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Home » 2007 » #725 » Comment & Analysis » Loose Cannons

An inconvenient truth

“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, [wrote]: ‘I’m saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: The Iraq war is largely about oil’.” — London Times, September 16.

And I still believe there’s a Santa Claus

“I wasn’t here for the decision-making process that initiated it, that started the war. I know the same allegation was made about the Gulf War in 1991 and I just don’t believe it’s true. It’s really about stability in the Gulf. It’s about rogue regimes trying to develop weapons of mass destruction.” — US war secretary Robert Gates, September 16, commenting on Greenspan’s declaration.

$9 billion frenzy

“Between April 2003 and June 2004, $12 billion in US currency — much of it belonging to the Iraqi people — was shipped from the Federal Reserve to Baghdad, where it was dispensed by the Coalition Provisional Authority. Some of the cash went to pay for projects and keep ministries afloat, but, incredibly, at least $9 billion has gone missing, unaccounted for, in a frenzy of mismanagement and greed.” — Vanity Fair, October 1.

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