Linking Oil To War

It's Not, But It Is
And here I was thinking it's because our government hates towel-heads and camel-jockeys.
The Australian Minister for Defence, Brendan Nelson has done what Sir Humphrey might call "a very courageous thing" and linked Australia's involvement in the Iraq War to oil.

The defence minister, Brendan Nelson, says humanitarian grounds, clamping down on terrorism and standing by allies are all reasons for staying in Iraq, but he says there should not be any surprise that securing oil supplies is also on the list.

"It is in the interests of Iraqis to protect and support energy security as much as it is for those that actually buy that oil from Iraq," Mr Nelson said.

The minister argues instability in the Middle East could affect many nations that rely on the region's oil supplies.

The opposition Labor party's Joel Fitzgibbon says the government has been dishonest with the public from the start of the Iraq war.

"People have suspected oil has been a consideration for some long time now," he said.

The Prime Minister is of course out to stamp out this bush fire, but all the same, the press of the world has seized upon it like vultures swooping down to grab the lame rodent.

Mr Howard said it was "stretching it a bit" to interpret comments by either himself or Defence Minister Brendan Nelson as meaning that the war on Iraq was about petrol prices.

But federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd and minor parties said the government had finally admitted that oil was behind Australia's decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq - one of the world's largest producers of crude oil.

Dr Nelson told ABC Radio on Thursday morning that the Middle East was an important supplier of oil and Australians had to consider what would happen if troops withdrew prematurely.

Mr Howard told a strategic conference in Canberra that energy demand was one of the reasons for establishing a stable, democratic Iraq.

He later denied that he or Dr Nelson had said troops were staying in Iraq to protect the western world's oil supply.

"I had a look at what Brendan said and I think in fairness to him he didn't quite say that," Mr Howard told Macquarie Radio.

"I haven't said in my speech that the reason we went to Iraq is oil or the reason we're staying there is oil.

"We are not there because of oil and we didn't go there because of oil. We don't remain there because of oil. Oil is not the reason."

Well of course it's oil. Oil was always going to factor in to something like a war on Iraq. Our entire civilization is addicted to oil. What are we going to do when the stuff might be on the running-out side of the ledger? Get desperate!

If a bunch of heroin addicts raided a pharmacy and took boxes of methadone with them, of course they were in it for the drugs; not just the change kept in the register overnight. Don't let them fool you that the pharmacist was a threat to the rest of the street because he might have chemicals that could be turned into weapons.
Then again, there is this thing here too. If Doctors are terror suspects, why not pharmacists? or policemen? Or Governments?

This Mohamed Haneef business may well be a real terror case, but it strikes me as being overly fortuitous for both John Howard and Gordon Brown to come out looking like tough defenders of the Christian realm here, at this point in their respective careers. One is facing electoral oblivion and the other is a newcomer trying to set his own agenda.
Suspect? Or not?

Back to the oil thing.
World War II was fought over oil because oil was a strategic commodity that powered battleships and planes. Thus, we have already fought a world war over who gets to get the most oil and use it as a strategic commodity. Now at this point in history where we can see the day where it might all run out, is it really surprising to find that the Australian government is totally willing to abandon principles and just do what's right for their own populace? - A populace that is totally hooked on the conspicuous consumption of crude oil?
It's daft to even question the motive of the Government any more than to call this part of the agenda a 'conspiracy'. Look, at a certain point, states behave in the most thuggish ways to secure what they need.

The lesson here?
Saddam Hussein really shouldn't have tried to trade his oil in euros instead of US dollars.
Oh, and Cordell Hull and FDR should have been tried as war criminals. :)