Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil

[Kefka]

AMERICA’s elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.

In his long-awaited memoir, to be published tomorrow, Greenspan, a Republican whose 18-year tenure as head of the US Federal Reserve was widely admired, will also deliver a stinging critique of President George W Bush’s economic policies.

However, it is his view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion that is likely to provoke the most controversy. “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2461214.ece

[TheEschaton]

Hahahahahahahahahahaha....

...breathe...

...ahahahahahahahahahahaha

[Gan]

wow

[Kranar]

May the campaign of smear and personal attacks commence in just the same way it has for most of the influential and once admired people who have opposed the Bush Administration.

R.I.P. Greenspan.

[Stanley Burrell]

May the campaign of smear and personal attacks commence in just the same way it has for most of the influential and once admired people who have opposed the Bush Administration.

R.I.P. Greenspan.

QFT.

I'm fairly certain that he (Greenspan) has, can and will hold his own with at least Rove-like caliber. Plus he wrote it in a memoir: It's not as if it's a direct frontal assault on everything this administration has allegedly stood for, although the media is decent at inflating these sorts of things.

[thefarmer]

While not as respected as say Colin Powell, I agree, Greenspan should be fine. What does the Bush administration really have to bash him on?

[Parkbandit]

He's looking at it from his expert perspective. He wasn't a Diplomat or a State Department official.. he was a head of the US Federal Reserve. From his perspective, I imagine he only sees the US protecting it's oil supply as the main reason.

It's amazing to me how some of you can latch on to anything that is critical of the Bush Administration and believe it is the gospel. I can't wait for all the "OMG! I NEW IT WUZ 4 OIL ALL ALONG!!!" posts to get recycled now.

[TheEschaton]

OMG! I NEW IT WUZ 4 OIL ALL ALONG!!!

[Parkbandit]

OMG! I NEW IT WUZ 4 OIL ALL ALONG!!!


This could be your best contribution to any political thread ever. Congrats.

[Gan]

I respect Greenspan too much to bash him. Regardless of his political views or motivations.

[Nieninque]

This could be your best contribution to any political thread ever. Congrats.

Looking at how much garbage any political thread is on these forums, I think it is the best contribution by any poster.

Grats The E

[Apotheosis]

OMG! I NEW IT WUZ 4 OIL ALL ALONG!!!

[sst]

Damn I wish they woulda told us this over here. maybe we wouldent have had to play with the the locals so much >.<

[Warriorbird]

Y'know, that's a crazy thought. Would Bush have the support of America in this if he'd pitched the war as a war for American energy independence?

[Blazing247]

Wait, since when did head of the Federal Reserve become a Presidential Cabinet position and become privy to that kind of secret info?

[Jesuit]

Wait, since when did head of the Federal Reserve become a Presidential Cabinet position and become privy to that kind of secret info?

There's a logical explanation for this. Alan Greenspan lives in the same fantasy world that TheEschaton does and Bush visits them from time to time and tells them all his dark secrets.

[Warriorbird]

Or Greenspan is just looking at foreign affairs from an economic standpoint...like Judge Posner looks at the law from an economic standpoint.

[Blazing247]

Facts, we don't need no stinking facts- we got standpoints, man.

[Warriorbird]

There's the Bush presidency for you. Clinton presidency for that matter too.

I'd say that Greenspan and Posner (both quite conservative, just so you know) are more qualified to judge their own qualifications than we are.

[Shari]

I'm curious, PB....If Bush walked into the same room as you, would you try to hump his leg?

[Some Rogue]

I'm curious, PB....If Bush walked into the same room as you, would you try to hump his leg?

Like you and a dress making merchant, without a doubt. But, it's mainly because PB is gay for older men with power. :yes:

[Parkbandit]

I'm curious, PB....If Bush walked into the same room as you, would you try to hump his leg?

I'm curious.. do you think you should stay out of the political folder because you are incapable of adding anything intelligent to the conversation? Maybe you should stick to simple things.. like recent trends in Gemstone Clothing.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e6/belike53/img-1110493276.jpg

[Sean of the Thread]

http://www.savingiceland.org/img_assist/gen/559

[Latrinsorm]

I'm curious.. do you think you should stay out of the political folder because you are incapable of adding anything intelligent to the conversation? Maybe you should stick to simple things.. like recent trends in Gemstone Clothing.So that's a "yes", huh?

[Warriorbird]

An unhesitating yes. I mean...he invoked tits...

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1771556
Internet Commenter Business Meeting

[Warriorbird]

More from Greenspan.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/16/greenspan.book/index.html

[thefarmer]

Go and get youe Greenspan book today!

