GOP Senate Candidate Fesses Up To Pursuing Oil Deal Over U.S. Objections
July 17, 2008 05:28 PM Colorado Senatorial candidate Bob Schaffer acknowledged today that he knowingly arranged an oil deal in the Kurdish region of Iraq that was counterproductive to American interests in the region. He argued that the deal was allowed under Iraq's federal system, and so he felt comfortable pursuing it.
Schaffer, a Republican, came under heavy criticism in recent weeks for arranging the deal, because U.S. officials said it would be damaging to the tenuous oil-revenue sharing agreements that the Iraqi government was, at the time, putting together.
Initially, Schaffer denied he was aware State Department officials had warned against such an arrangement, despite the fact that objections from Condoleezza Rice and President Bush were highly public.
But on Thursday, the Colorado Republican changed his tune, acknowledging, according to the paper the Pueblo Chieftain, that "U.S. officials in Baghdad did not want U.S. oil companies doing business directly with the Kurds."
"It's troubling enough that Bob Schaffer flew into Iraq in the middle of the war, not to support our troops, but to cut a money-making oil deal that undermined the mission our troops were fighting for," said Tara Trujillo, campaign spokeswoman for Schaffer's Democratic rival, Mark Udall. "But now we see he won't even give Coloradans a straight answer on what he knew and when."
Schaffer initially traveled to Iraq in November 2006 to lay the groundwork for an oil deal in the Kurdish regions for Aspect Energy, his former employer. Previous deals like Aspect's had drawn disapproval from President Bush. And the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office reported that the Iraqi government viewed foreign deals like the one Aspect was arranging as "illegal." >>>cont
Schaffer, a Republican, came under heavy criticism in recent weeks for arranging the deal, because U.S. officials said it would be damaging to the tenuous oil-revenue sharing agreements that the Iraqi government was, at the time, putting together.
Initially, Schaffer denied he was aware State Department officials had warned against such an arrangement, despite the fact that objections from Condoleezza Rice and President Bush were highly public.
But on Thursday, the Colorado Republican changed his tune, acknowledging, according to the paper the Pueblo Chieftain, that "U.S. officials in Baghdad did not want U.S. oil companies doing business directly with the Kurds."
"It's troubling enough that Bob Schaffer flew into Iraq in the middle of the war, not to support our troops, but to cut a money-making oil deal that undermined the mission our troops were fighting for," said Tara Trujillo, campaign spokeswoman for Schaffer's Democratic rival, Mark Udall. "But now we see he won't even give Coloradans a straight answer on what he knew and when."
Schaffer initially traveled to Iraq in November 2006 to lay the groundwork for an oil deal in the Kurdish regions for Aspect Energy, his former employer. Previous deals like Aspect's had drawn disapproval from President Bush. And the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office reported that the Iraqi government viewed foreign deals like the one Aspect was arranging as "illegal." >>>cont
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 11:10 PM
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