Wolfowitz: Iraq war was about oil

George Wright

Wednesday June 4, 2003: (The Guardian) Oil was the main reason for 
military action against Iraq, a leading White House hawk has claimed, 
confirming the worst fears of those opposed to the US-led war.  

The US deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz - who has already 
undermined Tony Blair's position over weapons of mass destruction 
(WMD) by describing them as a "bureaucratic" excuse for war - has 
now gone further by claiming the real motive was that Iraq is 
"swimming" in oil.  

The latest comments were made by Mr Wolfowitz in an address to 
delegates at an Asian security summit in Singapore at the weekend, 
and reported today by German newspapers Der Tagesspiegel and Die 
Welt.  

Asked why a nuclear power such as North Korea was being treated 
differently from Iraq, where hardly any weapons of mass destruction had 
been found, the deputy defence minister said: "Let's look at it simply. 
The most important difference between North Korea and Iraq is that 
economically, we just had no choice in Iraq. The country swims on a 
sea of oil."  

Mr Wolfowitz went on to tell journalists at the conference that the US 
was set on a path of negotiation to help defuse tensions between North 
Korea and its neighbours - in contrast to the more belligerent attitude 
the Bush administration displayed in its dealings with Iraq.  

His latest comments follow his widely reported statement from an 
interview in Vanity Fair last month, in which he said that "for reasons 
that have a lot to do with the US government bureaucracy, we settled on 
the one issue that everyone could agree on: weapons of mass 
destruction."  

Prior to that, his boss, defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, had already 
undermined the British government's position by saying Saddam 
Hussein may have destroyed his banned weapons before the war.  

Mr Wolfowitz's frank assessment of the importance of oil could not 
come at a worse time for the US and UK governments, which are both 
facing fierce criticism at home and abroad over allegations that they 
exaggerated the threat post by Saddam Hussein in order to justify the 
war.   

Amid growing calls from all parties for a public inquiry, the foreign 
affairs select committee announced last night it would investigate claims 
that the UK government misled the country over its evidence of Iraq's WMD.  

The move is a major setback for Tony Blair, who had hoped to contain 
any inquiry within the intelligence and security committee, which meets 
in secret and reports to the prime minister.  

In the US, the failure to find solid proof of chemical, biological 
and nuclear arms in Iraq has raised similar concerns over Mr Bush's 
justification for the war and prompted calls for congressional 
investigations.   

Mr Wolfowitz is viewed as one of the most hawkish members of the 
Bush administration. The 57-year old expert in international relations 
was a strong advocate of military action against Afghanistan and Iraq.  

Following the September 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Centre 
and Pentagon, Mr Wolfowitz pledged that the US would pursue 
terrorists and "end" states' harbouring or sponsoring of militants.  

Prior to his appointment to the Bush cabinet in February 2001, Mr 
Wolfowitz was dean and professor of international relations at the 
Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), of 
the Johns Hopkins University.  

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Source: Information Clearinghouse...
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3613.htm


Cheers, Steve..

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