[mobglob-discuss] Wolfowitz: Iraq war was about oil (Guardian)

[martin william fournier]

Wolfowitz: Iraq war was about oil

George Wright
Wednesday June 4, 2003

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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