Iraqi 4th of July Sale--Big Markdowns by America
In the world of insider-deals, there are good deals, extra-good deals and deals that are so good as to be slightly criminal. In the recent butchering and shrink-wrapping of sovereign Iraqi oil, the latest poster piggly-wiggly is Ray Hunt, a Texas acquaintance of George Bush and Hunt Oil trust-fund-baby.
(Steven Mufson, Washington Post)
Bush Officials Condoned Regional Iraqi Oil Deal
Contract Contradicted State Dept.'s Public Stance
Bush administration officials told Hunt Oil last summer that they did not object to its efforts to reach an oil deal with the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq, even while the State Department was publicly expressing concern that such contracts could undermine a national Iraqi petroleum law, according to documents obtained by a House committee.
Last fall, after the deal was announced, the State Department said that it had tried to dissuade Hunt Oil from signing the contract with Kurdish regional authorities but that the company had proceeded "regardle…