So…are you saying the war really WAS about oil after all?

"Trust me, my friends."

New day..new message…a desperate man/

Using this pretzel logic, it would be in the interest of the US to invade Saudi Arabia, as the majority of the hijackers during 9/11 were Saudi. Blowing up mecca might turn the whole Arab world against us, but that's the cowboy mentality, isn't it?

Grandpa McCain forgot the the price of oil is higher because we went to war in Iraq in the first place.

At least Saddam kept the oil flowing. Is it always fear, fear, fear with this guy?

How many times does this man have to tell us the truth about his Iraq war stance, and we just turn our heads?

We need sanity and peace.

Obama '08

What? Isn't that the justification Bush used?
So it is okay to stage preemptive war against countries that have oil or something we want? Isn't that called Imperialism?

Tell me McCain misspoke.

This is exactly why we dont need him as president, he will lead us to another dumb war, they said Oil will be cheaper after the war, well it is now more expensive. Where are the WMD's, why have you killed 4000 of our brave soldiers for nothing?

So he and his goons got rid of him and yet oil more then doubled this year. Way to go.

And imagine the horrible state of America if McCain was in power. Point made.

Without the Iraq war, oil wouldn't BE at $120 a barrel.
And we wouldn't have spent so much of our tax dollars, and worse, American blood.

John my friend, the reason gas prices are crazy is because supplies are tight (war in the middle east), the dollar is weak (Thanks George for your un-funded, un-ending war) and demand is going up (no convervation and alternatives based energy plan)

Invading Iraq and GWB CAUSED these problems!!!

You vote war coz you are a warmonger,,,,obviously you are not watching the news about the new book of Ron Suskind.

So, McCain is now officially insane, right?

It's nice to know that John McCain could read the future the back in 2002–he knew oil prices would get this high, and was determined to get rid of Saddam before he could take advantage. Who knows what vision of the future McCain will have next that might drive the U.S. into it's next ill-conceived war?!

Well, McCain must have lost his Magic 8-Ball, because these days it would be telling him to drop out of the race before he's humiliated in November.

With that Justification then we may as well bomb bomb everyone making money off oil.

"cause & effect" was never analogous to "chicken & egg", mr. mccain. you can't just put one before the other at your convenience.

If Hussein were still in power, at least IRan would have a balance in the region. We took out Hussein, leaving Iran with the strength in the region. If we had spent these 700 billion dollars on alternative energies 8 years ago, we would be almost completely energy independent by now.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? It's pretty obvious that one reason oil is so expensive is BECAUSE we invaded Iraq!! Wow, and I used to have a bit of respect for McCain. How far he has fallen…

So the war was for oil?

This is specious reasoning at it's finest/worst.

What an idiot…

Wow! I can't beleive he said that. I hope Obama is all over this ridiculous statement. The Iraq war is justified because Saddam would have obtained WMDs with all the money he made off exploiting the oil market. That's crazy talk old man!

Oh my gosh! Prices wouldn't be so high if we hadn't invaded Iraq! This argument is VERY weak.

Probably the same thing our president has been doing with our money…destroying the planet and our nations image all at the same time.

Wrong again McSame.

This disastrous war should NEVER have happened, and we all know it.

This is pure crazy talked so we go to war five years before high fuel price to keep fuel low .We wre told that this war was not about oil.

Isn't that putting the "cart before the horse"? Sounds like someone needs a course in logic.

In any case, I'm glad McCain finally admitted it: THIS WAR IS ABOUT OIL AND CONTROL not about terrorism or wmd's

You have got to be kidding me.

Obama's vacation timing is perfect. McCain with several days in an uninterrupted media spotlight (just what he wanted).

He might concede the race next week.

McClueless… there was no attempt. there was no weapon…

THERE WAS NOTHING

Lil Kim of North Korea is killings his own people too… does that mean you'd start another Korean war given the chance?

My friends… if we elect this old white-haired dude, we're in trouble.

Another misleading headline by CNN.

Along with spin in the article.

Somehow, CNN loves to help aid Obama into a dishonest campaign.

Childish and dishonest.

Wow, never thought someone this blind could make it this far:
1. We could of heavily subsidized oil in this country and reduced gas by $1/gallon easily if we didn't spent all that money in Iraq.
2. We wouldn't be wasting fuel driving tanks and airplanes around the desert, which causes an increase in demand.
3. We wouldn't of created instability in the region which is a chief cause of a lot of this speculation.

Sadaam had palaces with the nicest amenities. He had no problems with money at oil's current price. Yes, giving him more money would be a bad thing, but maybe McCain should of voted for alternative energies in the past so we wouldn't be so frigging dependent on that oil. Solving the problem instead of prolonging it, what a novel idea.

The only reason we are in this war is because of oil. The criminals that attacked us on 9/11 are not in Iraq, they are in Afghanistan. McCain signed off and voted for this wrong war. He gets millions from the oil companies and he will sell us out for another dime.

Are the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqi's far better off? How about the almost 4200 dead Americans are they better off?

You senile old man. You are a disgrace to humanity!!!

What happened to the McCain of 2000???

Sold his soul to the devil and will do and say anything to reach the White House.

Disgusting!!!

CNN. don`t you know or even remember that it was the US who provided Sadam Hussein with all his weapons to attack Iran, or are you that short minded?

McCain is speculating more than those who actually drove the price of oil up!!!

That is QUITE a stretch!

