Greenspan memoir links Iraq war to US thirst for oil

According to The Wall Street Journal, he says that Bush's failure to do so

"was a major mistake."

Republicans in Congress, he writes, "swapped principle for power. They

ended up with neither."

"They deserved to lose" in the 2006 elections when the Democrats retook control of Congress, he adds.

The White House on Monday confessed to being "a bit surprised" by Greenspan's critique.

"I think that the president was a bit surprised by some of the criticism in the book, for example regarding tax cuts," spokeswoman Dana Perino was quoted by AFP as saying.