Saudis Pledged Oil Price Cut Before U.S. Vote -Report

[adamrsilva]

U.S. National - Reuters


Saudis Pledged Oil Price Cut Before U.S. Vote -Report
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, promised President Bush (news - web sites) the Saudis would cut oil prices before November to ensure the U.S. economy is strong on election day, journalist Bob Woodward said in a television interview on Sunday.



In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" about his new book "Plan of Attack" on the Bush administration's preparations for the Iraq (news - web sites) war, Woodward, a senior editor at the Washington Post, said Prince Bandar pledged the Saudi's 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.


Questioned about his assertion at a time when oil prices are nearing a 13-year high, Woodward responded:


"They're high. And they could go down very quickly. That's the Saudi pledge. Certainly over the summer or as we get closer to the election they could increase production several million barrels a day and the price would drop significantly."


(link below)

[soleft]

1. 13 minutes til we can see the interview for ourselves

[Quetzal]

2. link

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040...

please cut down your post to four paragraphs

[izzie]

3. And up right after Nov.

Anyone want to take a bet?

[stepnw1f]

4. When Was This Pledge Made

And isn't this illegal. Especially if an outside country was intentionally intefering in an American Democracy? An outside country that supports terrorism and then aiding a candidate over the other. The last question people should ask, is why are the Saudis trying to help Bush's re-election bid?

edit

[barbaraann]

7. Bandar has probably been promised some American girls for his harem.

n/t

[amandabeech]

20. Or that we won't be spreading democracy to Saudi Arabia

[Just Me]

10. BINGO!!!! *eom*

Kinda' weird, huh,...how the supporters of our "terrorists" just happen to be very kissy/huggy with that friend who was support to oversee the best interests of us all,...GWB.

And,...it just happened that those kissy/huggy buddies of the bush family were the financiers of the most horrific deadly attack on our premises,...

,...just keep on that kissy/huggy relationship,...you freakin' asswipin' selves unto your own. You imagine yourselves "the shit" and pour it on the rest of us who have more genuine compassion in our thoughts than you could possibly visit in your hearts.

WE know the likes of you.

You are rejected, summarily.

Imagine that!!!!

[qanda]

5. I believe every single word of it!

And they probably had a deal to do exactly what is being done right now to make gas prices higher so they could refute what Woodward has to say. These are the biggest crooks and criminals to ever occupy government.

[Hamlette]

6. gee, and they were angry when Clinton allegedly took campaign money

from people who were not US citizens.

Now Bush is using his friends in a foreign country to manipulate an election so say nothing about all of money lost due to the high prices they are now charging us.

Could this be manipulation (the current high prices) to drill in Alaska (pass the energy bill?)

Obviously Bush controls the price of gas in the US.

Of all the awful things Bush has done, this is the most evil. I could turn into a LIHOP person over this.

[amandabeech]

21. One reason for the increase in petroleum prices here is the

decline of the U.S. dollar against other major currencies like the euro,the yen and the British pound. The Chinese currency is tied to the dollar.

Even though oil is priced in dollars, OPEC seems to have raised its target price so that it is still getting the same value in euros and yen. On a list that I frequent, the Europeans all say that their gas is a little cheaper if anything.

George Bush is responsible for the poor economy and huge deficits that have pressed the dollar lower.

Another problem with gasoline prices here is that there isn't enough refining capacity, particularly to accommodate the many specific gasoline blends required to combat bad air quality in places like California. We can import gasoline easily only for areas that do not require special blends. Solving the problem means more refineries and perhaps dirtier air.

[NNN0LHI]

8. It appears terrorists are trying to sway our elections

Fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis.

Don

[ultramega]

15. I said this when the 28 pages were redacted.

I guessed that Bush made a deal with the Saudis that if they would come here and throw a fake hissy fit over the 28 pages that he would let them raise oil prices for a while, and then bring them back down conveniently close to the election.

I knew it was a deal, there was no other reason for them to be so concerned about the 28 pages, what do they care.

I don't think the 28 pages were about them at all, I think they contained incriminating evidence about Bush.

[neverforget]

9. Oil! It's not just for fuel anymore! Will there be ANY outrage about this

in the media? Of course not.
Who said money can't buy you friends and an election?
The Saudi Royal Familiy: Fattening the Bush Family Pocketbook and Influencing an Election.

[frank frankly]

11. kick

[frank frankly]

12. kick

[Shopaholic]

13. The sad part? The Repugs will just think that. . .

it's great gas prices will be going down in November! They won't worry at all about the fact that we're making illegal and certainly unethical deals with foreign countries!

