When will the "US mainstream news media" start asking hard, real, pressing questions about the House of Bush, the House of Saud, the House of Bin Laden, BCCI, Harken, etc.? When will the US Senate drain the cesspool? When will the contents of the 28 blanked out pages of the Congressional 9/11 report be revealed? What is happening in this country?
Al Gore said it best one night in Tennessee several weeks ago during the Democratic primary season: "He BETRAYED this country!"
2+2=4
Bloomberg News: Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S.
has promised President George W. Bush the Saudis will
reduce oil prices before this November's election to
help the U.S. economy, according to Bob Woodward,
author of a new book about the Iraq war. Oil prices
are ``high, and they could go down very quickly,''
Woodward said last night in an interview on CBS's ``60
Minutes.'' ``That's the Saudi pledge,'' said
Woodward. ``Certainly over the summer or as we get
closer to the election they could increase production
several million barrels a day and the price would drop
significantly.''
Cleanse the White House of the Chickenhawk Coup, Show
Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0419-01.htm
Published on Monday, April 19, 2004 by Bloomberg News
Saudi Envoy Promised Bush a Drop in Oil Prices Ahead of Election
WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S. has
promised President George W. Bush the Saudis will
reduce oil prices before this November's election to
help the U.S. economy, according to Bob Woodward,
author of a new book about the Iraq war.
Oil prices are ``high, and they could go down very
quickly,'' Woodward said last night in an interview on
CBS's ``60 Minutes.''
``That's the Saudi pledge,'' said Woodward.
``Certainly over the summer or as we get closer to the
election they could increase production several
million barrels a day and the price would drop
significantly.''
US President George W. Bush walks outside the Oval
Office at the White House. Saudi Arabia's ambassador
to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, promised Bush
that his country would lower oil prices before the
November 2 presidential election, according to the
author of a new book on the war in Iraq. (AFP/File/Tim
Sloan)
In his book, titled ``Plan of Attack,'' Woodward also
says that the ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan,
was given advance information about plans to invade
Iraq by Vice President Richard Cheney and Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The Saudis trimmed their output by 1 million barrels a
day in the first quarter, according to Bloomberg data.
Crude oil has risen 15 percent to more than $37 a
barrel this year. The rise in crude has helped send
gasoline prices to a record average of $1.79 a gallon
in the U.S., according to the AAA, formerly the
American Automobile Association.
The record gasoline prices may blunt the economic
benefits of President Bush's tax cuts and become an
issue in the presidential election. Democratic
candidate John Kerry, 60, a four-term Democratic
senator from Massachusetts, cited higher gasoline
prices as one reason for a rising `misery index'' he
released last week that he said shows Bush's economic
policies have hurt working families.
Bandar Briefed Before Powell
Bandar learned of the attack plans on Jan. 11, 2003,
two days before U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
was told of the decision, according to Woodward.
In a meeting on Jan. 11 with Cheney, Rumsfeld and
General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, Bandar was shown a map laying out plans for
attacking Iraq, Woodward writes in the book. The map
was marked TOP SECRET NOFORN, meaning the classified
material wasn't to be shown to non-U.S. officials,
according to Woodward.
At the meeting Bandar asked for assurances that Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein wouldn't survive the war as he
did the 1991 Persian Gulf War led by Bush's father,
President George H.W. Bush. Cheney responded, ``Prince
Bandar, once we start, Saddam is toast,'' according to
Woodward.
Bandar said he would take the message to the Saudi
leadership if he got the same information he had just
received directly from Bush. On Jan. 13 Bandar was
called to meet with Bush, who said: ``Their message is
my message,'' said Woodward. Powell was told of Bush's
decision the same day.
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter and
the most influential member of the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps a third of
the world's oil.
OPEC on March 31 agreed to reduce its production
quotas to keep prices from dropping.
Before the March 31 meeting in Vienna at which OPEC
announced it was cutting its quotas, Saudi Arabia's
oil minister, Ali al- Naimi, said that the kingdom was
already implementing its share of production cuts for
April.
© 2004 Bloomberg L.P.
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