The mental gymnastics it takes for him to get to THAT conclusion would qualify McCain for the OLYMPICS!!

The Crypt Keeper is an idiot. The entire reason oil is $120/barrel is because we are over there stirring things up for no good reason. Oil traders use the excuse of "regional instability" to drive up their profits. If none of this had ever happened, and Hussein were allowed to pump oil unimpeded, we would be looking at oil prices in the $30-$50/barrel range. As far as security goes, Hussein was being well-contained for years. Even if did have WMDs, nobody has ever explained how Iraq could have delivered them to US territory. Absent that, it's not our problem.

One of the strongest upward pressures on oil prices the past 5 years has been our military engagement in the region. McCain falls victim to the fallacy of the pre-determined outcome. If we hadn't removed Hussein by force, the Middle East would be more politically stable, which would mean lower oil prices today. Give it a rest, old man. You've done unspeakably courageous things for your country in the past; let us move forward into the future with our eternal gratitude for your service.

McCain's strong suit is town hall-style meetings? He really wants to go toe-to-toe with Obama in a venue where a script is worthless? He wants to challenge Obama in a setting that requires off-the-cuff responses?

Obama should suggest they have one every other day.

So in hindsight, McCain would still have invaded Iraq because Saddam was a bad man and had oil at his disposal. That tells you what we can expect if McCain gets elected. Using that criteria, we will soon be invading virtually every country in the Middle-East. What a swell idea…….NOT!

How dumb does he think we are? Oil prices surged after the Iraq war started, Oil prices go up when there is a war, I said it before McCains strategy for the White House is to tell so many lies that no one knows exactly where he stands.
This is not the 2004 McCain r the 2000 McCain, Just imagine the 2009- 2012 McCain, it will just get worse.

That statement is insulting

your the reason the oil is so high mc-have -no-shame
Sinnce the the white house has been with Bush evrything has gone up………..

Not True, Obama would go have tea with him and the whole world would sing be as one.

McCain … did you ever stop to think that if Saddam were in power the region would be much calmer and the price of oil would be well below $100 per barrel.

Don't you and Phil Gramm believe we are in a psychological recession and that the psychological impacts on the price of oil are superior to the effect of supply & demand ? (you non-economist).

OH MY GOSH - the mindset of McCain is WRONG. To say a man, whose sons were killed, and his life destroyed was based on speculation.

Well, there's your answer to why a lot of American's were killed and STILL are being killed, because of OIL.

CNN, your posting of MCCAIN ALL day long has finally made me literally SICK! THIS IS TOO MUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well if thats the case…a McCain presidency means war with Iran and Venezuela.

I hope no one has any 18-21 year old children.

WHAT!!!!!!!!! This is supposed to be the foreign affairs guru???

This is the silliest answer I've ever heard. Money was the least of Saddam's worries. He had access to enough money when gas was $30 a barrel to buy whatever he would've needed to make WMDs. What an idiot. Why doesn't the media call him on the bull.

This man really scares me. No hindsight and he is even trying to tie in the oil prices to WMDs!! WWIII seems a certainty if we elect this senile, bitter old man who is still trying to make up for Vietnam. The US will soon become the lost Roman Empire with this way of thinking. Overextending our military presence while owing countries like China trillions of dollars - not very patriotic if you ask me.

COUNTRY FIRST? MY FRIENDS, CHCK OUT EXXONMCCAIN.COM TO SEE HOW MCCAIN IS REALLY COUNTRY FIRST.

This old dude is out of his mind and out of touch. Please God in heaven help us.

Did McCain ever consider the possibility that the high cost of oil is partially attributable to the war in Iraq?

Don't you remember, John, or is your memory gone too, that we were not allowing him to sell oil freely anyway, and so he'd still be facing sanctions and unable to profit in the way you suggest. And isn't it sort of odd, now it's not that the US went to war to find WMDs, but to prevent him from being able to buy them when the price of oil went up six years later. Tongue disconnected from your brain, old chap?

WMD in Iraq = Bush/Cheney Lies = Hillary Supporters for McCain

That is absurd. So Senator McCain would still enter into a war in Iraq, knowing that the reasons were false? That is essentially what he is saying here because the advantage of hindsight tells us that all the evidence of WMD was false.

If George Bush and John Mccain hadn't invaded Iraq, the region would be much more stable, in which case, as anybody who understands the economy would know, there would not have been a huge run up in the cost of oil. Yes, the price oil would obviously be increasing due to increased global consumption, but the huge RUN UP was caused by the unstable situation.

Once the Bush administartion started to negotiate with Iran, as Obama has suggested all along, and Congess started talking about cracking down on speculators, also as Obama has suggested all along, oil prices started to come back down.

It is obvious to any rational obserer that the failed Republican policies are to blame for high and unstable oil price.

Fear mongering!! (and btw, Canada/Mexico provide us WAAAY more oil than the middle east)

Stop diluding yourself to suit your agenda McSame! You'll find ANYTHING to justify a WAR because you want "winner" written next to your name in the history books. My children will NOT fight a war for you!

war drill war drill war drill

Mcwar just likes to start fights and have someone else do the fighting for him. Send Mcwar to the inner-city on one of the corners and have him start his own war. Not only start it but fight it too. I feel more threatend by whats going on in our own communitys than in Iraq.

wow!you voted for the war ,so,saddam wouldnt get rich,when the price of oil went up?o…….kay……..whatever…..you must have gotten one of bush's "memos",too…..maybe you should drop out of the race,and write a book about how you were mislead by a forged letter or something.i hear there's lot's of money in it.

