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To: NOW who wrote (36577)	1/29/2004 7:20:36 PM
From: lurqer	Respond to of 89467

Observed Dr. Kay again today on the PBS News Hour. He strongly stressed the need for an independent commission to investigate what went wrong. I would hope that anyone interested in getting at the truth would support this. So far, I notice the Admin is opposed. lurqer

To: NOW who wrote (36577)	1/29/2004 10:36:00 PM
From: lurqer	Respond to of 89467

Interesting that on the CBS Evening News in addition to a chilling piece on troop suicide in Iraq, they also said that the Admin was surprised that Kay had "gone public". Apparently they had expected Kay to quietly retire. Guess that's why Condi's being "troted out". White House weighs response to Kay When national security adviser Condoleezza Rice turns up on every network morning news show, as she did Thursday, it's a sign of worry in the White House. (Related item: Kay: 'We were almost all wrong') Administration officials are debating how to handle fallout from former weapons inspector David Kay's conclusion that there are no stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons in Iraq. Kay told a Senate committee Wednesday that intelligence agencies, not President Bush, should be blamed for flawed intelligence that Bush cited as he made the case for war. Kay recommended an investigation by an independent commission. Rice said on ABC's Good Morning America that Kay's findings raise "questions that we will want to answer." But she said it's too soon to consider an outside investigation because the search for weapons continues. Four former CIA analysts chosen by CIA Director George Tenet are conducting a review of the Iraq intelligence. Rice said the "full story" still isn't known. Her goal in the interviews, one high-ranking administration official said, was to put the White House on the offensive on an issue that could damage Bush's chances of re-election this fall. Democrats said they believe they will benefit from doubts about what was once Bush's main argument for war. "It undermines the core rationale behind his re-election," Democratic pollster Doug Schoen said. "This goes at the essence of what the Bush re-election is about, which is, 'Trust me.' " Democrats already are trying to capitalize. David Rudd, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in an e-mailed letter to "friends" that Kay's testimony shows Bush "lied about the reason for going to war." The administration official said some advisers believe Bush must do more to answer Kay's findings. But Bush is not expected to fire Tenet, the likely target of blame. The official would not identify other options being considered. The urgency of formulating an explanation or blaming someone outside the White House is tempered by political reality: Polls show most Americans believe the war was worth it even though no "weapons of mass destruction" have been found. A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll Jan. 12-15 asked whether the war was a mistake; 56% said no. In October, 55% said finding illicit weapons was not necessary to judge the war a success. For months, Bush has emphasized other benefits. "A free and peaceful Iraq in the heart of the Middle East is in this nation's long-term security interests," he said Thursday in Manchester, N.H. Kay pointed out that France, Germany and the Clinton administration agreed with Bush's assumptions about Iraq's weapons. That might make it difficult for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, to use the issue against Bush. Kerry voted for the resolution authorizing war without raising questions about Iraq's weapons. And he supported President Clinton's airstrikes against Iraq. In a 1998 letter to Clinton, Kerry and other senators supported military action to respond to "the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction program." Political consequences are not the only thing troubling some Bush aides. The basis of his foreign policy is his doctrine of pre-emptive military action against countries that pose threats. The policy depends on reliable intelligence. Ted Galen Carpenter, a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, said that in Iraq, Bush relied "on what he wanted to see." That makes it more difficult, he said, for Bush to argue convincingly that war is necessary to counter threats in the future. The controversy also might make life difficult in the short term for some of Bush's allies. British Prime Minister Tony Blair was cleared by a senior judge Wednesday of a deliberate attempt to deceive the British public about the threat from Iraq in a 2002 report. But John Hulsman, a foreign policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Kay's conclusions could "cause trouble at home" for Blair because anti-war sentiment there continues to be strong. Others say the weapons will turn up with time. Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister, said Thursday that he's confident they will be found. "They have been hidden in certain areas," he said at a news conference in Sofia, Bulgaria. "The system of hiding was very sophisticated." usatoday.com lurqer

To: NOW who wrote (36577)	1/29/2004 11:52:54 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 89467

