Iraq war ‘was for oil’

WASHINGTON – Former Federal Reserve Chairperson Alan Greenspan in a memoir to be released on Monday declares that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.

Greenspan also criticised President George W Bush and congressional Republicans for abandoning fiscal discipline and for putting politics ahead of sound economics. The London Sunday Times reports it is Greenspan’s view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion that is likely to provoke the most controversy.”I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says.Greenspan, 81, is understood to believe that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the security of oil supplies in the Middle East.In his book, ‘The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World’, Greenspan said he was surprised Bush was unwilling to temper his campaign promises with fiscal reality once elected in 2000, as previous Republican administrations had done.”Little value was placed on rigorous economic policy debate or the weighing of long-term consequences,” he said.”Much to my disappointment, economic policymaking in the Bush administration remained firmly in the hands of White House staff,” he said.Greenspan, now 81, was the second longest-serving chairperson in the Fed’s 93-year history when he stepped down in January 2006.Praise has been heaped on the New York native and self-described ‘libertarian Republican’ for overseeing the longest US economic expansion on record.Greenspan built his reputation as Fed leader with his calm handling of the stock market crash of 1987, the 1997-1998 Asian and Russian financial crises, and the economic turbulence that followed the September 11 2001, attacks on the United States.Nampa-ReutersThe London Sunday Times reports it is Greenspan’s view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion that is likely to provoke the most controversy.”I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says.Greenspan, 81, is understood to believe that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the security of oil supplies in the Middle East.In his book, ‘The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World’, Greenspan said he was surprised Bush was unwilling to temper his campaign promises with fiscal reality once elected in 2000, as previous Republican administrations had done.”Little value was placed on rigorous economic policy debate or the weighing of long-term consequences,” he said.”Much to my disappointment, economic policymaking in the Bush administration remained firmly in the hands of White House staff,” he said.Greenspan, now 81, was the second longest-serving chairperson in the Fed’s 93-year history when he stepped down in January 2006.Praise has been heaped on the New York native and self-described ‘libertarian Republican’ for overseeing the longest US economic expansion on record.Greenspan built his reputation as Fed leader with his calm handling of the stock market crash of 1987, the 1997-1998 Asian and Russian financial crises, and the economic turbulence that followed the September 11 2001, attacks on the United States.Nampa-Reuters

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