Alan Greenspan: The Iraq War is “Largely about the Oil” … to Me
[Guest post by DRJ]
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has written a book that reportedly said the Iraq War was “largely about the oil.” I don’t know if there was an explanation for this statement in his book but reporters and bloggers interpreted it to mean Greenspan believed the Bush Administration went to war for oil.
Greenspan has now clarified his remarks to say that while he felt deposing Saddam Hussein to protect the Straits of Hormuz was essential for economic reasons, he did not mean that was the Bush Administration’s motive in ousting Saddam:
“Greenspan, who was the country’s top voice on monetary policy at the time Bush decided to go to war in Iraq, has refrained from extensive public comment on it until now, but he made the striking comment in a new memoir out today that “the Iraq War is largely about oil.” In the interview, he clarified that sentence in his 531-page book, saying that while securing global oil supplies was “not the administration’s motive,” he had presented the White House with the case for why removing Hussein was important for the global economy.
“I was not saying that that’s the administration’s motive,” Greenspan said in an interview Saturday, “I’m just saying that if somebody asked me, ‘Are we fortunate in taking out Saddam?’ I would say it was essential.”
I’m glad Greenspan clarified this but I don’t blame anyone for misunderstanding his comment. I haven’t read his book but unless the context made his intent clear, this was a striking statement. You might even call it politically tone-deaf, given the staying power of rhetoric like “No Blood for Oil.”
— DRJ
Limbaugh thinks the passage was penned by a ghostwriter w/o Greenspan’s knowledge:
So what if the war was about oil? Our national security depends on supplies not being at risk. It’s not like people would say no to war and stop using oil because they weren’t told this from the beginning.
steve (80eaff) — 9/18/2007 @ 11:41 amIn the 50s, Greenspan was an Ayn Rand disciple and a champion of the Gold Standard. When Rand turned on her ex-lover Nathaniel Branden, Greenspan joined the ritual renunciation of Branden.
That was just the warm-up for a career of ingratiating himself with every president from Nixon to Bush II (even to the hypothetical future President Hillary), skipping only Jimmy Carter – and who wouldn’t?
So Bush feels betrayed. He might as well feel betrayed by the weather.
Glen Wishard (b1987d) — 9/18/2007 @ 11:54 amI guess the old economist did some quick math and saw some recession looming on the horizon in the lecture sector.
j curtis (ecc9cc) — 9/18/2007 @ 12:18 pmOil hit another record price today:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070918/oil_prices.html?.v=22
I have to say, “Mission Accomplished!”
alphie (99bc18) — 9/18/2007 @ 2:10 pmDid he not give an interview recently where he expounded on this point, and basically said that it was taken out of context, and was interpreted incorrectly?
JD (f6a000) — 9/18/2007 @ 3:35 pmNot that that would slow down Alphie from ignoring the real context and go off on another irrelevant direction of fantasy.
Robin Roberts (6c18fd) — 9/18/2007 @ 4:10 pmRobin,
There are around 1 trillion barrels of proved reserves of oil worldwide.
Oil has gone from about $20 a barrel before we invaded Iraq to over $80 a barrel today.
That’s a $60,000,000,000,000 increase in the value of those proved oil reserves.
Which is more than enough to buy America itself.
Let’s stop pretending, eh?
alphie (99bc18) — 9/18/2007 @ 5:24 pmAlphie, no one is pretending here except you.
You are still pretending to be a “staunch republican” and not the terrorist sympathiser and conspiracy theory nut that all know you to be.
Go back to the studio, your next album is late Moby.
Robin Roberts (6c18fd) — 9/18/2007 @ 5:45 pmNaked self-interest is the motto of all “staunch” Republicans, Robin.
Capitalisim, remember?
All this talk from the current crop of “Republican” leaders about “sacrifice” and “the good of the country” has got to sound phony even to the truest of true believers by now.
Your sacrifice…their gain.
alphie (99bc18) — 9/18/2007 @ 5:58 pmalf…
no one here cares about your naked self interest as long as you keep it indoors and away from the kids.
if you are talking about greenspan, the visual there is both disturbing and wrinkly
have a nice day
SteveG (4e16fc) — 9/18/2007 @ 6:51 pmAlphie,
On the information superhighway, you are the roadkill.
nk (474afa) — 9/18/2007 @ 8:08 pmFunny how all of a sudden The Bubble Machine is coming across loud and clear. Not at all like when he was running the show, painfully cryptic and slicker than teflon. Bernanke is probably ready to strangle him just to shut him up. Don’t remember Volker sabotaging Big Al like he’s doing to Big Ben. Not a lot of class.
allan (3823ea) — 9/18/2007 @ 9:00 pmThe truth is zionists like Greenspan have dragged the West into The Middle East conflict on Israel’s side, on the back of a series of false flag terror attacks in the West blamed on ‘Muslim Terror’. Thats the truth. Thats why you don’t hear it.
Christiano (dfd808) — 9/19/2007 @ 2:15 amIs he one of the liberal eco-qweenies who votes to block drilling in the ANWR why dont this ALAN GREENFREAK go get a life and stop his mindless braying they donkeys make more sense
krazy kagu (e08c0e) — 9/19/2007 @ 12:11 pmkagu… you probably don’t appreciate how hilarious it is to see you telling anyone to that “they [sic] donkeys make more sense”…
Leviticuss (b987b0) — 9/20/2007 @ 6:13 amShite…
There we go: handle rectification.
Leviticus (b987b0) — 9/20/2007 @ 6:14 amChristiano – It always comes down to the Jooooooooooooooooooos for people like you, huh?
JD (f6a000) — 9/20/2007 @ 6:27 am