To this day, all Iraqi money made from selling it's Oil must pass through an American bank account and the US must authorise what it is spent on.
[ai summary]
Most of Iraq’s oil revenues—its primary source of national income—are deposited into an official account held by the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, rather than remaining inside Iraq. 1]
Key Aspects of Iraq’s Money at the U.S. Federal Reserve
Oil Proceeds Account: Under the post-2003 financial architecture, proceeds from Iraqi crude oil sales are paid directly to accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. 1]
Daily Wire Transfers & Dollar Auctions: The Central Bank of Iraq uses this Fed account to process electronic wire transfers and daily dollar auctions to fund imports and support the Iraqi dinar. 1, 2, 3]
Cash Shipments: The U.S. Federal Reserve periodically ships physical cash (paper U.S. dollars) to Baghdad via cargo planes, including a $500 million cash shipment delivered in August 2026. 1, 2, 3]
U.S. Oversight and Sanctions: Because of concerns regarding illicit money transfers, currency smuggling, and the flow of funds to Iran-backed militias, the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve have placed strict compliance controls, tightened wire transfer oversight, and blacklisted or restricted multiple Iraqi private commercial banks from accessing U.S. dollar transactions. 1, 2, 3]
Recent Rehabilitation Agreements: In July 2026, the CBI and the U.S. Treasury reached an agreement to allow a group of restricted Iraqi private banks to begin a two-stage rehabilitation process to gradually resume correspondent and foreign currency transactions after meeting strict governance and compliance audits. 1, 2, 3]
This is a famous debate between arch neocon Bill Kristol and anti war advocate Scott Horton from 5 years ago.
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And the classic quote by General Wesley Clark that America planned to regime change "7 countries in 5 years"
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3131335
"As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan. … He said it with reproach — with disbelief, almost — at the breadth of the vision. I moved the conversation away, for this was not something I wanted to hear. And it was not something I wanted to see moving forward, either."
Edited to add: note the last country Gen Clark mentions Iran!