy as cover, oil as motive

By Raqif Makhdoomi* 

There was a time when the United States claimed to “attack” countries to ensure democracy. Many believed it, until it became clear that democracy was never the real concern—oil was. In pursuit of oil, the United States has intervened militarily across the globe, yet no one calls it a terrorist nation. America moves into countries, leaves them in ruins, and walks away without consequences.

Today, Israel stands accused of violating almost every known UN resolution and human rights convention, yet Washington sees no “threat to democracy.” The reason is painfully obvious: Palestine has no oil. Had it possessed wells instead of olive groves, perhaps the United States would have suddenly discovered a crisis worth “saving.” Israel’s actions draw no military response, while Saddam Hussein faced the full weight of a US-led coalition over alleged weapons of mass destruction—weapons never found. Iraq’s real crime was having oil America wanted.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq included carpet bombing of residential areas far removed from any military target. Yet no serious accountability followed. The United States has not only attacked Iraq but intervened in China (1945–46), Syria (1949), Korea (1950–53), Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954), Tibet (1950s–70s), Indonesia (1958), Cuba (1959), Kuwait (1991), Libya (1986 and 2011), and many others. By some counts, the United States has attacked or destabilized 48 countries out of roughly 195—nearly a quarter of the world. Still, no US president has ever been branded extremist, radical, or terrorist, while Saddam Hussein was executed after a hasty trial.

The United States pushed the UN to take action against Saddam but left Iraq devastated. Why? Because Saddam sought to strengthen his country, and a strong Iraq threatened America’s dominance. The US fears any nation becoming powerful enough to challenge it—China and Russia are too large to bully, but smaller states are easier targets.

The human cost of the Iraq war is staggering. Researchers from the US, Canada, and Iraq estimate that about half a million Iraqis died between 2003 and 2011 from violence and infrastructure collapse, far above the 112,000 violent deaths recorded by Iraq Body Count. These deaths happened under George W. Bush’s orders, yet he is not treated as a threat to democracy or humanity. Not a single recent US president has avoided bombing or invading another country, but none features on any terror list.

Meanwhile, the United States recently arrested Venezuela’s president—and boasted about it. When Iraq was accused of violating Kuwaiti sovereignty, America launched a full-scale war; when Washington violates another nation’s sovereignty to apprehend a head of state, it claims moral authority.

Venezuela is mired in crisis—sanctions, not socialism, deprived people of essential services. The pattern is familiar: America imposes sanctions, suffocates a country, and then pretends to care. Iran faces the same playbook. Protests become proxy tools; cultural debates such as hijab are weaponized. The aim is disruption, not liberation. But Iran is strong and unlikely to collapse under pressure.

And now the real reason for US interest in Venezuela is out in the open. Washington will receive 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, with shipments expected to continue indefinitely, in exchange for selective sanction relief. Sanctions were never about democracy or corruption—they were about access. The United States is stockpiling as much oil as possible, anticipating the day reserves decline and the world becomes dependent on American storage tanks.

At every turn, the pattern repeats. The United States has never cared about democracy, human rights, or freedom. What it cares about—what it acts for, bombs for, negotiates for—is oil.

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*Law student and human rights activist