[A-List] Wolfowitz: Iraq war was about oil

["Annewilliamson" <Annewilliamson@xxxxxxx>]

Wolfowitz: Iraq war was about oil

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,970331,00.html>

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 posed 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.