Wolfowitz: Iraq war was about oil.
George WrightWednesday June 4, 2003
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
Oil was the main reason for military action against Iraq, a leading
White House hawk has claimed, confirming the worst fears of those
opposed to the US-led war.
The US deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz - who has already
undermined Tony Blair's position over weapons of mass destruction
(WMD) by describing them as a "bureaucratic" excuse for war - has
now gone further by claiming the real motive was that Iraq is
"swimming" in oil.
The latest comments were made by Mr Wolfowitz in an address to
delegates at an Asian security summit in Singapore at the weekend,
and reported today by German newspapers Der Tagesspiegel and
Die Welt.
Asked why a nuclear power such as North Korea was being treated
differently from Iraq, where hardly any weapons of mass destruction
had been found, the deputy defence minister said: "Let's look at it
simply. The most important difference between North Korea and
Iraq is that economically, we just had no choice in Iraq. The country
swims on a sea of oil."
Mr Wolfowitz went on to tell journalists at the conference that the US
was set on a path of negotiation to help defuse tensions between
North Korea and its neighbours - in contrast to the more belligerent
attitude the Bush administration displayed in its dealings with Iraq.
His latest comments follow his widely reported statement from an
interview in Vanity Fair last month, in which he said that "for reasons
that have a lot to do with the US government bureaucracy, we settled
on the one issue that everyone could agree on: weapons of mass
destruction."
Prior to that, his boss, defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, had
already undermined the British government's position by saying
Saddam Hussein may have destroyed his banned weapons before
the war.
Mr Wolfowitz's frank assessment of the importance of oil could not
come at a worse time for the US and UK governments, which are
both facing fierce criticism at home and abroad over allegations that
they exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein in order to
justify the war.
Amid growing calls from all parties for a public inquiry, the foreign
affairs select committee announced last night it would investigate
claims that the UK government misled the country over its evidence
of Iraq's WMD.
The move is a major setback for Tony Blair, who had hoped to
contain any inquiry within the intelligence and security committee,
which meets in secret and reports to the prime minister.
In the US, the failure to find solid proof of chemical, biological and
nuclear arms in Iraq has raised similar concerns over Mr Bush's
justification for the war and prompted calls for congressional
investigations.
Mr Wolfowitz is viewed as one of the most hawkish members of the
Bush administration. The 57-year old expert in international
relations was a strong advocate of military action against
Afghanistan and Iraq.
Following the September 11 terror attacks on the World Trade
Centre and Pentagon, Mr Wolfowitz pledged that the US would
pursue terrorists and "end" states' harbouring or sponsoring of
militants.
Prior to his appointment to the Bush cabinet in February 2001, Mr
Wolfowitz was dean and professor of international relations at the
Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), of the
Johns Hopkins University.
Mitayo Potosi
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