Hunt oil deal creating tension in Iraq: US

[sabra]

Source: AFP

BAGHDAD (AFP) — A US official on Thursday criticised an oil deal between Texas-based Hunt Oil Company and Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), saying it had "needlessly elevated tensions" in Iraq.

Hunt had been advised by the US State Department not to enter the deal before the Iraqi parliament passed a national oil bill that will share out the country's lucrative oil revenues but it went ahead anyway, a US embassy official in Baghdad told reporters.

The contract signed earlier this month was declared "illegal" by Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani, sparking a war of words with the KRG, which told him to stop meddling in its affairs and said he should be sacked.

...

The US embassy official, who would not be named, told a media briefing the signing of contracts by the KRG while a controversial national oil bill is still before parliament was undermining national unity.

"We think that these contracts have needlessly elevated tensions between the KRG and the Iraqi government," said the official.

Read more: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iXtQstIhz0ZCqIQVOZLiFhqayA8g

[jgraz]

1. Seize his assets!

Bush has given himself the power to seize 100% of the assets of anyone "undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq". Why haven't we done this to Ray Hunt and all directors, officers and executives of Hunt Oil?

[Vincardog]

3. May be cause they are not on the Democratic side of the isle?

[jgraz]

4. The real question is: why aren't the Democrats calling *'s bluff on this?

If Bush wants to seize people's assets, why not start with one of his bosom buddies?

[Kagemusha]

13. Because such seizure would be a constitutional monstrosity?...

That's too simple, I guess.

[jgraz]

14. Exactly. Calling his bluff would force the issue

Having this totalitarian edict hanging over us is already a constitutional monstrosity.

[Kagemusha]

15. And in doing so the Democrats would take the blame.

Brilliant. "DEMOCRATS BACK UNCONSTITUTIONAL MONSTROSITY - PLEDGE FULL SUPPORT". Brilliant headlines.

[robinlynne]

17. because they dont call his bluffs at all.

[0007]

19. Because junior & his dick has an interest in Hunt Oil.

Hunt is a privately-held independent oil company based in Dallas, Texas. A third partner, Impulse Energy Corp., also has a stake in the project.

"We're very pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of these landmark events by actively participating in the establishment of the petroleum industry," Ray L. Hunt, Hunt's CEO, said in a statement.

Hunt, who is also on the board of Halliburton, has been a key fundraiser for President George W. Bush, who named him to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

:puke:
Doesn't this wanna make ya puke?

[Vincardog]

2. Gee who would have thought that a bush backer would put his personal interests

above the national interests of the Iraq or American governments?

I mean well duh? Look at who is dealing here a self serving bush backer.

Not to mention that it used to be illegal to sell of Iraqi national oil assets.

[sarcasmo]

9. Greed, has no party affiliate.

[Roy]

11. You are absolutely correct....

The past 7 years have shown that Republicans and conservatives are equally corrupt.

[NI4NI]

5. When Shrub was asked about the Hunt Oil deal

in a press conference by the same reporter (last name is Wolfe) who appears regularly with KO on Countdown.........Shrub said he "didn't know anything about the deal".......Yeah, right! Since when did lyin' become a Christian moral value......Oh, I forgot, Bush is a republican.

[jazzjunkysue]

6. Apparently, oil IS thicker than blood. Again, their greed is their undoing.

But this occupation is NOT about oil! Not even a little!

[KansDem]

7. WTF??? Not the Hunts AGAIN???!!!

This name keeps popping up like a recurring case of hemorrhoids.

I first encountered this name, albeit indirectly, back in the 1970s when I was a student in college. Near the university was a Shakey's Pizza, a great place for college kids to hang out. It had good pizza, long wooden tables to sit at, a dark-wood decor, ragtime music and old movies of Laurel & Hardy. I must have spent countless hours there on Friday afternoons and evenings after classes. Then, about the mid- to late-1970s the Shakey's parlors began to disappear. I wondered at the time, "Hmmm...?" but since I had graduated and went to work, my "Shakey's Days" were essentially over.

Until I read in the late 1980s that Shakey's about that time had been bought by the Hunt Brothers. In an article written by a former Shakey's employee who had gone on to become financially successful, he described how the company went under after the Hunt Brother purchase. The author wanted to buy (or was in the process of buying) the Shakey's corporation to return it to its former glory (sort of...we can't truly "go home"). But the purchase of Shakey's by the Hunt Brothers coincided with the decline in Shakey's quality and restaurants.

Then there was the attempt to corner the silver market:

The Hunt Brothers and the Silver Bubble
Brian Trumbore
President/Editor, StocksandNews.com
In 1973, the Hunt family of Texas, possibly the richest family in America at the time, decided to buy precious metals as a hedge against inflation. Gold could not be held by private citizens at that time, so the Hunts began to buy silver in enormous quantity.

In 1979 the sons of patriarch H.L. Hunt, Nelson Bunker and William Herbert, together with some wealthy Arabs, formed a silver pool. In a short period of time they had amassed more than 200 million ounces of silver, equivalent to half the world's deliverable supply.

When the Hunt's had begun accumulating silver back in 1973 the price was in the $1.95 / ounce range. Early in '79, the price was about $5. Late '79 / early '80 the price was in the $50's, peaking at $54.

Once the silver market was cornered, outsiders joined the chase but a combination of changed trading rules on the New York Metals Market (COMEX) and the intervention of the Federal Reserve put an end to the game. The price began to slide, culminating in a 50% one-day decline on March 27, 1980 as the price plummeted from $21.62 to $10.80.

The collapse of the silver market meant countless losses for speculators. The Hunt brothers declared bankruptcy. By 1987 their liabilities had grown to nearly $2.5 billion against assets of $1.5 billion. In August of 1988 the Hunts were convicted of conspiring to manipulate the market.

--more--
Buy and Hold

So why should I not be surprised to see them tied in with yet another sleazy deal? To me, "Hunt Brothers" will always mean "scoundrels engaged in chicanery"

[cosmicdot]

8. Ray L. Hunt

Hunt joined the Halliburton Company Board in 1998.

He also serves as a member of the boards of directors of PepsiCo, Inc., King Ranch, Inc., Electronic Data Systems Corporation, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and Security Capital Group Incorporated.

Hunt currently serves as a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. csis.org

and, the Board of Trustess for the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation (one of many
http://www.georgebushfoundation.org/bush/asp/OverView/Trustees.asp)

He is currently a member of the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ray_L._Hunt

N46F is a CIA-linked plane. It is owned by the parent company of the Hunt Oil Company.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=N46F

[Maribelle]

10. Hunt was invited to join Halliburton by Cheney

When Cheney was running Halliburton
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20070921/cm_thenation/1235197

[bobthedrummer]

12. Hey cosmicdot-thanks for that post! I was working along similar lines.

:thumbsup:

IMPEACH CHENEY FIRST

[robinlynne]

16. na na na na na

[sarcasmo]

18. Kick, the real reason we are in Iraq.

[bobthedrummer]

20. .

IMPEACH CHENEY FIRST

[Judi Lynn]

21. What a damned shame. Roy Hunt's brother, Lamar Hunt, who seemed very decent,

was the owner/founder of the Kansas City Chiefs. It's almost painful realizing they were brothers. Lamar Hunt died in December, 2006.

His biography:
http://www.kcchiefs.com/front_office/lamar_hunt/

You'd never have believed he was connected to a sociopath like Roy Hunt.

[flashl]

22. .