To the editor:

“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” from Alan Greenspan’s book (Sept. 16, Journal-World). Are Americans ready to spend their blood (30,067 dead or injured) and treasure (over $452 billion) on an “oil war”? Would Americans calmly see 100,000 Iraqi civilians killed and 4.2 million displaced so the corporations funding our politicians could secure control of a prime source of the essential life-blood of our superpower?

Bush and Cheney have supplied alternative narratives: dangerous weaponry, freedom from tyranny, democratic beacon. The new story is, it doesn’t matter why we went in. We can’t leave until the country is stabilized. They have worked hard to “catapult the propaganda” (George W. Bush, May 24, 2005), and succeeded in making people confused and still half-willing to believe official press releases.

Interestingly, since the Iraqi legislature failed to pass a “benchmark” oil law, written by the Cheney-Bush administration, granting hugely favorable terms to U.S. oil interests, Hunt Oil (CEO and President Ray L. Hunt is a close political ally of Bush and member of the president’s foreign intelligence advisory board) just signed an oil deal with the Kurds.

Meanwhile, the situation in Afghanistan grows worse by the day, and Osama bin Laden puts out new videos.

It is crucial to know why we really went in to Iraq, because until everyone knows what Alan Greenspan knows, we can’t really talk about how, when or even if this war will ever end.

Malika Lyon

Lawrence