What about the 80 billion that the Iraqi's are making off it and the US is still funding this unholy war?????

Huh? The prices wouldn't be as high as they are if we hadn't gone into Iraq.

Gas wasn't expensive when you voted, or did you forget again. Idiot! Please dont vote for this guy. At least vote for a real Republican in Barr.

what a thing to say………….shameful.

But the price of oil is more than triple what it was when Saddam was in power BECAUSE of the war! Man- McCain is better at Orwellian newspeak than I thought!

why doesn't the white house just admitt that the war in Iraq is all about oil. Our soldiers are giving there life for the greed of George Bush. Why can't americans see the forest for the trees. there's a reason why other countries don't like america, it's because they know why america invaded Iraq, and it wasn't for WMD.

Well now isn't this special. First it was Saddam was a dictator hell bent on getting WMD's, then it was becasue he committed genocide on his own people in the 80's while certain Administration Officials held hands with them, then it was to liberate the Iraqi people. McCain just does not get it. He and his party claimed it would be a swift and fast victory, the Iraqi's would throw candy and flowers at us and the best one is hey their oil would pay for the war. While we as taxpayers are paying billions of dollars for this war, the Iraqi Government is sitting on a 79 billion dollar surplus. And the beauty of all this is we are paying them interest for holding their money. Is this what John McCain calls winning in Iraq? Just wanted to ask that question. I along with the majority of Americans now want to know John McCain what is your definition of victory in Iraq? We though it was "Mission Accomplished" several years ago aboard the big boat Fly Boy George was on. thx for all your support

Nice Speculative Justification, McSame. Sounds like something Bush would say.

Fear Talk Express : Full steam ahead!

I really think John McCain has gone insane. He is using the worst hypothetical scenario I can think of. I can tell you the reason oil is where it is today is because of The Iraq War. Look at your calenders when oil started to rise. Just like George W., McCain thinks it's cool to drop bombs on people who might have a weapon that could get into the hands of a terrorist and may end up being used against America. He will drop a bomb if someone sneezes wrong and call it the threat of getting Americans sick. Come on America..do not buy into this war mongers fearful philosophies on why we should kill and train people in the middle east to think like Americans.
If John McCain is telling the truth how come he is not leading "INVASION: THE SURGE IN IRAN"? I mean, the threat of Nuclear weapons is a serious threat. Come on McCain don't be lame and play games, what is it you are saying? Be consistent. Be real and have a tiny bit of morals.

Was there proof of WMD's because I can remember we found none.

one would think that after saying the same talking points , pandering and lying as long as John has…one would think he would not need Que cards…guess it must be memory loss. that happens at that age i guess

Ummm…hello…Iraq had an embargo against selling its oil on the open market. That's why they needed the oil for food program. So what is he talking about Saddam taking advantage of high oil prices???

Amen.

As someone who worked over there during the "U.N. Sanction" years, I personally saw oil being smuggled out of Iraq in trains of tankers.

We definitely weren't cutting into his income, and let's not forget all the other resolutions he broke, kicking the weapons inspectors out numerous times and taking pot shots at American pilots enforcing the no-fly zone.

People seem to have short memories in this country.

Everyone complains about the current cost of the war, but I'd like to know how much money we spent policing Saddam Hussein from 1991 until the current war. That was over a decade of wasted resources trying to keep that man in line.

Good riddance.

The US should invade any country that has what we want unless they voluntarily turn it over to us at what we decide is a fair price.

McCain 08
Better than Bush

Oil wouldnt be $130 a barrel if the likes of you hadnt gone and messed the world up in the first place!!

He must really be joking with this.

One of the BIG reasons for oil's price increase is INSTABILITY IN OIL-PRODUCING REGIONS, LIKE THE MIDDLE EAST. Iran did it a few weeks ago with their missile testing to raise oil prices and make a few million more bucks. Doing something like starting a war is sure to make prices go up, not down! This says something about his grasp of economics.

And for the record, Saddam had given up his nuke program years before we invaded. And he had no ties to terrorists either, so those are out.

If you want to talk about a brutal human rights record as a justification for invasion, then let's go after Saudi Arabia next. Public executions, subjugation of women, complete lack of religious freedom, etc.

This is so Ridiculous and sad that Mr. McCain is still trying to justify that horrible war . You do not need to do that anymore Sir. Please move on with the real issues at hand . Loss of Jobs and house foreclosures have got to be the # 1 issue !

Wow, WMDs. Haven't heard that one in a while. McCain's dusting off the oldies (no pun intended).

These people can only fool the American people. They will swallow any line hook line and sinker. They were duped into getting rid of Saddam for the Iranians(i.e. curveball and Akmed Chalabi) and they gladly went along because the big oil companies were complicit and satiated. I don't know about the average Joe, but "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me."

Go home McCain–as crazy and adolescent as Obam is–you are old enough to have more common sense.

Libertarians–no games, no crap, just commons sense and the constitution/bill of rights.

Thank you for your support.
Bob Barr 2008

McCain is out of his mind!! You can not project "what ifs"!! McCain is sooooo out of touch with reality. All he wants is an excuss for war, war and more war. No Draft, No more wars. Out with the very old, and in with young, educated, good judgement, and no radical temper!!! mcCain scares me!!!! Go Obama

if we had not gone to war, would our economy be this bad?????????!!!!! This joker is just like Bush. I guess Saddam cause the mortgage mess too.

