Greenspan: Because Of Oil, Saddam Was ‘Far More Important To Get Out Than Bin Laden’

[kpete]

Greenspan: Because Of Oil, Saddam Was ‘Far More Important To Get Out Than Bin Laden’

In his new memoir, The Age of Turbulence, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan writes that he is “saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.” Greenspan later clarified his remark in an interview with the Washington Post, saying that while oil was not “the administration’s motive,” it was “essential” to remove Saddam because of it:

In an interview with Charlie Rose last week, Greenspan went even further in his defense of the Iraq war, saying it was “far more important to get” Saddam Hussein “out than bin Laden”:

ALAN GREENSPAN: People do not realize in this country, for example, how tenuous our ties to international energy are. That is, we on a daily basis require continuous flow. If that flow is shut off, it causes catastrophic effects in the industrial world. And it’s that which made him far more important to get out than bin Laden.

Greenspan’s continued belief that invading Iraq was the right decision flies in the face of the evidence.

.......

VIDEO & MORE AT:
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/24/greenspan-bin-laden/

[bdamomma]

1. Greenspan is right, Saddam had to go, because according to

Greg Palast in his book Armed Madhouse, Saddam was jerking around with the prices and the oil guys like Cheney and Bush and Saudi Arabia do not like that.

[Kolesar]

2. Greenspan's an evil fucker

So, there was no other way to deal with Saddam's power over oil supplies or oil prices. Except:
:patriot: Pay a fair market price for petroleum
:patriot: Develop alternative transportation methods
:patriot: Auto efficiency standards to reduce demand to reduce oil prices

[shain from kane]

3. Should Greenspan have been targeted by foreign powers due to his perceived control over the

USA economy? Is access to credit at least as important as access to oil?

[kenny blankenship]

4. Jerking around w oil prices... You mean keeping them *lower* maybe?

Because ever since Bushler launched his attack on Saddam oil prices have just gone up and up. Today's oil news is that crude prices fell to EIGHTY-ONE DOLLARS/BBL (!) on account of a killer tropical depression dissipating in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm had been expected to devastate drilling rigs, pumping stations, etc.

Down to $81/bbl on unexpected good news... That's easily double the highest level crude ever rose to during the Clinton years, and over three times the average from that time.

If Greenspan truly justified the invasion of Iraq on the idea that Saddam was bad for oil prices, and that getting rid of him would be good for oil prices and good for our economy, I think the VERY LEAST you can say about that--leaving aside accusations of a criminal conspiracy to commit international aggression--is that HIS JUDGMENT IS AMAZINGLY SHITTY.

[cliss]

5. Here's the irony of the situation ~

The US went in and evicted Saddam because he quit using Petrodollars. He switched to using Euros, and in the process made a bundle of money. I think he made around $457 million in the currency appreciation.

Just imagine how incensed they must have been in Washington.

And now?
Guess what, it happened anyway. The world is mmoving away from Petrodollars. Putin has said he'd like to get away from the dollar, they are ALL saying that.

Stupid fool Greenslime.

[bdamomma]

6. I wonder how long before they do go to Euros.

the dollar is finished.