It's the Chinese, stupid

I like to look at both sides so the reader may choose between the verb forms in parentheses.

It is my fear that after expending immense amounts of treasure and blood both American and Iraqi to (liberate / occupy ) Iraq for the purpose of (spreading democracy / stabilizing the region ) and at the same time helping to secure our access to oil, the United States will be chagrined to find that the Chinese have out bid us for the oil.

Even when I oscillate to the right, I think its about the oil. I guess that means as a conservative, I am a realist.