War monger.

This unjustified war against a fully contained Saddam Hussein is WHY gas prices got this high. How many straws can this fool grasp at?????

So while the Iraq government has an $80,000,000,000 surplus from their oil reserves, the United States is still bearing the full cost of this invasion and occupation, and somehow it's Hussein's fault? Is McCain incapable of using reason? This man is wackier than W.

I don't know, the same thing all the other middle eastern states do? Fund terrorism, oppress their people, live like kings while their people suffer…we don't mind allying with them though.
The reason we went to Iraq turned out to be a lie, you can't fix that with hypotheticals 7 years later.

except the UN already had sanctions against what he could use the oil for and price, etc……MCCAIN IS TOO OLD AND HYPOCRITICAL!

Unbelievable! The man has a one track mind!

HA! That's funny, when Saddam was in power, our petro wasn't that high. Next justification for war please

MCcain,
American loss over four thousand men and woman in this War.
What you think he would have been doing is not worth the lives of four
thousand service men and woman.
Saddam's brutal human rights issues is no our business, we should
take of our own human rights ISSUES. Your reason for the War
resulution is sick.
Thanks.

Where is this logic? We did not find WMD. So, he would have acquired this all of a sudden. So, are we now the UN enforcer while other countries were not in agreement? Sounds like a WarHawk.

When he is talking about "human rights"- Is China next on the list?

I wish the Straight Talk Express and Maverick were here to see this. They would not recognize this guy at all. So sad.

Hey McCain, if we didn't go into Iraq we would have billions of dollars to invest in renewable resources. You are a warmonger, all you know is to kill and destroy for power. You will be dead in 20 years and have no vision for the future, leave the rest of the civilized world alone.

So the Bush team decided I want that and so here we are 5 years later, trillions of dollars in debt and countless of lives lost so he (Bush) can have control of that oil.

oh McNuggets please shut up

Everyone knows the war wasn't about WMD but the oil. Bush and Cheney have a nice fat bank account waiting for them after January.

Wow this is going to come back and bite him. Outright stupidity that's all I can say.

Listen, even though Paul Wolfowitz, Cheney and the gang said that we'd be paying for the war in Iraq with Iraqi oil, IT HAS NOT HAPPENED!! Even though the government of Iraq is raking in billions in oil revenue, it is still, you and I, the American taxpayer who are footing the bill for this mess. The military has a name for stuff like this. FUBAR.

Senator, oil prices have skyrocketed in part because we are IN Iraq. Do you not get that?

Wow, unbelievable!

That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life. He took her question and turned it into something completely different. I'll bet if CNN tracked her down and asked how she felt about that answer, she'd tell you she's really pissed off to have been used that way.

Did McCain just confirm that a primary motivation for the Iraq War was oil?

You have to be kidding me…

No, seriously, did McClain just pull WMDs back into the discussion?

Isn't he speaking in a town in which one his campaign managers DOOMED to outsourcing because he lobbied for DHL?

Meanwhile, the member of Saudi royalty known as Osama Bin Laden is still alive, and he IS profiting from the high price of oil. So three cheeers for that (sarcasm there folks).

Remember, as the article from a few weeks stated, "speculators were allowed into the market by a THEN REPUBLICAN CONGRESS."

And remind yourselves again, just how much money is Iraq making from oil revenues this year?

Everytime I think McClain (who I used to like a lot) sinks low like this and can not sink any lower, he one-ups himself.

Sad, just plain sad.

Expensive gas is always a good reason to bomb another country. I think the price of Guiness is too high — can we invade Ireland??

Now McCain is nostradamus, to bad 26 years ago he didn't predict high gas prices.

What a wonderful reason to sacrifice the lives of thousands of American soldiers. Saddam may have been the worst dictator that ever lived but he was never worthy of a drop of blood of any American soldier. To hear that we invaded a sovereign country for the simple reason of violation of human rights is disgusting. If there's enough reason to invade a nation why haven't we invaded china. China has been one of the world's violators of human rights and they are still ecnonmically and politically thriving. Same are for countries in the thrid world countries and how many have we invaded or are threatening to invade them too if they have natural resorces especially oil?

Aha! So it finally comes out - this war really was all about the oil.
We knew it, but it's interesting to hear a Republican finally admit it.

Yes, and this is why McCain comes across as an intellectual nut case. There is no way that Bush would have gotten the public behind a war with Iraq if it was not for 9/11 and the lies that followed. I am personally upset with the Democratic nuts that took impeachment off the table. There needs to be safe guards in place to prevent this type of misleading the public from ever happening again. There should never be a war without a direct threat and proper justification.

How worse off can the world be. Everyone hates us. We have lost just about all of our allies. The oil was not this high before we went to war. Supposedly, atleast this is what we were told, that the war would pay for itself through Iraq's oil reserves and that has just not happened. This man truly does not know what he is talking about. And all jokes aside he is not ready too lead. Celebrity or not I trust American under Obama's leadership. Because the more I hear this guy talking the more he scares me.

Well this man is cazzy, on what world is he living

I guess senile McCain forgot that there was an embargo against Iraq and he couldn't sell that oil unless it was through the UN oil for food program. He also forgot to mention that Saddam got those WMD's and permission to use them from the Reagan administration.

Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. What a moron. I'm sure his ignorant followers are eating it up though. Good job on the fact checking CNN.

