This article is articulate and rational about the relationship of the economy to war in Iraq.

"This is very hard for Americans to understand. We tend to think of the American nation as a mere extension of our own lives. We all work hard. We mind our own business. We tend to our families and involve ourselves in local civic activities. We love our history and are proud of our founding. We are pleased by our prosperity (even if we don't know why it exists). We think most other Americans live the way we do. We tend to think our government (if we think about it at all) is nothing but an extension of this way of life.
A deadly military empire? Don't be ridiculous. The military is just defending the country. Bush is a potential tyrant? Get real! He's a good man. Those crazy foreigners who resent the US are really no better than those people who attacked us on September 11, 2001: they envy our wealth and hate us for our goodness. We are a godly people, which makes our enemies ungodly, even demonic. This is a short summary of a widely held view, one that those who seek a government-dominated society use to build their public-sector empire." There's at least one part of this piece that's been debunked, of course. When he says "The entire fiasco began with the Iraqi invasion of its former province, Kuwait, which the US ambassador was warned about in advance and responded that the US took no position on the border-oil dispute then brewing," it's a bit misleading. According to this article, Iraq denies that we gave them the go-ahead---they knew we'd respond: "He said she had not given Iraq a green light. "She just listened and made general comments," he told USA Today. "We knew the United States would have a strong reaction.""