Friends and Oil

by Steve Soto

Strong congressional oversight will get media coverage. Both the Washington Post and the NYT ran stories this morning on Henry Waxman's discovery that the Bush Administration lied to the American people about its knowledge and approval of a separate oil deal between the Kurds and Bush financial backer Ray Hunt.

From today's lead in the NYT:

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.

Bush claimed he didn’t know about the deal between the Kurdistan Regional Government, headed in large party by Cheney pal and Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, and Ray Hunt, a long-time friend of Bush’s and a financial backer. Either Bush lied to the American people, or Condi allowed State Department officials to encourage something contrary to the publicly-expressed policy of this administration without Bush’s knowledge.

Yesterday, however, Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released documents and e-mails showing that for nearly four months, State and Commerce department officials knew about Hunt Oil's negotiations and had told company officials that there were no objections. In one note, a Commerce Department official even wished them "a fruitful visit to Kurdistan" and invited them to contact him "in case you need any support."

It doesn't stop there. In the NYT story, they report an email from a State Department official to Hunt Oil tipping them off to other opportunities to get Iraqi oil and gas deals in southern Iraq. I guess I never realized that our State Department was in the business of helping Bush friends tie up Iraqi oil deals, but then that's just me.

Maybe Waxman can invite Condi for a chat, on the record, in front of the cameras.