If you'd like to print out this page, click the Print button above. Alternatively, you may click the printer icon on your browser's toolbar, or choose File>Print from the menu.     The Double-Edged Sword of Freedom :: It’s All About Money…Or Is It? :: Do the Ends Justify the Means?   It’s All About Money…Or Is It? The economic implications of this situation are undeniable. Iraq sits atop vast reserves of oil. Oil is essential to the economies of liberal democracies. These simple, yet essential, realities form the backdrop against which the decision to go war was made. Again, put yourself in the position of being an adviser to the President of the United States as he seeks to find allies for the invasion of Iraq. Would you support a strategy of punishing France by denying French participation in the rebuilding of postwar Iraq and keeping French oil companies out of Iraq if Chirac fails to support the United States? Now, put yourself in the position of being an adviser to the President of France. Assume that the United States has in fact threatened to punish France economically if it does not support the U.S. military action against Iraq. Would you recommend that the President provide this support to the United States, despite the opposition of the French people? Do you believe that ensuring a steady supply of oil for liberal democracies is a justification for going to war? Which of the following do you believe played the greatest role in influencing the decision to go to war against Iraq: Saddam Hussein’s development of weapons of mass destruction Saddam Hussein’s brutal treatment of his own people The dependence of the economies of liberal democracies upon the oil contained in Iraq Explain your answer.