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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: blue red who wrote (6888)	3/20/2004 9:18:15 PM
From: PartyTime	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

July 17, 2003 Contact: Press Office (202) 646-5172 MEDIA ADVISORY CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE DOCUMENTS FEATURE MAP OF IRAQI OILFIELDS Commerce & State Department Reports to Task Force Detail Oilfield & Gas Projects, Contracts & Exploration Saudi Arabian & UAE Oil Facilities Profiled As Well (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, said today that documents turned over by the Commerce Department, under court order as a result of Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit concerning the activities of the Cheney Energy Task Force, contain a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as 2 charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects, and “Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts.” The documents, which are dated March 2001, are available on the Internet at: www.JudicialWatch.org. The Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates (UAE) documents likewise feature a map of each country’s oilfields, pipelines, refineries and tanker terminals. There are supporting charts with details of the major oil and gas development projects in each country that provide information on the projects, costs, capacity, oil company and status or completion date. Judicial Watch has been seeking these documents under FOIA since April 19, 2001. Judicial Watch was forced to file a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Department of Energy, et al., Civil Action No. 01-0981) when the government failed to comply with the provisions of the FOIA law. U.S. District Court Judge Paul J. Friedman ordered the government to produce the documents on March 5, 2002. The documents were produced in response to Judicial Watch’s on-going efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in government on behalf of the American people. Judicial Watch aggressively pursues those goals by making FOIA requests and seeking access to public information concerning government operations. When the government fails to abide by these “sunshine laws” Judicial Watch files lawsuits in order to obtain the requested information and to hold responsible government officials accountable. “These documents show the importance of the Energy Task Force and why its operations should be open to the public,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. Click here for: MAPS AND CHARTS OF OILFIELDS: CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE judicialwatch.org

To: blue red who wrote (6888)	3/20/2004 11:01:58 PM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 173976

Bush: One year after Iraq By Matt Frei BBC Washington Correspondent US casualties in Iraq continue to cause Bush a domestic headache When President Bush launched the invasion of Iraq a year ago, it was widely believed in Washington that his administration wanted to get the war out of the way so that the fighting would not interfere with the campaign for his re-election. The main part of the war lasted barely three weeks. The statue of Saddam was famously toppled on 9 April 2003. But a year later, just as the election campaign is hotting up, American soldiers and civilians continue to die. The toll of those killed since the end of major combat operations is now 432 - three times as high as the 139 killed during the invasion itself. The cost of reconstruction is much higher than the original estimate. The transition to democracy and sovereignty looks shaky at best. It is challenged every day by attacks against Iraqi civilians who co-operate with the occupation and by the fraught relationship between the country's Shia majority and beleaguered Sunni minority. Pessimists now talk openly about the prospect of civil war once the Americans hand over sovereignty. The war on terror Al-Qaeda has clearly not been beaten into submission. It has despatched hundreds, if not thousands of mujahideen to Iraq - a grim if ironic reminder of the mujahideen who once fought the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. We now know that Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden were never allies before the war, but al-Qaeda is currently fighting side by side with the remnants of the Baathist regime. America's faulty assertion has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Meanwhile al-Qaeda and its allies have bombed targets from Istanbul to Madrid. And the subsequent defeat of the Conservative Partido Popular of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, one of America's closest allies in the war against terror, may even be remembered as al-Qaeda's own first regime change. Add to that the related costs: continued distrust on either side of the Atlantic, the huge embarrassment of those unfound weapons of mass destruction and, as Spain's election result shows, arguably a weakened and divided front in the war against terror. Divided nation Karl Rove, President Bush's political guru, likes to leave as little as possible to chance. Iraq is a visible war and allows Bush to enhance his robust image as a man who goes after the bad guys But in Iraq he has taken a massive gamble. His administration is hostage to a fortune minted in the sands around Baghdad. All this sounds like a nightmare scenario for a White House that may have blithely calculated that the Iraq War would turn out to be a sure election winner. The truth turns out to be more prosaic. The polls indicate that Iraq has divided this nation much like every other major issue. Republicans on the whole support it. Democrats hate it. Swing voters are split down the middle. Opinion surveys also indicate that the electorate is more concerned about the economy than events in Iraq or the war against terror. History tends to be on the side of the incumbent. Americans need really strong reasons to throw out a sitting president and so far these reasons seem to missing for a robust majority. Bush and Blair are still united despite the Madrid attacks The White House has complimented history with its own message: why would you change your commander-in-chief in the middle of a war? So, despite its casualties and its costs, the war in Iraq is at least a visible war as opposed to the invisible war against al-Qaeda. It allows President Bush to be cheered by troops at military bases around America and to enhance his robust image as a man who goes after the bad guys. Let's not forget that Saddam Hussein has been captured and the Iraqi people, according to every recent survey, do feel happier today than they did under the dictator. But like any other war, this one is also full of risks that the White House may yet learn to regret. CC