Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil

America’s elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shocked the White House by declaring what a lot of people already believed. That the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.

Timesonline reports that in his memoir, which will be published tomorrow, Greenspan, a Republican whose 18-year tenure as head of the US Federal Reserve was widely admired, will deliver a stinging critique of President George W Bush’s economic policies. His view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion will likely provoke much controversy.

“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says.

Greenspan apparently believes that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the security of oil supplies in the Middle East. Of course, Britain and America have always insisted the war had nothing to do with oil. Bush said the aim of the war was to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and end Saddam’s support for terrorism. I am sure this is quite a shock to Bush and his agendas, at this time, given Greenspan's high standing. Yet another blow to his war, at a time when he is trying desperately to hang onto it.