The Australian Defence Minister, Brendan Nelson has admitted that oil was a major factor in the government's decision to keep troops in Iraq, a unexpectedly frank confession that sent political commentators into a tizzy.
The above, noted by Gareth, is from Kathy Marks' "Australian troops 'in Iraq because of oil'" (Independent of London) and not in the US it hasn't. In the US there's no article devoted to what is a very important story in the New York Times. They've got time for Gordo to spew his usual nonsense (Gordo will be addressed next entry), they've got time for Alissa J. Rubin to use meaningless terms like "moderates" (meaningless for any number of reasons but at the most basic, try defining your terms) to describe those sitting in the cat bird's seat in the Iraqi Parliament. But a member of government in a country that's part of the alleged coalition making a statement like Nelson made? Not news the New York Times wants to readers to know -- all the more proof that it is in fact news. From the article:
Australia, a staunch supporter of President George Bush's foreign policy, joined the US-led invasion of Iraq, saying the assault was about destroying weapons of mass destruction and fighting international terrorism.
But protesters have always claimed that the real motive was oil, and Mr Nelson's interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation yesterday seem to have proved them right.
"Energy security is extremely important to all nations throughout the world, and of course in protecting and securing Australia's interests," Mr Nelson said. "Obviously the Middle East itself, not only Iraq but the entire region, is an important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world. Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there was a premature withdrawal from Iraq."
Click here for The Scotsman coverage and remember that to be informed of the story, you have to go outside the US coverage. Click here for Nelson's denial and note, international headlines did not include the US.
Today the US military announced: "One MNC-I Soldier died of wounds received during combat operations in western Baghdad on Thursday." 3592 is now the total number of US service members to die in the illegal war since it began.
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