President Bush answered growing antiwar protests yesterday with a fresh reason for US troops to continue fighting in Iraq: protection of the country’s vast oil fields, which he said would otherwise fall under the control of terrorist extremists….
At the naval base, Bush declared, ”We will not rest until victory is America’s and our freedom is secure” from Al Qaeda and its forces in Iraq led by Abu Musab alZarqawi.
”If Zarqawi and [Osama] bin Laden gain control of Iraq, they would create a new training ground for future terrorist attacks,” Bush said. ”They’d seize oil fields to fund their ambitions. They could recruit more terrorists by claiming a historic victory over the United States and our coalition.”
And here even I thought the “no blood for oil” whackos were off-base. As for me, I’d be happy to risk the terrorists and ensure that our freedom was secured from the federal government. I think the pro-war crowd must be getting desperate indeed if they’re reduced to claiming that the reason they originally denied is the real justification for continuing the occupation.