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-Caveat Lector-
Inquiry urged on Hunt Oil contract in Iraq
Democrats say Bush ties may have led to Iraq oil contract
10:48 PM CDT on Monday, October 15, 2007
By DAVE MICHAELS / The Dallas Morning News
_http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/industries/energy/stories/101
607dnbushuntdeal.34d344b.html_
(http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/industries/energy/stories/101607dnbushuntdeal.34d344b.html)
WASHINGTON – Democratic lawmakers moved Monday toward investigating Hunt
Oil's oil exploration contract in Iraq, saying the company's ties to President
Bush raised questions about whether it had insider information that helped it
reach the deal.
U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee, and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, asked Hunt to turn over all
Iraq-related communication with the U.S. government by Nov. 2.
The lawmakers also demanded that Ray Hunt, Hunt Oil's chief executive, submit
copies of information he may have received about Iraq as a member of Mr.
Bush's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
A Hunt spokeswoman said the company would cooperate with the request for
"certain limited information."
Spokeswoman Jeanne Phillips said the company's judgment to explore for oil in
the Kurdish region of Iraq was made without U.S. government advice.
"As we have stated before, our policy as a company is to act independently
when determining where to explore for oil and gas around the world," Ms.
Phillips said in a prepared statement.
Mr. Hunt, 64, has not talked about his service on the intelligence board,
which meets about six times a year. Its members, all presidential appointees,
have security clearances, and much of their work is classified.
Former board members and intelligence experts said its members don't often
deal with specific intelligence.
Instead, they focus on broader concerns, such as whether one agency is
cooperating with another or how a training program is working.
"Their job is to advise the president about the efficiency of the
intelligence systems and where things need to be changed," said Arthur S.
Hulnick, a CIA
veteran who is now an associate professor of international relations at Boston
University.
"It is more management than substantive."
That said, members must study intelligence-gathering efforts if they are
expected to judge how the system works, Mr. Hulnick said.
"They clearly have to see it – things like estimates and daily reports,
finished intelligence and analyzed intelligence," he said.
Although Mr. Waxman's committee has subpoena power, the lawmakers did not
indicate whether they would compel Hunt officials to testify.
"We are in the information-gathering stage," said Natalie Laber, a
spokeswoman for Mr. Kucinich. "Before we hold hearings, we gather information."
Mr. Waxman, D-Calif., has held a series of contentious, Iraq-related hearings
in recent months, including one at which Democrats grilled Blackwater, the
State Department's private security contractor. Members also investigated
corruption in the Iraqi government.
Last month, Mr. Bush said he was concerned about Hunt's deal if it
jeopardized Iraq's ability to pass a national oil-sharing law. In their letter
to Hunt,
Mr. Waxman and Mr. Kucinich asserted that Hunt's deal "may have undermined
U.S. national policy of working toward the passage of an oil revenue sharing
plan."
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's oil minister has called Hunt's deal
illegal. Congressional Democrats have jumped into the fray, saying Hunt Oil
signed its deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government because it has insider
information about the future of Iraq's national oil law.
"Ray Hunt is in a unique position to know what is happening in Iraq," said
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., chairman of the Select Committee on Energy
Independence and Global Warming.
Ms. Phillips said Hunt Oil's decision to enter Iraq was based only on
information that "was in the public domain."
Hunt Oil and the Kurdistan Regional Government have said that their deal
complies with the national constitution and noted that the agreement calls for
sharing revenue with other regions of Iraq. They said Mr. Hunt's political
relationships were irrelevant to the firm's decision to explore in Iraq.
"The outcome of the deliberations for the national hydrocarbons law will not
affect this agreement one way or another," Qubad Talabani, Washington
representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government, said recently.
************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com
www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
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