The Saudis threaten another 7/7 and W. can't touch the spigot.
I thought the idea was when W. got elected that he -- being an oilman and all -- would be able to deal with the Arabs and keep our gas cheap. The NYT reports this morning that W. told his good Saudi buddies to pump some more oil to lower the price, and they refused!
As the NYT points out, back in 2000 W. assured everyone he'd be able to "work with our friends in OPEC to convince them to open up the spigot, to increase the supply. Use the capital that my administration will earn, with the Kuwaitis or the Saudis, and convince them to open up the spigot."
He's always on about all that "capital" he's got. Last time I checked, debt isn't capital.
In any event, OPEC told him to go take a hike.
The Times reports:
"Chakib Khelil, Algeria’s oil minister and OPEC’s president this year, said on Wednesday that the high price of oil was not because of a lack of supply, but instead resulted from the 'mismanagement of the U.S. economy' that has helped send the dollar tumbling. 'If the prices are high, definitely they are not due to a lack of crude,' Mr. Khelil said in Vienna. 'They are due to what’s happening in the U.S.'"
Mismanagment of the US economy! Where does this guy get off? W. is doing a great job with the economy, just like he did with all his other businesses.
And then the price of a barrel of oil went up to $104 . . .
And how's that new arms deal with the Saudis going? W. is going to give them $123 million worth of weapons, specifically 900 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs. This deal is supossed to the show the Saudis we're serious about protecting them against the Iranains, but it's obviously all a scam.
I wonder what kind of kickback Crown Prince Sultan is getting this time around. Secret documents involving the 1985 Al Yamamah BAE/Saudi arms deal reveal, Sultan "has a corrupt interest in all contracts," this according to a senior British official.
The Guardian reported in October of 'o6 (before the investigation was squashed by Tony B-liar) that the then head of the Ministry of Defence's sales unit, Sir Colin Chandler, wrote in a classified telegram that Sultan was "Not highly intelligent" and "He has prejudices, is inflexible and imperious, and drives a hard bargain."
All the Saudis apparently drive a hard bargain. I wonder what W. is going to have to do to get the price of a barrel of oil down? Where's his good friend Prince Bandar-Bush when he needs him? I guess he's busy counting his secret bank accounts stuffed with about $1 billion worth of his ill-gotten gains from the very same Al Yamamah deal , according to the BBC.
That is, of course, when he's not threatening the UK government. The Guardian reports that:
"Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday. reviously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced 'another 7/7' and the loss of 'British lives on British streets' if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence. Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists."
How about that, our good friend, W.'s best bud, the guy he enjoyed a big stoggy with on the Truman balcony on 9/11. Apparently, this threat is what led Phony B-liar to end the Serious Fraud Office's investigation into the BEA deal and especially Bandar's role in it.
The Guardian:
"Lord Justice Moses, hearing the civil case with Mr Justice Sullivan, said the government appeared to have 'rolled over' after the threats. He said one possible view was that it was 'just as if a gun had been held to the head' of the government."
Just like W. rolled over on the price of oil. Don't get the Saudis mad, they'll send over some more of their American trained one-way pilots.
As the NYT points out, back in 2000 W. assured everyone he'd be able to "work with our friends in OPEC to convince them to open up the spigot, to increase the supply. Use the capital that my administration will earn, with the Kuwaitis or the Saudis, and convince them to open up the spigot."
He's always on about all that "capital" he's got. Last time I checked, debt isn't capital.
In any event, OPEC told him to go take a hike.
The Times reports:
"Chakib Khelil, Algeria’s oil minister and OPEC’s president this year, said on Wednesday that the high price of oil was not because of a lack of supply, but instead resulted from the 'mismanagement of the U.S. economy' that has helped send the dollar tumbling. 'If the prices are high, definitely they are not due to a lack of crude,' Mr. Khelil said in Vienna. 'They are due to what’s happening in the U.S.'"
Mismanagment of the US economy! Where does this guy get off? W. is doing a great job with the economy, just like he did with all his other businesses.
And then the price of a barrel of oil went up to $104 . . .
And how's that new arms deal with the Saudis going? W. is going to give them $123 million worth of weapons, specifically 900 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs. This deal is supossed to the show the Saudis we're serious about protecting them against the Iranains, but it's obviously all a scam.
I wonder what kind of kickback Crown Prince Sultan is getting this time around. Secret documents involving the 1985 Al Yamamah BAE/Saudi arms deal reveal, Sultan "has a corrupt interest in all contracts," this according to a senior British official.
The Guardian reported in October of 'o6 (before the investigation was squashed by Tony B-liar) that the then head of the Ministry of Defence's sales unit, Sir Colin Chandler, wrote in a classified telegram that Sultan was "Not highly intelligent" and "He has prejudices, is inflexible and imperious, and drives a hard bargain."
All the Saudis apparently drive a hard bargain. I wonder what W. is going to have to do to get the price of a barrel of oil down? Where's his good friend Prince Bandar-Bush when he needs him? I guess he's busy counting his secret bank accounts stuffed with about $1 billion worth of his ill-gotten gains from the very same Al Yamamah deal , according to the BBC.
That is, of course, when he's not threatening the UK government. The Guardian reports that:
"Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday. reviously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced 'another 7/7' and the loss of 'British lives on British streets' if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence. Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists."
How about that, our good friend, W.'s best bud, the guy he enjoyed a big stoggy with on the Truman balcony on 9/11. Apparently, this threat is what led Phony B-liar to end the Serious Fraud Office's investigation into the BEA deal and especially Bandar's role in it.
The Guardian:
"Lord Justice Moses, hearing the civil case with Mr Justice Sullivan, said the government appeared to have 'rolled over' after the threats. He said one possible view was that it was 'just as if a gun had been held to the head' of the government."
Just like W. rolled over on the price of oil. Don't get the Saudis mad, they'll send over some more of their American trained one-way pilots.
posted by William Duane at 11:48 AM
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