Did George W. Bush have a secret agenda when it came to sending troops to Iraq? Some Bakersfield College students shared their thoughts on this issue.

Political science student Clayton Plake discussed at length how American business interests in oil have influenced American political involvement in Iraq for years. He said that President Bush is just one in a long line of world leaders who has placed political interests above the welfare of the Iraqi people.

“This is Bush Junior’s policy, but it was Clinton’s policy in the region, it was Bush Senior’s policy in the region, Carter’s policy in the region and Nixon’s policy in the region,” he said. “It’s not so much one individual as it is a particular ruling class that seeks to assert our political self-interest at the expense of the welfare of others.”

When asked about President Bush’s motives when it came to Iraq, Isaiah Perez, president of the Bakersfield College Democratic Club said, “I believe Bush had a personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein because Hussein wanted to kill his father. At first we were told that Hussein had links to al-Qaida, then we were told he didn’t have links to al-Qaida. “I don’t believe that anything we were told about the war on Iraq was true.”

Kerridwen West, an international relations student, said that American troops will remain in Iraq for some time.

“I don’t think there is any impending departure from Iraq. We have billions of dollars sunk in there. We have vested interests, we have oil interests, we have troop safety. … Warlords would come into greater power than they are in now. … I don’t think that pulling out of there with out a feasible government in operation is an option.”