Dispelling the "war for oil" myth
On this weekend's "Meet the Press" presidential wannabe Representative Dennis Kucinich, (D-0hio) again made his outrageous claim that the Bush policy in Iraq is based on oil. It was gratifying to see Richard Perle from the American Enterprise Institute and Chairman of the Defense Policy Board take him to task on this. Here is an excerpt from the transcript:
MR. RUSSERT: Congressman, you made a very strong charge against the administration and let me show you what you said on January 19. “Why is the Administration targeting Iraq? Oil.” What do you base that on?Perle did not directly respond to Kucinich's absurd statement that "no other case has been made to go to war against Iraq...." Excuse me? Kucinich may not agree with it, but the President has certainly made a case for war against Iraq--on many fronts. What is this guy thinking? Well of course this is the same man who after a career in politics just decided to flip-flop his stance on abortion. My question is why? I have a better chance of winning the Democratic nomination for president than Dennis Kucinich for goodness sake. Why abandon your principles to tilt at windmills? Dennis is a menace--but mostly to himself.
REP. KUCINICH: I base that on the fact that there is $5 trillion worth of oil above and in the ground in Iraq, that individuals involved in the administration have been involved in the oil industry, that the oil industry certainly would benefit from having the administration control Iraq, and that the fact is that, since no other case has been made to go to war against Iraq, for this nation to go to war against Iraq, oil represents the strongest incentive. ...
MR. PERLE: ... I find the accusation that this administration has embarked upon this policy for oil to be an outrageous, scurrilous charge for which, when you asked for the evidence, you will note there was none. There was simply the suggestion that, because there is oil in the ground and some administration officials have had connections with the oil industry in the past, therefore, it is the policy of the United States to take control of Iraqi oil. It is a lie, Congressman. It is an out and out lie. And I’m sorry to see you give credence to it.
Chris Alden
Christopher J. Alden is Chairman & CEO of Six Apart Ltd., the world's leading blogging company. Six Apart acquired Rojo Networks, Inc., creator of an innovative RSS feed reading service, where Mr. Alden was co-founder and CEO. Before Rojo, he was CEO of Red Herring Communications, Inc., publisher of Red Herring magazine -- described by the Wall Street Journal as the "bible of Silicon Valley" - which he helped launch out of his house in 1993. Prior to that he founded Computer Guides, a consultancy.
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2 Comments
Whereas Perle (known in the Reagain administration as "the prince of darkness," and "Dr. No" for his creepy willingness to entertain the idea of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union) is a menace to the World in his position as the dominant outside advisor to the Pentagon.
In truth, while the congressman's arguments are simplistic, it would be disingenuous to argue that part of the reason why we are so concerned about Iraq is that it possesses rich oil reserves. We do not so much to want to possess them (that is a canard), but we are justly worried about who does possess them: They can be used to fund much mischief.
But that's not the case Kucinich made, so you really aren't defending him very well. It is one thing to suggest that Saddam was made even more of a menace because of his wealth derived from oil. It is entirely another to suggest, as Kucinich did, that the only reason for this war was so that administration cronies could get their hands on oil contracts.