It's officially a war for oil.

After all the rationales for for the Iraq war have come and gone, WMD, threat to neighbors, Civil rigghts, women's rights, spreading democracy, and the latest, my favorite, because we've already lost so much we can't abandon the mission, the truth finally comes out.

Bush at the VJ-day thing in San Diego.

President Bush on Tuesday answered growing anti-war protests with a fresh reason for American troops to continue fighting in Iraq: protection of the country's vast oil fields that he said would otherwise fall under the control of terrorist extremists. ......

Bush said the Iraqi oil industry, already suffering from sabotage and lost revenues, must not fall under the control of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida forces in Iraq led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

"If Zarqawi and bin Laden gain control of Iraq, they would create a new training ground for future terrorist attacks," Bush said. "They'd seize oil fields to fund their ambitions. They could recruit more terrorists by claiming a historic victory over the United States and our coalition."

And in case you believe the SF Chronicle is mischarcterizingt, a not unreasonable supposition,

HERE is the Whitehouse.gov transcript of the speech.