Seems like more of the same… The politics of fear are at play by the Republicans before an election. I reject this nonsense rhetoric as pandering for votes. Everyone knows that Saddam didn't have the weapons that Bush and McCain said he had. This is just a hypothetical statement from a proven liar.

Keep going John, you're saving the Obama Campaign a lot of work.

That a fat lie,just remember Micheal More 9/11 video where he tape Dick Chaney say they're all fools. The American public will pay whatever we set the preice of gas they will pay what ever….

Look at the video

I believe the world will be far worse off if men with the mindset of our current President are allowed to continue running this country.

Perhaps McCain did not get the memo that there were no WMD in Iraq. Is he now saying it is okay for us to attack a sovereign nation because we don't like their leader? Should we start making a list of future engagements under a McCain presidency now?

Oh, and by the way. Wasn't Iraqi oil supposed to pay for rebuilding? Where the heck is all of the oil money? Are we still not pumping any oil 5 years later? Or do we have no control over the money? (boy, that would be a surprise!) If the oil was supposed to pay for this mess at $30 a barrel, why do we have $120 oil AND a $1 trillion bill for the war? Who's pockets are full of oil money???????????????

It is funny how John McCain came up with this conclusion. He is trying to justify the war in Iraq and this is the best he has? Iraq war was fought for self defense, a clause in International Law. Its his frustration and unpopularity for the prime post that is making him make such meaningless comments.

John McCain knew in 2001 that these six months was going to happen? And his answer was to go to war with the country as a solution?

When all you have is a hammer, suddenly all your problems begin to look like nails.

Give that man a Klondike bar

Yeah. We believe that!! McCain could barely remember his bearing let alone see into the future that oil prices were gonna go up that's he voted for the war. Hmm, I still believe in the tooth fairy and I will bet I could sell John an ocean front property in Arizona.

oil? well at least one of these jerks admits it.

NoMoreRebulicans 08.

McCain's comment shows that 5+ years in captivity has rendered his brain unuseable. He should seriously consider declining the nomination - or the party should demand he do so-in order to allow a sane person to run on the GOP ticket.

Uh, the war is the reason why prices are so high, you nitwit!

We pre-emptively invaded a country that had not attacked us and destabilized the Middle East.

Does anyone actually think the Iraq war was a GOOD idea? Apparently McCain does!

So in other words, it's not okay to make billions of dollars from oil revenue?

What a clown McCain is. Four thousand American lives later, of course the war was about the oil and greed. How does a man runnig for president make a statement like that so proudly. What a shameful old man. McCain would bring four more years of Bush.

OK. SO NOW… HE "KNEW" THE PRICE OF OIL WOULD SKYROCK AFTER 2003, SO BECAUSE OF THAT, WE WOULD NEED TO GO IN AND TAKE SADDAM OUT..

BECAUSE SENATOR McKARNACK-THE-MAGNIFICENT, KNEW SADDAM WOULD SOON BE RECEIVING AN OIL PROFIT WIND FALL, AND THAT HE 'KNEW" HE WOULD USE IT FOR WMD !!!

Really guys…. really???? 'this' is better than Obama????

really?

What a long winding spin to answer a very simple question. What McCain conveniently choses to forget is the fact that if Saddam was in power, the price of oil wouldn't be this high given the oil output on the supply side from stable Iraq.

Hey McCain, you can take your audience for fools but not the rest of us.

If you think John McOilmanbush, will ever admit he "the maverick" has made a mistake in wanting to go to war, you are ever so mistaken. There are some, and McBush is one of those, who believe it's o.k. to invade a country, kill its leaders and citizens so that they might steal from that country its wealth.. All in the name of democracy. And we wonder why the rest of the world looks at us as tyrants… Our ever so brillient BUSH is in China right now telling the Chinese how to run their government (as though he has done such a fine job here in his own yard). All the while begging for more money from the Chinese so we Americans can keep killing Iraq's country. When will our people and politicans learn to keep their nose out of other countries business and tend to our own problems first… When are we, the Citizens of the United States going to demand our military leave Iraq NOW and for god sakes keep that thug George W. Bush padlocked in the white house until his term is up…..

Let me get this straight. John McCain is justifying his support of the Iraqi war in 2002 based on what Saddam Hussein would do if he were alive today? That just does not make sense. I think McCain is having another senile moment.

I seem to recall that oil was between $40-$50 per barrell BEFORE we invaded. McCain is out of touch with Americans who are not lifelong politicians.

If Saddam were still around we wouldn't be in this mess…..why would it be different now than before we invaded his country? The only reason the prices are so high now is because bush and his gang are purposely keeping certain fields in Iraq shut down allowing no production…..that's why we invaded the country…..he and his buddies wanted control…..is there anyone who has not yet seen the pictures of daddy bush and the sheik?

What a lame, lame way to spin this! McCain can sputter all he wants, but that war vote is indefensible.

Oil may not have gone so high without the war; we certainly would have spent fewer billions of American dollars on a fruitless effort that has cost untold lives; maybe this, maybe that.

And this may tries to distance himself from the Bush administration? Please — he just can't hide his true colors.

What would the price of oil be today if we didn't enter Iraq? Any educated feedback on that one?

mcshame you are a loser bro oil prices are jumping because your Bush buddy is the one making the prices with EXXON

If Saddam was still in power, the only person who would benefit from sky-high Iraqi oil is Kofi Annan's son. Guess McCain already forgot the heavy U.N. sanctions in place while Saddam was in power and that the Oil for Food program was the only legitimate way Saddam could get Iraqi oil to market. Saddam had to sell Iraq's oil for pennies on the dollar in return for food and medicine because Kojo Annan ran the most corrupt program in the history of the U.N.

hmm so why isnt the US attacking Iran then?

dealing with hypotheticals is all he has..

