Of course it's not about oil, just like Iraq wasn't about oil. Smaller nations fight for resources; superpowers fight for theatre dominance, so that they can influence a region politically and become not only its business partner (thus getting the oil) but also influence its politics and culture to be favorable to the superpower. When you think about giant, powerful countries like the USA, Russia, or China, think about empire. They can't do it the Roman way, because that offends their democratic electorate, but they can do it with money. Indirectly.
