Either you weren't born yet when the war started, or you simply just didn't pay attention. Here are quotes of many in Bush Sr.'s admin saying that Iraq would pay for the war with oil.
Who Said the War Would Pay for Itself? They Did!
“When it comes to reconstruction, before we turn to the American taxpayer, we will turn first to the resources of the Iraqi government and the international community.”
Donald Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense
March 27, 2003
“There is a lot of money to pay for this that doesn’t have to be US taxpayer money, and it starts with the assets of the Iraqi people. We are talking about a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon.”
Paul Wolfowitz
Deputy Secretary of Defense
testifying before the defense subcommittee
of the House Appropriations Committee
March 27, 2003
“The allies [have contributed] $14 billion in direct aid.”
Dick Cheney
vice presidential debate with
Democratic candidate John Edwards
October 5, 2004
Actually, only $13 billion was pledged, and on the date Cheney spoke only $1 billion had arrived. As of October 28, 2007, the National Priorities Project estimated that the share of Iraq War costs that had been borne by American taxpayers exceeded $463 billion.
