Texas-T

Who woulda thunk it: Greenspan: Ouster Of Hussein Crucial For Oil Security

Critics of the administration have often argued that while Bush cited Hussein's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and despotic rule as reasons for the invasion, he was also motivated by a desire to gain access to Iraq's vast oil reserves. Publicly, little evidence has emerged to support that view, although a top-secret National Security Presidential Directive, titled "Iraq: Goals, Objectives and Strategy" and signed by Bush in August 2002 -- seven months before the invasion -- listed as one of many objectives "to minimize disruption in international oil markets."

Of course it has always been about oil. They just felt that they couldn't say that in public (emphasis mine):

He said that in his discussions with President Bush and Vice President Cheney, "I have never heard them basically say, 'We've got to protect the oil supplies of the world,' but that would have been my motive." Greenspan said that he made his economic argument to White House officials and that one lower-level official, whom he declined to identify, told him, "Well, unfortunately, we can't talk about oil." Asked if he had made his point to Cheney specifically, Greenspan said yes, then added, "I talked to everybody about that."

The fact that Ray L Hunt, one of Bush's cronies from the oil biz just signed a deal with the Kurds (and not Bagdad, you will note) should tell you everything you need to know, including the fact that the "Surge" has failed, miserably, and that the Iraqi government, not the insurgency, is in its last throes.