Richard Adams in Washington The Guardian, Monday September 17 2007 Article history Alan Greenspan, the consummate Washington insider and long-time head of the US central bank, has backed the position taken by many anti-war critics - that the invasion of Iraq was motivated by oil. His claim comes in his newly published autobiography, The Age of Turbulence, in which he also castigates George Bush's administration for making "grave mistakes" in economic policy.
Sounding more like an activist than a lifelong Republican who worked alongside six US presidents, Mr Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, said in an interview with the Guardian that the invasion of Iraq was aimed at protecting Middle East oil reserves: "I thought the issue of weapons of mass destruction as the excuse was utterly beside the point." Mr Greenspan said it was clear to him that Saddam Hussein had wanted to control the Straits of Hormuz and so control Middle East oil shipments through the vital route out of the Gulf. He said that had Saddam been able to do that it would have been "devastating to the west" as the former Iraqi president could have just shut off 5m barrels a day and brought "the industrial world to its knees". In the book Mr Greenspan writes: "Whatever their publicised angst over Saddam Hussain's 'weapons of mass destruction', American and British authorities were also concerned about violence in the area that harbours a resource indispensable for the functioning of the world economy. I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil." Asked to explain his remark, he said: "From a rational point of view, I cannot understand why we don't name what is evident and indeed a wholly defensible pre-emptive position." As longest-serving chairman of the Fed, Mr Greenspan was renowned for his cryptic statements about the economy. But in his memoir, which went on sale over the weekend, he uncharacteristically criticises the Bush administration, while praising Bill Clinton and his advisers. "Little value was placed on rigorous economic policy debate or the weighing of long-term development," he writes of the current administration. The 81-year-old's attack will hurt a White House already suffering feeble approval ratings and a faltering economic background. Describing ballooning government deficits under President Bush, he condemns the way deficit spending was used to support the legislative agenda: "It was a struggle for me to accept that this had become the dominant ethos and economic policy of the Republican party."--- Bhairitu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > lurkernomore20002000 wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > >> I see nothing wrong with the tone here on FFL > >> > > > > Okay, but when you get comments like, "So and > So is pretty cool even > > though she doesn't believe the gov't orcestrataed > 9-11". You once > > blasted me for being condescending. What > category would this this fall > > into. > > > > > Well deserved if you were presenting yourself that > way. But it's just > an opinion so what difference does it make? I > believe being candid is > good and I would have no problem making comments > here to someone in > person though it might well be taken differently in > that environment. > BTW, Rush is well known for his name calling. The > term "femi-Nazis" > comes to mind. :) > > If you want to get > > > >> "spiritually drunk" there are other "bliss" > groups that cater to > >> discussion on "spiritual" topics. > >> > > > > There's the "All Amma, All The Time" site. Not > sure how to make it > > through two or three posts there. > > > There lies the rub. Unless you spent time with that > group you might not > be able to make it through. :) That's why I hang > out here as I spent > the most time doing TM though this tantra program > I'm on is soon to be > the longest. I relate well to the SYDA folks that I > have known but what > open boards I've found didn't have much on them. As > an astrologer I > used to hang out at events and workshops and met > all kinds of cool > folks from different spiritual disciplines. Those > too became fragmented > particularly with one group who was fond of a > certain teacher and yet > the folks who followed the school I represent were > able to read a chart > readily whereas his just stumbled around (probably > much to his chagrin > as I am a friend of the guy) and made stabs at > readings. I think it > just miffed them that we went "bang, bang, bang... > okay what do you guys > see." So we went our separate ways and with the > downturn in "new age" > centers after the 90's there was not much to hang > out at but when there > was it was fun to make friends from other > disciplines. > > > > ------------------------------------ > > To subscribe, send a message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Or go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ > and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links > > > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
