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Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee
Joined: 25 May 2003
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 Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:38 am Post subject: Greenspan clarifies Iraq war, oil link |
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Greenspan on Iraq war, oil link
Says he told White House ousting Saddam was 'essential' to world supplies
Reuters
Updated: 7:28 a.m. ET Sept. 17, 2007
WASHINGTON - Clarifying a controversial comment in his new memoir, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he told the White House before the Iraq war that removing Saddam Hussein was �essential� to secure world oil supplies, according to an interview published on Monday.
Greenspan, who wrote in his memoir that �the Iraq War is largely about oil,� said in a Washington Post interview that while securing global oil supplies was �not the administration�s motive,� he had presented the White House before the 2003 invasion with the case for why removing the then-Iraqi leader was important for the global economy.
�I was not saying that that�s the administration�s motive,� Greenspan said in the interview conducted on Saturday. �I�m just saying that if somebody asked me, �Are we fortunate in taking out Saddam?� I would say it was essential.�
In his new book �The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World,� Greenspan wrote: �I�m saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: The Iraq war is largely about oil.�
Gates rejects comment
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday rejected the comment, which echoed long-held complaints of many critics that a key motivating force in the war was to maintain U.S. access to the rich oil supplies in Iraq.
Appearing on ABC�s �This Week,� Gates said, �I have a lot of respect for Mr. Greenspan.� But he disagreed with his comment about oil being a leading motivating factor in the war.
�I know the same allegation was made about the Gulf War in 1991, and I just don�t believe it�s true,� Gates said.
�I think that it�s really about stability in the Gulf. It�s about rogue regimes trying to develop weapons of mass destruction. It�s about aggressive dictators,� Gates said.
Greenspan retired in January 2006 after more than 18 years as chairman of the Fed, the U.S. central bank, which regulates monetary policy.
He has been conducting a round of interviews coinciding with the release of his book, which goes on sale on Monday.
Economic motivation for war
In The Washington Post interview, Greenspan said at the time of the invasion he believed like President George W. Bush that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction �because Saddam was acting so guiltily trying to protect something.�
But Greenspan�s main support for Saddam�s ouster was economically motivated, the Post reported.
�My view is that Saddam, looking over his 30-year history, very clearly was giving evidence of moving towards controlling the Straits of Hormuz, where there are 17, 18, 19 million barrels a day� passing through,� Greenspan said.
Even a small disruption could drive oil prices as high as $120 a barrel and would mean �chaos� to the global economy, Greenspan told the newspaper.
Given that, �I�m saying taking Saddam out was essential,� he said. But he added he was not implying the war was an oil grab, the Post said.
Dismay with Democrats
Greenspan, who in his memoir criticized Bush and congressional Republicans for abandoning fiscal discipline and putting politics ahead of sound economics, also expressed dismay with the Democratic Party in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Monday.
Greenspan told the Journal he was �fairly close� to former President Bill Clinton�s economic advisers, but added, �The next administration may have the Clinton administration name, but the Democratic Party ... has moved ... very significantly in the wrong direction.� He cited its populist bent, especially its skepticism of free trade. Clinton�s wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, is the Democratic presidential front-runner.
Greenspan, a self-described libertarian Republican, told the Journal he was not sure how he would vote in the 2008 election.
�I just may not vote,� he was quoted as saying, adding, �I�m saddened by the whole political process.�
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20817260/
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butlerian
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:57 am Post subject: |
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| Out of curiosity, has the OP ever posted a comment that does not support America and its government? A lack of bias would be appreciated. |
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Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee
Joined: 25 May 2003
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:07 am Post subject: |
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Why ought I the US doesn't get a fair deal on this board - but in the past I have in fact do so.
I am pro US - have I ever tried to hide it? Why ought I not be? Especially since the US doens't get a fair deal on this board or in the press in most nations. Question doesn't the US have a right to have its side of the story presented? |
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keane
Joined: 09 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:16 am Post subject: |
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| Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee wrote: |
Why ought I the US doesn't get a fair deal on this board - but in the past I have in fact do so.
I am pro US - have I ever tried to hide it? Why ought I not be? Especially since the US doens't get a fair deal on this board or in the press in most nations. Question doesn't the US have a right to have its side of the story presented? |
How does it not get a fair deal? You've got your Neo-con FACTION flooding every thread with biased bullshit and claiming anyone not supporting the US is anti-US, etc. The neo-cons in reality are a small percentage in the US, but dominate this board with slime-ball tactics, lies, straw men and belligerent, hateful, racist shit.
You're being untruthful. |
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Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee
Joined: 25 May 2003
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:20 am Post subject: |
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| keane wrote: |
| Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee wrote: |
Why ought I the US doesn't get a fair deal on this board - but in the past I have in fact do so.
I am pro US - have I ever tried to hide it? Why ought I not be? Especially since the US doens't get a fair deal on this board or in the press in most nations. Question doesn't the US have a right to have its side of the story presented? |
How does it not get a fair deal? You've got your Neo-con FACTION flooding every thread with biased *beep* and claiming anyone not supporting the US is anti-US, etc. The neo-cons in reality are a small percentage in the US, but dominate this board with slime-ball tactics, lies, straw men and belligerent, hateful, racist *beep*.
You're being untruthful. |
No this board doesn't give the US a fair deal I think you don't give a the US a fair deal either. |
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Dome Vans
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:20 am Post subject: |
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Keane's dead on here. This site is full of people who seem to have the same delusional, blinkered view of the world that Dubya's got. The US to you has the god given right to launch pre-emptive strikes on any country that might have a little bit of hatred for you. Unless of course it's your master Israel, then, hell, let them go.
Would be asking too much to see both sides of the story? |
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Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee
Joined: 25 May 2003
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:22 am Post subject: |
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| Dome Vans wrote: |
Keane's dead on here. This site is full of people who seem to have the same delusional, blinkered view of the world that Dubya's got. The US to you has the god given right to launch pre-emptive strikes on any country that might have a little bit of hatred for you. Unless of course it's your master Israel, then, hell, let them go.
Would be asking too much to see both sides of the story? |
Your are another one who is anti US so I look at the source.
Why bring up Israel? They weren't even in this thread. |
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Dome Vans
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:26 am Post subject: |
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| No this board doesn't give the US a fair deal I think you don't give a the US a fair deal either. |
Joo, again here you sound as though we should be thanking you for unsettling the whole of the middle east on christian/Oil crusade, and the fact you have an illegal prison holding inmates without trial or conviction, and that your president (much like the Blues Brothers) is on a mission from god, or your constant bullying of any nation that doesn't bow down and kiss your feet.
People don't give the US a fair deal because the US don't give anybody a fair deal. Lies, lies and more lies. |
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Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee
Joined: 25 May 2003
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:31 am Post subject: |
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| Joo, again here you sound as though we should be thanking you for unsettling the whole of the middle east on christian/Oil crusade, and the fact you have an illegal prison holding inmates without trial or conviction, and that your president (much like the Blues Brothers) is on a mission from god, or your constant bullying of any nation that doesn't bow down and kiss your feet. |
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