]The chief reason why dollars are more than pieces of green paper
]is that countries all over the world need them for purchases,
]principally of oil. This requires them in addition to maintain
]dollar reserves to protect their own currency; and these
]reserves, when invested, help maintain the current high levels of
]the US securities markets.

]...the need to dominate oil from Iraq is also deeply intertwined
]with the defense of the dollar. Its current strength is supported
]by OPEC's requirement (secured by a secret agreement between the
]US and Saudi Arabia) that all OPEC oil sales be denominated in
]dollars. This requirement is currently threatened by the desire
]of some OPEC countries to allow OPEC oil sales to be paid in
]euros.

Interesting... long but good. I just wish I knew enough about
macroeconomics to critique his essay.

Bush's Deep Reasons for War on Iraq: Oil, Petrodollars, and the OPEC Euro question