Wells, wells. One of the partners in the coalition-of-the-drilling has shed light on the war that dare not speak its name.
Yes, we're all shocked -- just shocked -- at this admission. And from Down Under, of all places.
Thus far it appears that only the BBC has reported the statement this week by Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson that "securing oil supplies is a key factor behind the presence of Australian troops in Iraq."
Gasp!
Not surprisingly, the remarks "are causing heated debate as the US-led Iraq coalition has avoided linking the war and oil."
Oh my. As if the claims about Saddam's WMD weren't exaggeration enough:
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has played down the comments, saying it was "stretching it a bit" to conclude that Australia's Iraq involvement was motivated by oil.
Stretching it a bit? Isn't that like being only a little pregnant?
In comments to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Nelson admitted that the supply of oil had influenced Australia's strategic planning in the region.
"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," he said.
"Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq.
I'm going to take a big leap of faith and assume that Nelson is defining "premature withdrawal from Iraq" as "no one's leaving until those oil contracts are signed, sealed and delivered."
"It's in our interests, our security interests, to make sure that we leave the Middle East, and leave Iraq in particular, in a position of sustainable security."
Considering that Australia has just 1,500 military "personnel" in Iraq, compared to 160,000 U.S. troops (not counting the myriad mercenaries) -- for ratio geeks, that's .007% of Australia's population vs .05% of Americans serving in this war -- they're clearly leaving the heavy lifting of "security interests" to the U.S.
Meanwhile PM Howard is doing his bit by singing from the Bush-Cheney hymn sheet:
"We didn't go there because of oil and we don't remain there because of oil," he told a local radio station.
"A lot of oil comes from the Middle East - we all know that - but the reason we remain there is that we want to give the people of Iraq a possibility of embracing democracy," he added.
Right-o.
Read the storyfor yourself. For those who can't bother, Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell brilliantly says it all: