Greenspan: "Iraq War is About Oil" . . . Duh!

[flyboy55]

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.”

Uh . . . thanks for the news flash Alan.

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.

Uh . . . thanks for the 'clarification' Alan.

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.”

Aren't we all?

As he makes clear in his book, part of his disillusionment stems from two consecutive Bush administrations which combined tax cuts with massive increases in the debt (military spending) to erase the surpluses of the Clinton administration, and in the process vastly increasing the size of government and government spending.

This all comes from a 'self-described libertarian Republican' who in days gone by was a close associate of the late Ayn Rand of Objectivist fame.

I know there are a few 'self-described libertarian Republicans' who post on Buffettnews. What do they make of all this? I would actually like to know.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20817260/

PS Please . . . no fighting or name-calling. Leave that to the politicians.

[chippewa]

Interesting piece on 60 minutes about him last night. Not sure if it was a repeat, but I had never seen it before. Wouldn't think him to be in his 80s, still as sharp as ever.

Apparently Richard Nixon's vocabulary didn't extend much past 4-letter words.

[Skibo]

War about oil, I do not agree with him. Oil is a commodity traded on the world market it will always be available and priced according to the supply/demand curve. OPEC was annoyed with Saddam because he was exceeding his quota driving the price down. Oh yeah, Haliburtin - GWB's friends. Haliburtin could not work in Iraq because of the sanctions. GWB could have lifted them and Haliburtin could have moved in. Once the rebuilding started, who do you award contracts (there are only two oil service companies in the world that could handle the scope of work) Haliburtin - a US based company or Schlumberger - a French company that was involved in the oil for food scandal?

As far as the tax breaks go, revenues to the federal governemtn did increase, unfortunately the spending increased faster. This is one of the issues where I am very annoyed with the president and the congress (republican). If the spending had held steady the deficit would not have occured.

As far as the monday morning QB'ing of the war in Iraq goes. Why, whether it was right or wrong and who lied are not important anymore. We are there. What is important is that we fix the mess that was created there and give the citizens of that country a chance to live in peace under some form of government that can protect them. We overthrew a government, we have a responsibility to repair the damage as does the UN since they sanctioned the activity. This isn't just Bush's war, it is the US's war.

[Crazy Navy Flyer]

Greenspan was on the TODAY show this morning being quizzed by Matt Lauer about his book. Greenspan clarified his oil comment by saying that Saddam Hussein was seeking to get a choke hold on the Straits of Hormuz where about 18 million barrels of oil flow each day to the industrial world. Had he been able to control the Straits it would have caused chaos.

http://video.msn.com/v/us/fv/msnbc/fv.h ... 7cbbe30bb8

[12vmanRick]

This is coming from a guy who almost single handedly caused the problems with interest rates acting like a yoyo that put us in jeopardy as Clinton was leaving office.

He's a moron, I never liked him.

[Wino you know]

Greenspan was on the TODAY show this morning being quizzed by Matt Lauer about his book. Greenspan clarified his oil comment by saying that Saddam Hussein was seeking to get a choke hold on the Straits of Hormuz where about 18 million barrels of oil flow each day to the industrial world. Had he been able to control the Straits it would have caused chaos.

http://video.msn.com/v/us/fv/msnbc/fv.h ... 7cbbe30bb8

You're absolutely right, and in THAT sense, the war IS about oil. (As it SHOULD be).
It may not have been when the war started, but it damn sure is now, and it had damn well BETTER be.
We haven't been on the gold standard in over 60 years-we're on the OIL standard-it's the driving force behind ALL economies, and since the environmentlist kooks have a problem with us drilling for oil here, we have to get it somewhere else.
The way I see it, we have two options.
1)Since we're ALREADY in Iraq and Kuwait, we simply TAKE the oil that's there, or
2)Drill for oil HERE, and if any rent-a-protester gets in the way with their friggin' signs, SHOOT THE MORONS!

Six of one option, a half-dozen of the other.

On ANOTHER note related to this topic-
Today the French Foreign Minister (yes, the FRENCH guy) has warned the world that war with Iran is immenent, and it won't be a picnic. Meanwhile, the Saudis have placed 135,000 of their armed forces and government agents around their oil fields.
What is being predicted is within 12 months the price of oil will be $150.00 a barrel.
It's just over $80.00 a barrel today-about $2.00 higher than when Hurricane Kaitrina hit the Gulf Coast-THINK ABOUT IT-that was a record high for oil at the time, following one of the most devastating natural disasters in the history of the world. Today it's $80.00 a barrel, and there IS no disasters or anything wrong.

Let's PLEASE choose one of my two options above and do it QUICKLY.

OH-and Alan Grenshorts has become a very senile idiot.
(I know you asked for no name calling, but, public figure that he is, he's fair game). He's become a senile idiot.

[mjcatl2]

The U.S. was also involved in the oil for food as well.