Web | Apr 14, 2005
VIEW FROM AMERICA
The Oil War
While oil may not be the USA's sole reason for going to war with Iran, it is an essential factor in the overall strategic calculation that makes war likely. The global energy equation is what accounts for the US opposition to the Iran gas pipeline to India.
MICHAEL T. KLARE
As the United States gears up for an attack on Iran, one thing is certain: the Bush administration will never mention oil as a reason for going to war. As in the case of Iraq, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) will be cited as the principal justification for an American assault.
"We will not tolerate the construction of a nuclear weapon [by Iran]," is the way President Bush put it in a much-quoted 2003 statement. But just as the failure to discover illicit weapons in Iraq undermined the administration's use of WMD as the paramount reason for its invasion, so its claim that an attack on Iran would be justified because of its alleged nuclear potential should invite widespread skepticism. More important, any serious assessment of Iran's strategic importance to the United States should focus on its role in the global energy equation. http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20050414&fname=iran&sid=1