Bush agrees to 2010 time-horizon

Oil is down

Tire gauges work in reducing daily consumption..

This guy is too OLD tooooo LEAD… even a horse to water..

When he says that Saddam had aquired WMD twice before, is he referring to the weapons we sold him?

Also, gas didn't go up this high until we invaded Iraq.

Huh? So he would've voted for a lie because he knew oil would dramatically rise in price. John McCain can "tell you" what Saddam Hussein would do? Is that kinda like how he "knows" how to catch Osama Bin Laden? Is John McCain a psychic? If so, then we definately should elect him to office. On the other hand, if he was a psychic why didn't he cheating on his first wife leading to his divorce. Or why didin't he "know" how to prevent a visit to the Hanoi Hilton? Maybe his psychic powers have grown since then. Sheesh

So, Mr McCain, using that line of gibberish, if Brittney had not shaved her head and was still in power, do you think she would have a chance of a cabinet post in your administration?

And volunteering your wife for the topless beauty contest in Sturgis???
Nothing is connecting too well for you upstairs these days, is it John? Are you a firetruck today? Or is it biker Thursday? Tapioca Tuesday?

Do you really think that the American public would trust you with all of the important decisions that are going on in our country right now?

Maybe, just maybe…if there wasn't so much turmoil in the middle east (ie Iraq), the prices wouldn't have jumped so high in the first place…McCain, you're a riot, I can't help buy laugh, I miss the McCain of 2000, you know, the respectable guy.

Gimme a break…..What other "what if's" can this clown shoe babble on about? What if Bush hadn't been elected president? What if the current oil cartel wasn't in Washington? What would the cost of crude be then?

That's taking stupidity to a new lower level. Saddam was limited by the amount of oil he could sell by UN sanctions. None of the price surge would have helped him much. All of the war has helped the dictator of Venezuela, the Iranians and the Russians.

McCain does not understand … the issue is not whether Saddam should have been toppled = but how it was done — circumventing the Constitution and Lying to the American public should be an impeachable offense (certainly registers higher than what Clinton did) … we would have succeeded in toppling Saddam in other ways (including economic) — but that was not the way that the neo-cons decided to drive this thing … and now there have been probably 500,000 people killed so that Americans can drive Humvies … John - bite me — go back to Phoenix now and just leave us alone!!!!

WHAT!! don't speculate on what he would do. we found no wmd and were so tight on what that country could and couldn't do. he couldn't order a venus fly trap on the internet without someone knowing.

just a crock of bull dung to try and tie todays oil prices, which have gone up drastically with this war, to removing him and his wmd's. wasn't there and oil for food program in place? sell the oil and all they could buy the proceeds was civilian supplies?

So McCain has finally admitted that we invaded Iraq for oil.

Congrats to him for honesty, even though it's 5 and a half years too late.

As for the effect on the price of oil:
When we invaded, Iraq was pumping out the same volume/day as it is now. During the intervening 5 years, Iraq's output was consistantly lower than before the invasion. The instability that our invasion caused has caused price fluctuations, often increasing the fundamental price of fuel by as much as 30.00/bbl (though right now the additional "security concerns" increase is less than 5.00/bbl.

Since the invasion, Iraq has exported ~4 billion barrels of oil. Our invasion cost 1.6 trillion dollars thus far. Which means that if the invasion was actually about oil (McCain has finally admitted it), the cost of oil from Iraq's military misadventure have cost an additional ~400.00/bbl - before we pay regular market price for them.

Empirial expansion is not a good way to obtain oil. McCain should revert back to lying about this again… the truth just makes him look even more stupid about energy.

So senator McSame by your logic the US should attack the Saudis since they funded the Sept 11th attacks and Bin Laden's family ties are there?!

MCSHAME, MCSHAME, YEA AND IF WE HADN'T INVADED IN THE FIRST PLACE WOULD GAS BE 147 $ A BARREL!? NO. WHAT A TOOL MCSAME HAS TURNED OUT TO BE.

Um …. isn't the US action in Iraq a big part of the reason for the higher oil prices? We create instability, the price goes up, and McCain blames Sadaam? duh

McCain is telling the truth about the threat Hussein would have been if he were still there garnering today's,price of oil……….there is a big difference.

Since Sadam is dead and gone and we are paying through the nose for fuel. Given your rationale Senator McCain, who do you suggest the United States of America next hunt down and kill over the price of oil? Obviously we need to keep murdering until everyone who can raise the cost of oil is dead.

That brings us to the McCain pledge for 100 more years of war.

WAR FOR OIL!!!! OLD MAN JUST TOLD ON HIMSELF!!!!

McCain is so sick and I am tired of looking and listerning to him-Bush
had Saddam killed so he could try and take the oil what did it do but get a lot of people killed for a lie and oil is still high.

Heck,it looks like I am the only guy caring about your absurdities,CNN.

So, in other words, we went to war for oil? Or did I miss what he was saying when he spun his answer. This is really sad…over 4100 soldiers are dead because of him and those who voted over a lie to the American people. I hope you all know that McCain will keep over half the staff that G.W. Bush has.

So pathetic……………..

Wow.

So much pandering to do, so little time to do it in.

