Gość: A.D.
IP: *.mco.bellsouth.net
04.06.03, 22:41
>> Teraz chyba zaden idiota nie bedzie twierdzil ze 'wyzwalano Irak', czy
tez o innych bzdurach, ktore mialy byc 'cassus belli'.
>> Zeby nikt nie mial juz watpliwosci (ja ich nie mialem...!) to Wolfovitz
wyklarowal dobitnie ze wojna byla bo ...'Irak plywa w ropie'.
4.30pm update
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Wolfowitz: Iraq war was about oil
George Wright
Wednesday June 4, 2003
Oil was the main reason for military action against Iraq, a leading White
House hawk has claimed, confirming the worst fears of those opposed to the
US-led war.
The US deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz - who has already undermined
Tony Blair's position over weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by describing
them as a "bureaucratic" excuse for war - has now gone further by claiming
the real motive was that Iraq is "swimming" in oil.
The latest comments were made by Mr Wolfowitz in an address to delegates at
an Asian security summit in Singapore at the weekend, and reported today by
German newspapers Der Tagesspiegel and Die Welt.
Asked why a nuclear power such as North Korea was being treated differently
from Iraq, where hardly any weapons of mass destruction had been found, the
deputy defence minister said: "Let's look at it simply. The most important
difference between North Korea and Iraq is that economically, we just had no
choice in Iraq. The country swims on a sea of oil."
Mr Wolfowitz went on to tell journalists at the conference that the US was
set on a path of negotiation to help defuse tensions between North Korea and
its neighbours - in contrast to the more belligerent attitude the Bush
administration displayed in its dealings with Iraq.
His latest comments follow his widely reported statement from an interview
in Vanity Fair last month, in which he said that "for reasons that have a
lot to do with the US government bureaucracy, we settled on the one issue
that everyone could agree on: weapons of mass destruction."
Prior to that, his boss, defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, had already
undermined the British government's position by saying Saddam Hussein may
have destroyed his banned weapons before the war.
Mr Wolfowitz's frank assessment of the importance of oil could not come at a
worse time for the US and UK governments, which are both facing fierce
criticism at home and abroad over allegations that they exaggerated the
threat posed by Saddam Hussein in order to justify the war.
Amid growing calls from all parties for a public inquiry, the foreign
affairs select committee announced last night it would investigate claims
that the UK government misled the country over its evidence of Iraq's WMD.
The move is a major setback for Tony Blair, who had hoped to contain any
inquiry within the intelligence and security committee, which meets in
secret and reports to the prime minister.
In the US, the failure to find solid proof of chemical, biological and
nuclear arms in Iraq has raised similar concerns over Mr Bush's
justification for the war and prompted calls for congressional
investigations.
Mr Wolfowitz is viewed as one of the most hawkish members of the Bush
administration. The 57-year old expert in international relations was a
strong advocate of military action against Afghanistan and Iraq.
Following the September 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Centre and
Pentagon, Mr Wolfowitz pledged that the US would pursue terrorists and "end"
states' harbouring or sponsoring of militants.
Prior to his appointment to the Bush cabinet in February 2001, Mr Wolfowitz
was dean and professor of international relations at the Paul H Nitze School
of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), of the Johns Hopkins University.
>>
