Oops: Iraq Has Never Been About Oil

A day after admitting that Australia was in Iraq for the oil, the country’s Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has made a spectacular U-turn by saying that security is a separate issue for resources. “Iraq has never been about oil,” he now says.

“Yesterday we released the latest defence update for Australia in terms of our strategic outlook and amongst the many challenges facing all of our countries is that of resource security.”

The Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd seized on the comments, saying the Government is divided on the issue and that is a problem. “When you have the Defence Minister saying ‘you’ve gone to Iraq because of oil’ and the Prime Minister saying that ‘we haven’t gone to war in Iraq because of oil’, what confidence can the Australian people have that our national security is in safe hands?”

Just admit it Brendan, you know you were right first time around….