I think I broke my toe when I was unpacking his books tonite.. Big and heavy suckers. I'm hoping some kid will pull out the wrong book and have the entire 3ft towering display fall on his head.

[Atlanteax]

Actually, Greenspan later clarified that he was referring to the principle of removing Saddam Hussein, as the risk to Oil... was that SH could deny the world up to 13 millions of barrels a day.

13m ... think about it.

That was the oil threat that Greenspan clarified that he was referring to when he said it was about Oil.

[Parkbandit]

Actually, Greenspan later clarified that he was referring to the principle of removing Saddam Hussein, as the risk to Oil... was that SH could deny the world up to 13 millions of barrels a day.

13m ... think about it.

That was the oil threat that Greenspan clarified that he was referring to when he said it was about Oil.

LOL. I heard the same thing today. Hey, but it created a shitload of liberal buzz for his books that wasn't there before the 'quote' got leaked. It's almost like he masterminded the leak to create more buzz for his new book.

Weird.

[CrystalTears]

But, it's mainly because PB is gay for older men with power. :yes:
Bush is older?

[Clove]

Bush is older?

FTW!

[Some Rogue]

FTW!


This just in, Clove likes older Bush.
:tumble:

[Clove]

This just in, Clove likes older bush.
:tumble:

:bananahit:

[DeV]

That was the oil threat that Greenspan clarified that he was referring to when he said it was about Oil.Lol @ all the spinning.

[Tsa`ah]

Lol @ all the spinning.

No doubt.

With that spin, Chavez better watch his ass.

[TheEschaton]

Hmmmm, both Atlanteax and PB heard the same thing at around the same time, haven't quoted a source, and are the only ones to have heard it....

I'm willing to wager said source is either FoxNews or, worse yet, Drudge.

[CrystalTears]

Or The Washington Post...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/16/AR2007091601287.html?hpid=topnews

[Clove]

Or The Washington Post...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/16/AR2007091601287.html?hpid=topnews

Which was sourced in Wikipedia. Way to actually look it up E. before making a comment. Shame nobody took your wager.

[Some Rogue]

Or The Washington Post...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/16/AR2007091601287.html?hpid=topnews

PWNT

[Clove]

PWNT

LOL, no kidding the Cuban found the source on her raft FFS.

[CrystalTears]

I can't wait to hear about his first case. "What?! No one told ME that information? What do you mean I was supposed to look it up?"

You're gonna r0x0r as an ADA who is all about da research. Fo realz, yo.

[Some Rogue]

LOL, no kidding the Cuban found the source on her raft FFS.

Must have been a message in a bottle that was floating by.

[CrystalTears]

There were a hundren million bottles washed up on the shore....
I'm surprised I found it. :D

[Gan]

LOL.

Greenspan is the master of innuendo, I thought you guys knew?

:lol:

[Daniel]

I can't wait to hear about his first case. "What?! No one told ME that information? What do you mean I was supposed to look it up?"

You're gonna r0x0r as an ADA who is all about da research. Fo realz, yo.

Not everyone can be a high powered customer service rep.

[Blazing247]

Not everyone can be a high powered customer service rep.

Racist.

[Daniel]

Don't be mad because you have a small penis and can't dance.

[Blazing247]

Don't be mad because you have a small penis and can't dance.

How the fuck did you know I'm really asian? I thought I played the white guy part pretty well.

[Daniel]

It's a talent.

[Parkbandit]

Hmmmm, both Atlanteax and PB heard the same thing at around the same time, haven't quoted a source, and are the only ones to have heard it....

I'm willing to wager said source is either FoxNews or, worse yet, Drudge.


How much chump? I can give you my paypal account information and can cover anything you got to wager with.

What now bitch?

[Tsa`ah]

heh ..

So much for WMDs, Al Qaeda, and liberating the people of Iraq. Now that it was really over Saddam holding oil reserves hostage ... well that just made it A-OK.

I love the logic used.

[DeV]

I love the logic used.
Agreed.

Again, the spin makes me :rofl:

The irony is hilarious as fuck.

[Clove]

Not everyone can be a high powered customer service rep.

What's the matter Danny-boy were you abused by customer service as a child? It wouldn't matter if she were a garbage collector at least she has the brains and motivation to confirm a source before shooting her mouth off about it. Research that barely took me a minute. One hopes a prosecutor would be more diligent (seeing as a customer support rep. can manage). I can see it now, "Your honor, looking at the defendent I'm willing to bet she bought that gun at ABC Gunsmith...."

