SAUDIS OIL BUSH RE-ELECTION BID: REPORT

"Journalist Bob Woodward, during an interview to promote his new book, "Plan of Attack," on CBS's "60 Minutes," said Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan had pledged that the Saudis would try to fine-tune oil prices to prime the U.S. economy for the election, a move they understood would favor Bush's re-election."

Read about it here.

__________________
"Quincitilius Varus, give me back my legions!"
Emperor Augustus of Rome.

rolf, that sounds like 'those wealthy special interests are so desperate to give Bush some good news, that they are padding the payroll numbers by hiring 308,000 people that they don't need'

http://www.scrappleface.com/MT/archives/001659.html

Bandar calls King/Woodward interview

heres the transcript of the interview

KING: We have made the connection. With us on the phone is Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia. Who wants to go first? Do you hear Bob OK, Prince?

WOODWARD: Have you read the book, ambassador?

BANDAR BIN SULTAN, SAUDI AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: No, but I read snippets of it.

WOODWARD: The parts pertaining to you, and there seems to be some contention about this meeting January 11 in the White House. You know, Don Rumsfeld is on record saying he looked you in the eye and said, "you can take this to the bank, Ambassador, this is going to happen," and the "this" is the war plan. And...

KING: I'll let him respond to that part. Prince, is that true?

BIN SULTAN: Larry, number one, Bob Woodward is a first class journalist and reporter. And ...

KING: OK, and number two?

BIN SULTAN: And number two, I will never contradict Bob Woodward.

WOODWARD: OK.

KING: So what's number three?

BIN SULTAN: And number three is, what he said is accurate. However, there was one sentence that was left out.

KING: And that is?

BIN SULTAN: Both Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld told me before the briefing that the president has not made a decision yet, but here is the plan, and then the rest is accurate.

WOODWARD: Then why would they say, "You can take this to the bank, it's going to happen," and then, as I understand it, the vice president said, "when this starts Saddam is toast." Is that correct?

BIN SULTAN: This is absolutely correct, but underlined when, because my response was last time we tried this, we left Saddam in place, and I don't think anybody in the Middle East would like to try this again if Saddam would stay in place, and that's the rest of the story. So what Bob said was accurate, except that I was informed that the president has not made a decision yet.

WOODWARD: But then why would they have the meeting to contradict what you're saying, Ambassador? And you have not read the transcripts of my interview with the president, and the president said to you that the message they sent to you was his message. This is, you know, as everyone knew, there was extensive planning going on for war. Why would they have this meeting to tell you a maybe? Doesn't make sense.

BIN SULTAN: Because the whole aspect is that the president, if I make the decision, this plan, you can take it also to the bank, like what's his name, Rumsfeld, said.

Remember, Bob, I was briefed by Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and by General Powell about Plan 1001, and at that time, we were not sure if the Americans...

WOODWARD: This was for the first Gulf War.

BIN SULTAN: ... were going to go to war or not.

WOODWARD: Right. And -- but they didn't tell you, "You can take this to the bank, this is going to happen." I, you know, if we were to get out the...

KING: Let's ask it this way. Prince Bandar, after that meeting, did you think they were going to war?

BIN SULTAN: I was -- to be honest with you, not sure, but I was -- my gut feeling was telling me that if Saddam Hussein does not respond the right way, yes, they were going to go to war, but I can -- must emphasize that this is January. Between January and March, everybody emphasized to me that they want to go to the U.N. They want to try all other venues. But if Saddam does not respond positively, then they have to be ready. I think this president was thinking, "I cannot bluff," and President Johnson always, I was told, said, "Don't tell a fellow to go to hell unless you intend to send him there," and I think President Bush was intending to send Saddam to hell if he does not respond.

KING: Let me get in one more thing, Prince Bandar.

BIN SULTAN: Yes, sir.

KING: The story that Mr. Woodward has about the promise to lower the oil prices by the election. Your government has denied has.

WOODWARD: That's not my story. What I say in the book is that the Saudis, and maybe you looked at this section of the book, Ambassador, that the Saudis hoped to keep oil prices low during the period for -- before the election, because of its impact on the economy. That's what I say.

BIN SULTAN: I think the way that Bob said it now is accurate. We hoped that the oil prices will stay low, because that's good for America's economy, but more important, it's good for our economy and the international economy, and this is not -- nothing unusual. President Clinton asked us to keep the prices down in the year 2000. In fact, I can go back to 1979, President Carter asked us to keep the prices down to avoid the malaise. So yes, it's in our interests and in America's interests to keep the prices down.

KING: Do you want President Bush...

BIN SULTAN: But that was not a deal.

KING: Do you want President Bush to be reelected?

BIN SULTAN: We always want any president who is in office to be reelected, Larry, but that is the American choice. This is not our call. This is the American people's call.