I had a lot more respect for John McCain a few years ago.

All Hypothetical BullShiza! I have one too, John McCain is better off dropping out so the world can be a better place.

ARE WE GOING TO 'WAR WITH CHINA', BECAUSE OF CHINA'S HUMAN RIGHT'S VIOLATION.

YOUR A REAL JOKE—MCCAIN

Yet another lack of understanding on McCain's part. Considering the price of oil was around $30-$40 when we went into Iraq, how can he say if we didn't go into Iraq oil would be at the price it is now?

Does he not understand that our Middle East policy, especially what we've done in Iraq, has had a big impact in the cost of oil today?

Again, will someone tell me how town halls meetings are where McCain does his best? Do people who report that not watch those town hall meetings? Seems if he gets a question that isn't pre-selected to match his current policies, his answers are always so ignorant.

Does this guy really think that we'd be dealing with oil at $120, $125, $130 a barrel if it weren't for his war?

war-monger!

Finally the truth, we went to war over oil. All those lives lost, and for what? It has done no good. Wish McCain would stop insulting our intelligence.

Or… if we had never gone in… and the Iraqi resistance hadn't blown up most of the Oil production devices, and therefor cut the supply from Iraq, and caused billions of dollars in reconstruction….

MAYBE OIL WOULDNT BE 125 BUCKS A BARREL YOU SHMUCK

So you are finally admitig that the only "plausible" reason for invading Iraq is because we didn't wan't them to have access to the large amounts of Oil stored in THEIR "Sovereign" lands…..??!!!! After the enormous death toll (US, Allies and Iraq's)……this is all about OIL??!!!!

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION SHOULD BE TRIED for TREASON!!!!

Yeah, I'd much rather have a backwater dictator whose country is under all sorts of economic and trade sanctions than U.S. oil companies who get a free ride from the government and have Americans by the balls in control of Iraqi oil. People don't seem to understand that American oil companies don't care about the pain of American consumers any more than Saddam Hussein, AND they have much more power to raise prices. Oil probably wouldn't be AT $120 a barrel if we hadn't invaded Iraq.

Now he's trying to use the same old Iraq scare tactics that got us into this misguided war in RETROSPECT? God, McCain is so dumb! How dumb does he think we are? It makes me so mad!

Iraq was being embargoed. He wouldn't be getting that money.

You are confused, old man.

We already knew this. Please, please give McCain the news coverage he is whining about!!!! America needs to see the real McBush!!! Let the media fawn on him for a while. At least, America will begin to be informed at his "oil hungry-warmongering" ways!!!

At last someone is telling the truth - this war has ALWAYS been about oil…from the very beginning. This is why is it is vital that we rid ourselves of our dependancy on foreign oil, and oil period. Than no one ever has to die or kill for oil again.

Even if this premise made any sense (e.g. no WMD ever found), who says the price would have ever gotten this high without the Iraq war?

McCain is a total nut case. Saddam never controlled oil pricing, OPEC did when Saddam was alive and OPEC still does. McCain needs a history lesson on the middle east and stop using lies and fear that only tells informed people how misinformed he is.

If Saddam were still isolated and contained as he was when we invaded Iraq, the price of oil would likely still be stable and McCain's fear-mongering would be even more laughable than it is in this story.

I thought we had sanctions and Iraq could only use their oil for food? Or was that not the case!!!! So how exactly was he going to be making the big bucks?

Wow! These republicans are actually scientists! They had discovered the time machine in 2002 and traveled in 2008 to see how high the oil prices would be and how many weapons saddamm hussain would be making in 2008!

That's why they attacked Iraq, but had a difficult time explaining their action since they weren't allowed to disclose about the time machines….

Bunch of fanatics……

Right on, John! Let's invade Iran too! And Saudi-Arabia, since al the 9/11 hijackers came from that country! Keep 'em coming…"bomb, bomb, bomb Iran." "100 years in Iraq"

The cause of the Iraq War was Oil period! McCain and Bush say repeatedly that we are getting oil from a part of the world that does not like us very much. With rising demand for oil in the rest of the world (Russia, China, India), those countries would reach a point where they would not have to sale oil to us. That would have destroyed our economy. I am sure the Oil executives briefed Bush on this threat very early on in his presidency. The Bush administration felt that they had to install a government that was friendly to the United States and would continue to sale us oil at a reasonable price. I think that was the rationale for going to war. Sounds logical, right? Iraq was just the easiest target for the installation of a U.S. friendly government (We basically dismantled their military during and after the first gulf war, they had a crazy dictator nobody liked, and they were under U.N. sanctions). We invaded them expecting that their people would love us for doing so. However, they were not happy with our presence and we dismantled their military and police force which created a law enforcement void that Al Queda exploited. This is what happened folks and I strongly believe that those that think otherwise are foolish.

What a doofus….how can anyone vote for this clown? After all that's happened he still clings to the WMD theory. How can someone be so out of touch.

So McCain thinks this is a good reason to go to war and lose over 4,00 Americans lives with untold hardship for injured vets and the families of all servicemen not to mention a million Iraquis killed, many children? For oil? So spending billions each month in Iraq somehow off sets his view about the expense of increased oil if we were not invading such a country? Where is this logic when he voted against all the recent bills that would have supported new energy sources like wind power? So going to war for oil is OK with him? Wake up people, if he wins we will invade Iran, Pakistan, you name it. We will be a broken nation with no army left and ruined finances. Thats how Al Q. will win.

