many ignorant people on getig argued for years "it's not about the oil!"
back in 2004, 2005... it was hilarious up in here. Parroting the lines about liberating them and spreading democracy lmao
I think those in power do the cold power calculations AND try to promote noble causes, at least on occasion. From the various examples of intervention, it seems clear that the primary goal is always some perceived security interest, e.g. securing oil or deposing some douche that is destabilizing the area. But that doesn't mean someone planning the operation can't also believe some noble cause will be promoted as well.
Still, noble causes are never promoted on their own without an accompanying security interest. That's why we deploy so little to Africa, a place perfect for noble interventions against poverty, genocide, dictatorship, disease, and everything else. There just isn't an accompanying security interest most of the time.
So, while the government always lies about every single operation being about a noble cause, the reality is that a noble cause is only promoted when it happens to co-exist alongside a security interest . That being the case, I think it's fair to say Operation Iraqi Freedom
was about democracy and liberation to some extent; it's just that these factors weren't the primary reason we were there, and if they were the only reasons to intervene, we wouldn't do it.