<font size=4> Saddam’s Gifts Document: Saddam Supporters Received Lucrative Oil Contracts <font size=3> By Brian Ross Jan. 29 — <font size=4>ABCNEWS has obtained an extraordinary list that contains the names of prominent people around the world who supported Saddam Hussein's regime and were given oil contracts as a result. <font size=3> All of the contracts were awarded from late 1997 until the U.S.-led war in March 2003. They were conducted under the aegis of the United Nations' oil-for-food program, which was designed to allow Iraq to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian goods. The document was discovered several weeks ago in the files of the Iraqi Oil Ministry in Baghdad. <font size=4> According to a copy obtained by ABCNEWS, some 270 prominent individuals, political parties or corporations in 47 countries were on a list of those given Iraq oil contracts instantly worth millions of dollars. Today, the U.S.Treasury Department said that any American citizens found to be illegally involved could face prosecution. "You are looking at a political slush fund that was buying political support for the regime of Saddam Hussein for the last six or seven years," said financial investigator John Fawcett. <font size=3> Investigators say none of the people involved would have actually taken possession of oil, but rather just the right to buy the oil at a discounted price, which could be resold to a legitimate broker or oil company, at an average profit of about 50 cents a barrel. <font size=4> List Includes Prominent Names Among those named: Indonesia President Megawati Sukarnoputri, an outspoken opponent of U.S.-Iraq policy<font size=3>, who received a contract for 10 million barrels of oil — about a $5 million profit. <font size=4> The son of the Syrian defense minister<font size=3> received 6 million barrels, according to the document, worth about $3 million. <font size=4> George Galloway, a British member of Parliament, was also on the list to receive 19 million barrels of oil, a $90.5 million profit. A vocal critic of the Iraq war, Galloway denied any involvement to ABCNEWS earlier this year. <font size=3> "I've never seen a bottle of oil, owned one or bought one," Galloway said in a previous interview with ABCNEWS. <font size=4> According to the document, France was the second-largest beneficiary, with tens of millions of barrels awarded to Patrick Maugein, a close political associate and financial backer of French President Jacques Chirac. Maugein, individually and through companies connected to him, received contracts for some 36 million barrels. Chirac's office said it was unaware of Maugein's deals, which Maugein told ABCNEWS are perfectly legal. The single biggest set of contracts were given to the Russian government and Russian political figures, more than 1.3 billion barrels in all — including 92 million barrels to individual officials in the office of President Vladimir Putin. Another 1 million barrels were contracted to the Russian ambassador to Baghdad, 137 million barrels of oil were given to the Russian Communist Party, and 5 million barrels were contracted to the Russian Orthodox Church. Also on the list are the names of prominent journalists, two Iraqi-Americans, and a French priest who organized a meeting between the pope and Tariq Aziz, Saddam's deputy prime minister. The following are the names of some of those who, according to the document, received Iraqi oil contracts (amounts are in millions of barrels of oil): <font size=3> Russia The Companies of the Russian Communist Party: 137 million The Companies of the Liberal Democratic Party: 79.8 million The Russian Committee for Solidarity with Iraq: 6.5 million and 12.5 million (2 separate contracts) Head of the Russian Presidential Cabinet: 90 million The Russian Orthodox Church: 5 million France Charles Pasqua, former minister of interior: 12 million Trafigura (Patrick Maugein), businessman: 25 million Ibex: 47.2 million Bernard Merimee, former French ambassador to the United Nations: 3 million Michel Grimard, founder of the French-Iraqi Export Club: 17.1 million Syria Firas Mostafa Tlass, son of Syria's defense minister: 6 million Turkey Zeynel Abidin Erdem: more than 27 million Lotfy Doghan: more than 11 million Indonesia Megawati Sukarnoputri: 11 million Spain Ali Ballout, Lebanese journalist: 8.8 million Yugoslavia The Socialist Party: 22 million Kostunica's Party: 6 million Canada Arthur Millholland, president and CEO of Oilexco: 9.5 million Italy Father Benjamin, a French Catholic priest who arranged a meeting between the pope and Tariq Aziz: 4.5 million Roberto Frimigoni: 24.5 million United States Samir Vincent: 7 million Shakir Alkhalaji: 10.5 million United Kingdom George Galloway, member of Parliament: 19 million Mujaheddin Khalq: 36.5 million South Africa Tokyo Saxwale: 4 million Jordan Shaker bin Zaid: 6.5 million The Jordanian Ministry of Energy: 5 million Fawaz Zureikat: 6 million Toujan Al Faisal, former member of Parliament: 3 million Lebanon The son of President Lahoud: 5.5 million Egypt Khaled Abdel Nasser: 16.5 million Emad Al Galda, businessman and Parliament member: 14 million Palestinian Territories The Palestinian Liberation Organization: 4 million Abu Al Abbas: 11.5 million Qatar Hamad bin Ali Al Thany: 14 million Libya Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem: 1 million Chad Foreign minister of Chad: 3 million Brazil The October 8th Movement: 4.5 million Myanmar (Burma) The minister of the Forests of Myanmar: 5 million Ukraine The Social Democratic Party: 8.5 million The Communist Party: 6 million The Socialist Party: 2 million The FTD oil company: 2 million abcnews.go.com