[CatWoman]

14. excellennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnt

chimpy's shenanigans going mainstream.

[sspiderjohn]

16. Isn't this illegal? Can anything be done?

Or do we just do what we Dems always do, shrug and say, "Oh, well."

[calimary]

30. Here's what you can do...

MAKE A STINK ABOUT IT! CALL SOMEBODY! LOTS OF RESOURCES HERE:

Please note, here, The World's Greatest Lists of Media Contacts – updated April 14, 2004 – in the following thread:

LINK:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

IF THEY THINK WE DON’T CARE, THEY WON’T, EITHER!

[loudsue]

17. Where in the hell is our congress????

Who can Americans count on to bring criminal charges against those government officials who BREAK THE LAW??

What in the hell is up with this??

[keithyboy]

18. Counting their Saudi and AIPAC money!

They are a disgrace to the nation...

[calimary]

29. It starts with CALLING THEM. YOU CAN DO IT FOR FREE!

Check my sig line!

[Robin Hood]

19. Now we know what they did to Carter.

The oil embargo has just been explained. Yet another manipulated election.

[0rganism]

22. bushco stacking the deck -- bet they asked OPEC for the inflated prices

Nothing is beneath these scum, they are true villains, in the spirit of Batista and D'Aubisson.

[dusty64]

23. Foreign influence on American

elections, price manipulation, and treasonous revealing of secret information with a potentially hostile power. Doesn't sound too good to me, but will the media and congress care?

[Ganja Ninja]

25. Yes and didn't we hear not long ago Cheney and the ...

right wing media criticizing Kerry for saying there were foreign leaders that wanted him to win the election? Wasn't it the topic of conversation and outrage among the ditto heads and freepers only days ago? The hypocrisy never ends with these a**holes!

[ze_dscherman]

24. German report from April 2nd

Condi Rice ruft die Saudis zur Ordnung (Condi Rice Calls Saudis to Order)

The report says that Rice met with Prince Bandar bin Sultan on April, 1st, and that she had put pressure on him. The prince later gave a surprising press meeting and stated that his country would try to stop increasing oil prices, in order not to damage the international and the Saudi economy.

OPEC had decided to curb production on it's previous meeting, and SA had strongly supported this.

It was also reported that a message from Crown Prince Abdullah had been sent to bush*, regarding oil prices.

German source: http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,293632,00.html

[Turley]

27. You forgot one part

"Vertreter der Demokraten hatten sogar öffentlich Zweifel an der Zuverlässigkeit und Freundschaft des langjährigen US-Verbündeten Saudi-Arabien geäußert. Senatoren der Demokraten forderten US-Präsident George W. Bush schriftlich auf, "ein paar ernste Worte mit den Saudis" zu reden, weil sich Saudi-Arabien maßgeblich hinter die Entscheidung der Opec gestellt habe."


Which quickly translated means Democratic Senators urged the Bush Administration to have an earnest word with the Saudis in order to get oil prices down.

Quite frankly it is the duty of any administration to try and keep prices low (or at least stable). If there's a deal for a November price-drop that's one thing, but generally lobbying the Saudis to raise output is not a sin, even if Shrub does it.

[Ganja Ninja]

26. I am outraged!!!!

Dick Cheney:“It is our business when a candidate for president claims the political endorsement of foreign leaders, At the very least, we have a right to know what he is saying to them that makes them so supportive of his candidacy."

I demand to know which foreign countries are planning to help Bush/Cheney in the 04 election. Who else is going to try to manipulate the American people for the GOP's benefit?

[Barrett808]

28. Not quite the October Surprise I expected

But this could be part of an October Surprise package.

[KansDem]

34. A kind of "October Madness Gas Sale!!!"

"We have overstocked our oil!!! All oil prices HAVE TO BE SLASHED!!!And this means SAVINGS TO YOU!!! BIG SAVINGS!!! That's right, folks, for ONE MONTH, and ONE MONTH ONLY, you can save 25 to 50 percent ON YOUR GAS PURCHASES!!! The more you consume, the more you save on the gas you buy in October!!! Come in empty and leave full and have money left over!!! WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT!!! So c'mon down to the filling station and START SAVING TODAY!!! Free hot dogs and balloons for the kiddies!!!"

[proud patriot]

31. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

IMPEACH ! ! !

[keithyboy]

32. Bush controlled by Saudis and Congress controlled by Israel....

we are in one hell of a mess.

[varun]

33. Why am I not surprised?

Two fundamentalists are best buddies now...conspiring to help each other stay in power