It's pretty obvious oil is war motive

www.azcentral.com O. Ricardo Pimentel Republic columnist Mar. 16, 2003 12:00 AM

Well, of course it's about oil. President Bush can talk all he wants about planting the seeds of democracy in Iraq that will one day bloom into flowers of freedom throughout the Middle East. He can tell us about weapons of mass destruction, dubious links to al-Qaida and what a nasty, nasty guy is Saddam Hussein. But the truth is we wouldn't be much bothering about Iraq were it not for oil and the fact that about 10 percent of the world's reserve happens to be under that country. And guess what? This concern for oil is entirely rational given our conspicuous consumption of it. In fact, Bush would be irresponsible if he wasn't concerned about regional stability in a place that supplies much of the world's go-juice. It's abundantly clear that Bush believes that Iraq is a rogue terrorist state. It's perfectly reasonable then to worry about potentially vast oil wealth funding such a nation's aims. The only valid question is why Bush does not simply own up. Well, partly it's because many anti-war critics make it so easy. They pitch the argument too simplistically, as about the United States wanting to "own" Iraqi oil. This is nonsense. Bush wants the next best thing: a friendly regime controlling the oil. What he wants is a regime not as likely to cause mischief among countries similarly attractive to us only as peddlers of the crude. There are valid geopolitical reasons to desire this. Yes, Saddam would be pleased as punch to sell us all the oil we want at a relatively low price. But even our best spinmeisters would have difficulty getting the rest of us to swallow trading with a guy they've been calling Hitler for the past 12 years or so. No matter. Bring up oil, and conservatives cry foul when, in fact, it's about the only argument for this war that makes any sense. Weapons of mass destruction? That Saddam harbors them is a foregone conclusion. But they pose an immediate threat to our national security only if we invade. Those aluminum tubes likely weren't for any nuclear weapons program, one defanged long ago in any case. Containment, you see, mostly works. Saddam's tyranny? If that were our reason, other tyrants register just as much or more on the atrocity meter. Unless oil or other strategic interests are involved, we're mostly not interested, Bosnia and Kosovo being exceptions. Different president, however, and didn't this current president pooh-pooh such nation-building? Al-Qaida? Even administration folks have trouble keeping straight faces selling this one by now. Liberian mercenary troops are allegedly invading the Ivory Coast. But we don't value cocoa, that country's major export, as much as we do oil. Well, most of us don't. And it's hard to keep track of which African country's troops have been sighted recently violating the Congo's sovereignty. Where's the outrage? Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975. We did not erect any international military coalition to repel it. In this case, Indonesia had the oil. Hmm. When that clearly illegal coup briefly drove Hugo Chavez from office in Venezuela last year, we quickly endorsed the new government and then had to backtrack when Chavez was reinstalled. Chavez would be just another run-of-the-mill lefty to us if Venezuela wasn't swimming in oil. If Cuba had oil and we wanted some, Castro would be history. Look, I would be just as reluctant to go to war without broad international backing even if Bush, et al, were to own up to oil as the reason. Simply, clear and viable alternatives exist. But a little more honesty and much less false outrage, please. Yes, we have a bad case of the terrorist jitters, but oil is a great big reason that Saddam has the ability to rile us at all. Instead of owning up, however, the administration cops this how-dare-you-suggest-such-a-thing attitude every time the topic comes up. No one can say this next part enough. The fact that we find ourselves contemplating war, with oil as a major reason, is just the latest wake-up call that we need to wean ourselves. This is a tall order, requiring a monumental and transforming effort. And this might just be the real reason Bush doesn't own up to oil as a lubricant for this particular war. He apparently finds war easier than spearheading the changes domestically that might actually make the world a safer and better place to live.

Reach Pimentel at ricardo.pimentel@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8210. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.