Well who do you think has been holding the money bag for the last almost 8 years after invading Iraq for not one reason just a pack of made up lies to frighten citizens ?The crooks that come to mind Bush,Cheney , G raham, Rove, McWar ,Haliburton and the list goes on and on.
McWar
Get your your story straight before you open your Frog mouth then grin like one.
We are fed up with your made up lies you no doubt have Buffalo chips in your head .

How sad Sen. McCain has become. It's the instability in the Middle East that has led to this gouging. If Saddam (yes, a brutual dictator but one of many) was still in power, more stability in the Middle East could have led to the oil flowing more freely. Prices may not even have jumped. We no longer have any way of knowing but it is a ridiculous stretch for McCain to come up with this.

Is this McBush's confession that the Iraq war is all about oil?

That a boy McWar…..WMD…….are you ever stuck in neutral.

McWar got caught with his pants down with this question and he

blurbed what he was programmed to say……but guess what McWar

I'm going to watch it again, and I'm sure you probably said the war was

over OIL.

Ultimately, McCain concluded, “If he were still in power, I believe that the world would be far worse off, especially with all the money he’d be making off of oil.”

Oh. As opposed to say all those oil corps I guess. Yes, I feel much better now.

When are we going to Venezuela and Iran? You gotta love McWar and his rationales.

McCain is a pathological liar just like Bush and Cheney.

What McCain fails to acknowledge publicly is that one of the main reasons oil prices are so high is because of the invasion of Iraq. He knows this though and hopes to continue talking about paris hilton so the american people are distracted from the mess him and the rest of the rubber stamp republicans have gotten us into

Does he really think Americans are that stupid? The price of oil was half of what it was today BEFORE THE WAR. Everybody knows the Bush/Cheney war has caused the price of oil to rise.

You still never answer the question.

really mccain? you don't think that if we had never gone to Iraq, oil prices would have never gone so high? you're completely out of touch.

This guy is too old.. thats it too old… plus looking more and more senile…

YOUR PROBABLY RIGHT JOHN. GOOD THING SADAM IS OUT OF THE PICTURE.

If McCain had supported alternative energy over the last 26 years, we wouldn't have needed foreign oil and we wouldn't be a trillion dollars in debt and would't have lost 4000 American lives. What a " little jerk" to coin one of his idiotic expressions.

I wonder if mcOil really is this stupid or he just thinks we are that stupid. The Iraq war caused the high oil prices you dangerous, crazy old man.

Kerry was right: this guy is really dangerous!!!!
4000 boys killed for big oil, and he has no regrets???
Shameful!!!!!!

mcsame has no substance. his only words in his vocabulary is WAR AND SURGE. and to attack sen. obama. so that americans don't see his lack of substance. wait for the debate.

Yep, JohnnyMac, it was about oil all the time, and you've lied the whole time and changed your tune with every note sung by the lyin', cheatin' Bush administration. Thanks for all the "straight talk" you dried up, old, geriatric mess.

Johnny, this might be slightly plausible if you had, y'know, said ANYTHING like this in real time. Here you go rewriting history again. This is really a stupid rationale.

Obama should have a field day with this one.

He is really reaching. Yes Saddam used chemical weapons on his own people. I wonder where he got the material to make them. And this was over 20 years ago. Why didn't the US do something then? Bush and his cronies wanted this war and the Congress allowed it to happen. Shame on them

Would oil be at $120, $125, $130 a barrel if we never invaded Iraq, John?

OMG. Another Republican falsehood to take us to war. What is it going to take to get these war mongers out of office?

Booo. Did we scare you?

Sounds like some PURE speculation that is highly unlikely since it's been proven that Sadaam was nowhere near any kind of real development of WMDs. You can't punish someone for something they didn't do but in theory may be capable of doing 5 years in the future if oil prices shoot up to $130 a barrell.

Nevermind the fact that the turmoil in the Mideast created by Bush's policies and the war is largely responsible for the current price of oil.

Saddam was always opposed to radical Islam. The Iraq war brought Al Queada to Iraq. The war was and is stupid, wasteful and criminal. Only McBush is crazy enough to not see this.

EVERYBODY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES - UNLESS MCCAIN IS ELECTED THE WHOLE WORLD IS DOOOOOOMED

BE SCARED OF ANYBODY BUT MCCAIN

We knew the war was about oil all along anyway.

EVERYBODY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES - UNLESS MCCAIN IS ELECTED THE WHOLE WORLD IS DOOOOOOMED

BE SCARED OF ANYBODY BUT MCCAIN

thats pretty much what the rethuglican argument is these days

FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR

IT WON'T WORK THIS TIME

OBAMA 08

McCain is one STUPID man, now he is using hypotheticals to justify this illegal war. Dose he ever stop talking about war? Did anyone suggest to him that if we had not started this ILLEGAL WAR , then maybe oil would be $60.00 a barrel.

If I were the Obama team I would be pouncing on McCain's comments until next week. What a moron? He should really keep his comments to a minimum until the debates if he really wants to win.

So I guess he just told us we went to war for oil. Thanks for getting this out there CNN.

If the US can help stabilize Iraq and establish a pro-US democracy there successfully, President Bush can score a big one in history!

Does he think Americans are idiots ? Maybe ( Rs. ) ?

This guy is an idiot.

This is absurd. "You see, if we hadn't invaded Iraq, then, uh, gas prices would be high."

Is McCain getting desperate? Oh, and I thought w