[John Valentine]

Ignorant booshwa.

They could denominate the price of oil in any currency they want, and it would make little difference.

Beyond that, there isn't any reason to think that the Euro's present relative strength against the dollar is anything but temporary. European monetary and fiscal policy is a shambles and getting worse. Within two years the Euro will be trading below 85 cents, anmd in ten years it will be nearing 50 cents.

It is inevitable, given the fact that the Euro is a transnational currency.

[hillary's_fat_a**]

A Ball State senior, ahem, I mean a BS senior? Didn't Letterman attend that school? Is this guy another comedian?

[AFPhys]

Idiot conspiracy theorist...

[Joe Bonforte]

So we fought a war to keep oil contracts denominated in dollars instead of euros.

Yeah, sure, and Jeff Gordon won the race last week because his car is a cool color.

Just to note one of the more egregious distortions here, Ortega was not overthrown by the US. He was voted out of office by his own people. Even doofus Jimmy Carter conceded that the election was fair.

[Guillermo]

I love the "The USA put Saddam in power" line...

[Dog Gone]

Now, what would happen if oil nations switched to the Euro? An almost overnight crash of our economy.

The oil nations all have their own currencies. And they don't set prices in dollars or anything else. They set production targets.

What a retard.

[dighton]

With understanding and treatment, this young man could eventually lead a useful and productive life.

[Friend of thunder]

Democratically elected leaders overthrown? Does … Ortega of Nicaragua … ring a bell? Since when does being defeated in an election constitute being overthrown?

[surely_you_jest]

Ah, to be young, and stupid, and have no future . . . .

[JZoback]

Matt Sharp

Not very.

He needs the back end (knife sharpener) of my electric can opener for a little work.

.........and to think his parents paid good money for 4 years to educate him. They should ask for a refund

[skinner]

Just before the troops went in, a talk show host - Gene Burns of KGO 81 San Francisco, and a man who ran for the Presidency as a liberterian about 20 years ago - had some fella' on who wrote an article about just this topic.
This didn't come from the psycotic mind of Mr. Sharp, but is another tin-foil story circulating in and amongst the Bush hating crowd.

[cynicom]

So what currency was that the soldiers found in Iraq??? There was not a Euro there, all greenbacks. Saddam was not stupid.

[Nubbytwanger]

"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son"

Dean Wormer

[putupon]

BSU? OK

[Freebird Forever]

This is not an origional thesis.

Sites like rense.com have been putting forth this idea for months now.

[AlaskaErik]

We, the people, must stop the malfeasance of our government. We must demand justice, social equality, and true freedom, and do it now.

We did stop it. The Clinton/Gore nightmare is over.

[Cicero]

This thesis is out there among some Bush haters, but also among the economic alarmists and doomsayers. I don't believe that either oil or the dollar was the primary reason for our war against Iraq, but they may well be among the secondary considerations.

As for oil, it's perfectly true that we need to deal with one of radical Islam's most powerful weapons: its control over most of the world's oil reserves and its ability to undermine the world economy. Saudi Arabia has the power to virtually destroy the world economy almost singlehandedly, if they become desperate enough; and Saudi Arabia also happens to be at the very root of Islamic terrorism. One reason we had to go into Iraq first is that we had to secure the world's second-largest oil reserves (plus Kuwait) before we could venture to confront the Saudi problem.

Yes, the Euro is sick; but recently the dollar has been even sicker, since it is has been declining against the Euro and has broken through the support level. That is mostly because of our huge and growing balance of payment deficits and our current economic malaise.

Malaysia has been leading the way toward a gold-based dinar, on which oil payments could be based, hoping to replace the dollar in trading among the Muslim states, and I don't doubt that France is trying to lead the way toward a Euro-based world economy, and that Chirac has been secretly working with the Arab countries to implement this dream.

Gold and the British Pound used to be the two chief mediums of exchange. They were replaced by the U.S. dollar after Britain suffered a string of deficits going back to 1914. Nothing says that the dollar will not similarly be replaced if we continue to run huge balance of payments deficits and if the world loses confidence in the American economy as a place to park their funds.

So, there is likely a smidgen of truth in this article. There were many reasons for fighting the war against Iraq. This may be one of the subsidiary reasons. Like the need to preserve our oil supply, it is a perfectly legitimate national security consideration, although not enough in itself to justify fighting the war.

[LS]

Sigh. Every time I think the "youts" of the nation may actually have it together, someone like this nincompoop pops up. Our best and brightest are thousands of miles away, still trying to sort out the "good" Iraqis from the "bad." This dipwad ought to take the tour.

[Mike Darancette]

Iraq switched to the Euro in 1999.

How many boxes containing Millions of Euros have been found?

[stripes1776]

Threat of switch to Euro currency inspired war

If this is the sort of critical thinking they teach in college these days, it makes you think a college degree isn't worth much any more.

I heard some weirdo on "Coast to Coast" (Art Bell's program without Art now) say the same thing. Maybe the guy was another graduate of Ball State.