Putin: Iraq War Was for Oil

If relations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and George Bush were frosty then they are set to become a whole lot frostier, after he said the U.S invasion of Iraq was mainly aimed at controlling the Gulf state’s oil reserves.
During his annual televised question-and-answer session, the Russian president responded to a request for his appraisal of the Iraq war by stating that, “One of the goals, in my opinion, was to establish control over the country’s crude reserves.”
He also said that the U.S. should fix a date for the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq. “If the Iraqi authorities know the exact U.S. troop withdrawal date, they will work hard and consistently to enhance the country’s own armed forces,” Putin said, adding that they would otherwise remain inactive, feeling secure and protected “under the U.S. umbrella”.