Is There Any Doubt?

Number 1, that the war in Iraq was entered into and engaged in because the Bush administration and the Republican Party were interested in controlling Iraq (and eventually, the Middle East’s) oil. Number 2, that John McCain is a dupe and a puppet of the Bush administration. Re Number 1: I give you the New York Times article this morning: “Committee Questions State Dept. Role in Iraq Oil Deal”. The lede paragraph states: “Bush administration officials knew that a Texas oil company with close ties to President Bush was planning to sign an oil deal with the regional Kurdistan government that ran counter to American policy and undercut Iraq’s central government, a Congressional committee has concluded.” The article goes on to say: “The company, Hunt Oil of Dallas, signed the deal with Kurdistan’s semiautonomous government last September. Its chief executive, Ray L. Hunt, a close political ally of President Bush, briefed an advisory board to Mr. Bush on his contacts with Kurdish officials before the deal was signed.” The investigation into the improprieties (a nice word where “Bush administration criminal activities” might better be used) of this oil deal is being handled by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, whose chairman is Representative Henry A. Waxman, D-CA. The NYT says: “A State Department official in Washington, briefed by a colleague about the impending deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government, wrote: “Many thanks for the heads up; getting an American company to sign a deal with the K.R.G. will make big news back here. Please keep us posted.” According to the NYT, the State Department said Wednesday that it had discouraged the deal. Hunt officials declined to comment, and Kurdish government officials said there was no impropriety. However, a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from Mr. Waxman states that the documents his committee had collected “tell a different story about the role of administration officials.” The committee obtained letters in which Mr. Hunt informed the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, of which Hunt was a member, last July and August that he was pursuing serious business interests in Kurdistan. Until a law regarding Iraq oil is signed and sealed by all parties—Iraq, Kurdistan, the US—any deal between the parties re oil is totally illegal and unethical. But nevermind! The NYT wrote: “The encouragement by State Department officials did not end with the signing of the contract (with Kurdistan) on Sept. 8, the documents suggest. Five days later, a State Department official in the southern city of Basra wrote to Ms. Phillips (a senior vice president for corporate affairs and international relations at Hunt Oil), 'I read and heard about with interest your deal with the regional Kurdish government...I don’t know if you are aware of another opportunity,' the official wrote, mentioning an enormous port project and a natural gas project in the south. After a few more lines, the official concluded, 'This seems like it would be a good opportunity for Hunt'." Regarding Item No. 2 that John McCain is a dupe and puppet of the Bush administration, please note that McCain has once again shaken up his presidential campaign. This time he has elevated Steve Schmidt to be in charge of day-to-day campaign operations. This move downsizes the responsibilities of McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis. Please note that Steve Schmidt was a close associate of Karl Rove during Rove’s heyday in the Bush administration. Also please note that Nicolle Wallace, communications director for Mr. Bush in the 2004 campaign (and in his White House), has joined McCain’s campaign as a senior adviser, and will travel with Mr. McCain every other week. And another cohort of Rove’s operation and former Fox News producer and director of presidential advance in the Bush White House, Greg Jenkins, was hired by Steve Schmidt last week. No doubts whatsoever.