[Daniel]

Yes I was actually.

[Clove]

Yes I was actually.

*sob* How friggin dare anyone out there make fun of CrystalTears after all she has been through. *sniff* She left Cuba, floated on a raft to Miami. She fought off two friggin sharks! SHE’S A CUBAN! *whine* What you don’t realize is that CrystalTears is making a lot of sense and all you do is write a bunch of crap about her. Leave CrystalTears Alone Please…. Leave CrystalTears alone…right now….I mean it. Anyone that has a problem with her you deal with me, beacuse she is not well right now. *bawls*

[CrystalTears]

:rofl:

[Some Rogue]

Again, the spin makes me :rofl:



You mean the spin by the rabid anti-war people who took a quote out of context then spun it just so they could say 'OMG SEE?? WE TOLD YOU!!!111"?

[TheEschaton]

I'm pretty sure she's referring to the spin where everyone is like, "SEE?!? GREENSPAN SAID IT WAS ABOUT SADDAM AND HIS CONTROL OVER OIL, NOT OIL!" when neither reason was offered as the reason to go into Iraq.

[Warriorbird]

Republicans who are friends with lots of other Republicans never change their statements when a bunch of them phone them up.

Ever.

:rolls eyes:

[Gan]

You mean the spin by the rabid anti-war people who took a quote out of context then spun it just so they could say 'OMG SEE?? WE TOLD YOU!!!111"?

Thats what makes this thread so funny.


I'm pretty sure she's referring to the spin where everyone is like, "SEE?!? GREENSPAN SAID IT WAS ABOUT SADDAM AND HIS CONTROL OVER OIL, NOT OIL!" when neither reason was offered as the reason to go into Iraq.
Read the correction that Greenspan wrote to correct the idiotic media who reported it with the original spin. And I wouldnt be so sure about your pretty sure understanding of what CT said, if I were you (thank God I'm not).

[Some Rogue]

Republicans who are friends with lots of other Republicans never change their statements when a bunch of them phone them up.

Ever.

:rolls eyes:

It's pretty hard to change the printed word once it's already out.

I mean, sure, go ahead and keep spinning it. Hell, in this thread alone, the people who supported the original spin were praising how much of a stand up guy he was and when he clarified what he said and put it back in context. "OH NOW HE'S LYING!!111"

:rolls his eyes right back at you:

[Warriorbird]

:chuckles:

All I'm saying...is it's pretty much air...all of it from either side, signifying nothing. There's so much division in America these days that people will seize on anything.

[Tea & Strumpets]

I always thought the war was because we were looking for someone to beat the shit out of after the Towers got bombed. Dumbass Hussein continued to make things difficult for weapons inspectors, etc... and it was just the wrong fucking time to dick around. We weren't in the mood to play "let's tell Hussein to fall in line for the 100th time".

Hussein had been toeing the line for years. I think we were justified going to war, but I don't really think the decision was based solely on Hussein's actions.

[Gan]

Or Greenspan is just looking at foreign affairs from an economic standpoint...like Judge Posner looks at the law from an economic standpoint.


There's the Bush presidency for you. Clinton presidency for that matter too.

I'd say that Greenspan and Posner (both quite conservative, just so you know) are more qualified to judge their own qualifications than we are.


Republicans who are friends with lots of other Republicans never change their statements when a bunch of them phone them up.

Ever.

:rolls eyes:


:chuckles:

All I'm saying...is it's pretty much air...all of it from either side, signifying nothing. There's so much division in America these days that people will seize on anything.

:lol:

I love the evolution of your posts on this thread.

Comedy Gold.

:lol:

[TheEschaton]

The evolution of your life is comedy gold, Gan. This is merely mildly amusing.

[Parkbandit]

:chuckles:

All I'm saying...is it's pretty much air...all of it from either side, signifying nothing. There's so much division in America these days that people will seize on anything.

That division is part of Bush's plan to become King. He has orchestrated it all.

Brilliant.

[Parkbandit]

The evolution of your life is comedy gold, Gan. This is merely mildly amusing.

This from a guy who lives his life in a fantasy land... now that's comedy gold.

[Warriorbird]

Ultimately I think that legacy of division isn't going to be good for either party. Clinton was a uniter but then he became a huge divider... then with Bush's presidency...there's just a solid streak of division.

They made themselves very tough acts to follow in chasing the elusive middle. I think politicians from both sides are going to find themselves out of touch on a number of things in the upcoming election cycle.

