Hammerin' Hank

Mr. Secretary, what do you say to people who think this is about oil?

Secretary DONALD RUMSFELD (Defense Department): Nonsense. It just isn't. There -- there -- there are certain things like that, myths that are floating around. I'm glad you asked. I--it has nothing to do with oil, literally nothing to do with oil.

Henry Kissinger, former U.S. secretary of state, on Wednesday warned that the global battle for control of energy resources could become the modern equivalent of the 19th century "great game" the conflict between the UK and Tsarist Russia for supremacy in central Asia.

"The great game is developing again," he told a meeting of the US-India Business Council. "The amount of energy is finite, up to now in relation to demand, and competition for access to energy can become the life and death for many societies. It would be ironic if the direction of pipelines and locations become the modern equivalent of the colonial disputes of the 19th century."

And we're stopping terrorists from achieving their ideological victories they seek, by working to spread the hope of freedom and reform across the broader Middle East. We understand that free nations do not support terrorists or invade their neighbors. We understand to make the world more peaceful and our country more secure, we will advance the cause of liberty. (Applause.)

In a clear rejection of George W. Bush's advocacy of democracy, [Kissinger] argued: "I do not believe India will join a crusade to spread democracy. For the U.S. to crusade in every part of the world simultaneously to spread democracy may be beyond our capacity."

Posted by Eddie Tews at June 3, 2005 08:33 AM