A former top U.S. general has admitted the war in Iraq was about oil. Former CENTCOM Commander General John Abizaid told an audience at Stanford University, “Of course it’s about oil. We can’t really deny that.” At the same forum, Thomas Friedman said, “We’ve treated the Arab world as a collection of big gas stations. Our message to them is: Guys, keep your pumps open, prices low, be nice to the Israelis, and you can do whatever you want out back.” General Abizaid’s comments come one month after former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan wrote that “the Iraq War is largely about oil.”
[Editor’s Note: Friedman’s quote was originally attributed to Abizaid during the broadcast. The source of this headline — The Stanford Daily — made an error in its initial reporting on the event.]