I like Republican critiques of Republicans in general though. There's still some serious critiques of Bush in what Greenspan wrote.

Anybody read the George F. Will stuff on Fred Thompson?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202025.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19140623/site/newsweek/page/0/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601783.html

[DeV]

You mean the spin by the rabid anti-war people who took a quote out of context then spun it just so they could say 'OMG SEE?? WE TOLD YOU!!!111"?Not even close.

[Tsa`ah]

uh oh ... topic

Side step, dance to the left, dance to the right, dodge, dodge ...

Cover your eyes, plug your ears, sing "lalalalalalalalalalalalalala"

Still not working?

Point to the other person and say "I know you are but what am I? ... I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I?!!"

Damn ... still didn't work, maybe if I repeat the steps often enough ...

[Parkbandit]

uh oh ... topic

Side step, dance to the left, dance to the right, dodge, dodge ...

Cover your eyes, plug your ears, sing "lalalalalalalalalalalalalala"

Still not working?

Point to the other person and say "I know you are but what am I? ... I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I?!!"

Damn ... still didn't work, maybe if I repeat the steps often enough ...


You should put your Liberal Debate Points down and join us in this discussion. Is that page one.. or the front cover?

[Kembal]

Actually, Greenspan later clarified that he was referring to the principle of removing Saddam Hussein, as the risk to Oil... was that SH could deny the world up to 13 millions of barrels a day.

13m ... think about it.

That was the oil threat that Greenspan clarified that he was referring to when he said it was about Oil.

So I just went and read the Washington Post article, because I wasn't sure how Saddam could've actually pulled that off. Here's Greenspan's explanation, from his interview with Bob Woodward:


His main support for Hussein's ouster, though, was economically motivated. "If Saddam Hussein had been head of Iraq and there was no oil under those sands," Greenspan said, "our response to him would not have been as strong as it was in the first gulf war. And the second gulf war is an extension of the first. My view is that Saddam, looking over his 30-year history, very clearly was giving evidence of moving towards controlling the Straits of Hormuz, where there are 17, 18, 19 million barrels a day" passing through.

Alright, that certainly might've been the case before 1991. But after 1991, Saddam had no navy and no air force. On top of that, Iraq doesn't border the Strait of Hornuz. (map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Middle_east_graphic_2003.jpg) And finally, the U.S. Navy usually puts an entire carrier group there, to make sure oil supplies aren't disrupted.

So yeah, uh, that reasoning doesn't make any sense as to how Saddam could've denied that much oil. Greenspan is spinning his comments.

[Parkbandit]

It must be Greenspan spinning his words.. and not the liberal press frothing at the mouth that Greenspan hates Bush just like they do.

Personally.. I think the whole thing was staged to get more publicity for a book coming out. "OMG! DID YOU HEAR WHAT GREENSPAN SAID ABOUT BUSH!"

He's brilliant imo.

[ElanthianSiren]

Greenspan has always (IMO purposely) been the abstractor-type. Read the minutes from previous fed meetings vs. interviews given before and after said meetings. He's cryptic and always has been, and I believe he finds sport in the fact that people often take what he says out of context. Again, see fed speeches given by him and see the market reaction to them; he usually caused quite the stir, whereas Bernake's market is more optomistic/tame.

[Gan]

The evolution of your life is comedy gold, Gan. This is merely mildly amusing.

Yes, because when you have nothing to say on the issue, you must use personal attacks as a basis of making yourself sound cool and or feel better.

:lol:

I would actually take offense; however, I then remind myself of your qualifications to judge other people's lives and just chuckle sadly, I really pity you.

[Warriorbird]

Not that that sounds like any posters on your side of the aisle, Gan.

And no...I'm not implying you.

[Parkbandit]

Not that that sounds like any posters on your side of the aisle, Gan.

And no...I'm not implying you.





Point to the other person and say "I know you are but what am I? ... I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I?!!

:wow: It's like Tsa'ah has esp or something.

[Warriorbird]

You'd stop posting if you had no targets.

[Parkbandit]

You'd stop posting if you had no targets.

A real target is used to hone your skill. You are far too easy to be a useful target.

[Celephais]

A real target is used to hone your skill. You are far too easy to be a useful target.
Well then handicap yourself... attack him only in Haiku form.

[Parkbandit]

Well then handicap yourself... attack him only in Haiku form.


Warriorbird is,
To put it quite mildly,
Nothing but a bitch.

[Gan]

LOL

[Warriorbird]

Alan Greenspan book
incessant buzz of "bandit"
swat when it bores me

[DeV]

Imaginative, if nothing else.