KING: OK, I think we've cleared up... WOODWARD: Could I just, I'm sorry to go back on this, but Prince Bandar, why would the president tell me on the record two days later that he called Colin Powell in and said he had decided on war? This was a 12-minute meeting. I went through this for some time with the president, and then the president would ask Powell, "will you be with me?" And Powell said, "I will be with you. I will support a war," and then the president said to former General Powell, now Secretary of State Powell, "time to put your war uniform on."

I know that Powell left that meeting saying, he's going to do it. He had made that decision, and you look at what Rumsfeld has said and others, and as you may be aware, there might be tape recordings that would show that the version I have is the accurate one. What's going on here?

BIN SULTAN: Bob, I believe Secretary Powell/General Powell's response does not surprise me. He's a very loyal soldier and a statesman. And I believe he puts a lot of weight on loyalty, and he disdains disloyalty. Therefore, I believe if your account is accurate, which I have no reason to discount it, that general -- Secretary Powell told the president his views. Once the commander in chief made his mind up, General Powell -- Secretary Powell decided it's right to support the commander-in-chief.

KING: I got to get a break.

BIN SULTAN: That is the only thing I can say about this.

KING: Thank you, Prince Bandar, thank you for responding to our call. That's Prince Bandar, the ambassador from Saudi Arabia.

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0404/19/lkl.00.html

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Thou shalt hoist oneself upon thy ship of good sportsman, For thy days of "GG" and "NICE Shot" hath past, "GG" shalt be "BS" thy "Nice Shot" shalt be "AIMBOT!!1!1". - Teh Book of Noob Chapter 8:12

Yeah, and the source for that article looks like it's something I can trust 100%. :rolleyes:

Is it slightly possible that Kerry is attempting to shoot down the strong job numbers by questioning if they are real or not? Consumer sentiment is up. Part of what is factored into that is job growth. If the economy is cooking the jobs will come.

Don't believe the bunk that Kerry is trying to spread around to confuse the real news on things like this. Do your homework, and get the facts on job numbers and growth in the economy first.

Same thing goes with oil prices and the argument that the Saudis are going to drop oil prices to get Bush elected. Another argument that holds no truth to it. The Saudis are not the only members of OPEC. They don't control the group. They may have influence, but there is more to it that that.

Oil prices are down slightly from $38 a barrel. OPEC is cutting the supply of oil to keep the price where it's at. They seem to like the income. There is no word from OPEC that they plan to increase the supply of oil. So, where is your data from that shows this elaborate plan of the Saudis?

Never trust a journalist trying to promote his new book.

OH... Then there's this little bit of interesting news... Never trust a Clinton either! Since Kerry seems to get his 'knowledge' from the democrats, I guess you just shouldn't trust him either. He doesn't seem to have a clue. :confused:

Oh what tangled webs we weave...

What, you think that just because Clinton did it too, it makes it alright?
"Uh, excuse me judge, but Ted Bundy did it first, it´s not my fault i killed 10 people with an axe, it´s Ted´s, for teaching me how!"

__________________
"Quincitilius Varus, give me back my legions!"
Emperor Augustus of Rome.

Actually, just the opposite. Most people seem to hate Bush. Those people will find any little scrap of "news" to show how bad he is. Those same people will bow down to Bill as if he's some kind of God or hero. :bow:

I am simply pointing out that people are once again making the wrong assumptions. They're clinging to their liberal based news in any attempt to justify why they simply can't stand Bush.

Your original post should have answered any question about this. Bob Woodward is promoting his book. He wants cash, and he's willing to throw out there meaningless lies in order to get suckers to pay for his book.

I find it very amusing that no one will bring up the evils that Clinton did while in office. No one will admit that what he was doing all along was wrong. No one will admit that he was one of the most corrupt presidents we've ever had. Every time something bad is mentioned, they will brush it off and say "well, he's not the first".

I just find it ridiculous that people still think Clinton was a great president and that Bush is terrible. The truth hurts, and most of the truths show that Clinton was perhaps the worst president we've ever had. Yet, people will look the other way because they aren't capable of admitting that. It's sad really. America has become far too liberal, and ever day people will pull the wool over their own eyes because it's easier to live that way.

Bunch of mindless idiots! :drool:

You are joking, right?
:confused:

__________________
"Quincitilius Varus, give me back my legions!"
Emperor Augustus of Rome.

It seems that: facts which are bad for Bush = liberal based news

I know that 'fact' is a word you Bush supporters haven't used in a while, but I hope you don't totally forget the meaning of it.

And nobody needs any justification for not standing Bush, every sane person's common reason should tell him not to stand the idiot. Only the blind ones still supporting him need to justify their brainwashed behaviour.

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