Donald Rumsfeld on Energy & Oil Secretary of Defense (Pres. Bush Cabinet)

If Saddam were in power, he'd be rolling in petrodollars

A: I guess the first thing you feel about it: it's politics, and it's election season, and people are going to say whatever they say. The fact of the matter is: if Saddam Hussein were still in power in Iraq, he would be rolling in petrodollars. Think of the price of oil today. He would have so much money. And he would be seeing the Iranians interested in a nuclear program, he would be seeing the North Koreans developing a nuclear program, and he'd say, well, why shouldn't he--and he would. So we're fortunate that he's gone. We're fortunate that the Taliban have been thrown out of Afghanistan. The situation in Iraq is difficult. But we now have an 80- or 90-nation coalition that is putting pressure on the terrorists, and that's a good thing.