Did The U.S. Plan To Invade The Middle East In The 1970s?

Yes. Following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, in which the U.S. offered overt support to the Israelis, the Arab countries imposed an embargo on oil exports to the West in an attempt to get it to pressure Israel into withdrawing from some of the territory it had occupied. The price of oil went through the roof and Western economies began to suffer dramatically. This led the United States to contemplate, and prepare contingency plans for, an invasion of the Middle East in a bid to seize the oil resources there.

At the time, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger hinted darkly about 'countermeasures' the United States might take in response to the Arab pressure, without specifying what these might be. The full extent of the planning emerged recently when a British government document, containing details of a discussion between the British ambassador and the U.S. defence secretary on the topic, was released to the public.