-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: July 6, 2007 2:53:01 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Australia's Secy of Defense Confesses -- We're in Iraq FOR
THE OIL
Australian troops 'in Iraq because of oil'
By Kathy Marks in Sydney
The Independent (UK), 06 July 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/article2739741.ece
The Australian Defence Minister, Brendan Nelson, has admitted that
oil was a major factor in the government's decision to keep troops
in Iraq -- an unexpectedly frank confession that sent political
commentators into a tizzy.
Australia, a staunch supporter of President George Bush's foreign
policy, joined the US-led invasion of Iraq, saying the assault was
about destroying weapons of mass destruction and fighting
international terrorism.
But protesters have always claimed that the real motive was oil,
and Mr Nelson's interview with the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation yesterday seem to have proved them right.
"Energy security is extremely important to all nations throughout
the world, and of course in protecting and securing Australia's
interests," Mr Nelson said. "Obviously the Middle East itself, not
only Iraq but the entire region, is an important supplier of
energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world. Australians
and all of us need to think what would happen if there was a
premature withdrawal from Iraq."
But his comments provoked a swift denial from Prime Minister John
Howard, who backed away from Mr Nelson's position, denying he - or
Mr Nelson - had said that securing oil supply was a key factor.
"We're not there because of oil, and we didn't go there because of
oil, we don't remain there because of oil," Mr Howard told the
Sydney commercial radio station 2GB. "A lot of oil comes from the
Middle East, we all know that, but the reason we remain there is we
want to give the people of Iraq a possibility of embracing democracy."
He said Australia's main reasons for remaining in Iraq were to
prevent violence between Sunni and Shia, help the US combat
terrorism and stabilise the region. But he said safeguarding oil
supplies was an important part of bringing stability. A defence
review concluded that maintaining "resource security" in the Middle
East was a priority.
Australia, which continues to back the increasingly unpopular war,
initially sent 2,000 troops. It still has 1,000 troops there,
supported by 600 air force and navy personnel in the region.
The opposition Labour Party has promised to withdraw most
Australian troops from Iraq if it wins a general election later
this year. Labour's defence spokesman, Robert McClelland, said
yesterday: "It's taken them four years to acknowledge that fact
(the importance of oil)."
Hugh White, a defence analyst at the Lowy Institute, a think-tank,
said: "In the kind of washing machine of different arguments that
they've been tossing around, the oil has come to the surface, so to
speak, accidentally."
The Australian Treasurer, Peter Costello, backed the Prime
Minister. "We're fighting for something much more important here
than oil," he said. "This is about democracy and freedom in the
Middle East."
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