WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush was "a bit surprised" by a memoir by former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan that alleges "the Iraq war is largely about oil," the White House said Monday.
Spokesman Dana Perino pointed to a new interview with Greenspan in which he backtracked and "acknowledged that oil was not the president's motive for engagement in Iraq and our decision to go into Iraq."
In published excerpts of the book, Greenspan said: "I'm saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows -- the Iraq war is largely about oil."
In an interview with the Washington Post, done Saturday but published on Monday, Greenspan explained "I was not saying that that's the administration's motive."
"I'm just saying that if somebody asked me, 'Are we fortunate in taking out Saddam?' I would say it was essential," said Greenspan, whose "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World" also criticizes Bush for sharply increased government spending and running a "dysfunctional government."
In the interview, Greenspan said he had previously told Bush and Cheney of his critique. "They're not surprised by my conclusions," he said.
While Bush "has great respect" for Greenspan, "I think that the president was a bit surprised by some of the criticism in the book, for example regarding tax cuts," said Perino.
"That has borne out to be one of the best decisions that we've made in order to keep the economy growing like it is," said the spokeswoman, who also took issue with Greenspan's criticisms of increased spending.
"One reason we had increased spending after 9/11 was in order to protect the country," she said, referring to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "We are not going to apologize for increased spending on national security matters."
ok/mac
09/17/2007 14:48 GMT