[Texgreen] Kissinger agrees with Greenspan; oil was reason for Iraq invasion

[Roger Baker]

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-weissman/greenspan-kissinger- 
oil_b_64659.html>


... "No, no, no," he said. Getting rid of Hussein achieved the  
purpose of "making certain that the existing system [of oil markets]  
continues to work, frankly, until we find other [energy supplies],  
which ultimately we will."

There's every reason to credit this view. U.S. oil companies surely  
have designs on Iraqi oil, and were concerned about inroads by French  
and other firms under Saddam. But the top U.S. geopolitical concern  
is making sure the oil remains in the hands of those who will  
cooperate with Western economies.

Henry Kissinger echoes this view in his op-ed. "Iran has legitimate  
aspirations that need to be respected," he writes -- but those  
legitimate aspirations do not include control over the oil that the  
United States and other industrial countries need.

"An Iran that practices subversion and seeks regional hegemony --  
which appears to be the current trend -- must be faced with lines it  
will not be permitted to cross. The industrial nations cannot accept  
radical forces dominating a region on which their economies depend,  
and the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran is incompatible with  
international security." ...