Saudi Arabia to Figure in US Election Campaign: Expert

[JohnLocke]

Saudi Arabia to Figure in US Election Campaign: Expert

JEDDAH, 7 March 2004 — Saudi Arabia will be an issue in this year's US presidential election campaign, according to a campaign expert, after Democrats accused President George W. Bush of being "soft" on the Kingdom.

Journalists here were taking part in a four-way satellite conference with David Mark, the editor in chief of Campaigns and Elections magazine, a non-partisan monthly publication that covers political consulting and politics.

"(Sen.) John Kerry will use (the subject of Saudi Arabia) in order to attack President Bush" and make him appear "soft on the war on terror," Mark said.

"Kerry would like to lessen US dependence" on foreign oil "and he would also like to explore alternative sources of energy," he added.

Mark believes that the November elections are the first since the end of the Cold War where foreign policy is a major issue.

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=43390

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[orwell]

1. The 7 Veils

This is a good example of issues flowing from values and the inherent consistency that it establishes. The Progressive value of protection, both personal and environmental, is well served here, but in a different contextual framework than the value of protection offered by the authoritarian Bush Regime.

To expose the Saudis for their duplicity and linking that implied threat to research and development into alternative energy is both valuable and internally consistent. In other words, we don't need to enable the Saudi collaborators, and by extension their western masters, if we decouple from our energy dependency.

The next step is to remove the veil from the Saudi Regime, which is little more than a proxy for western interests.

But, first things first. There are still many veils of deception to remove, both literally and figuratively.

O

[JohnLocke]

2. Kick

[rockymountaindem]

3. Good

It's about freakin' time started calling these Saudi goons for what they are. Being friends with Saudi Arabia for the oil is like being friends with a guy who beats you up because he's the only person who even talks to you.

[JohnLocke]

4. Exactly.

[fujiyama]

5. We need a few ads..

with Bush next to those Saudi royals. Those images won't play too well with moderates.

We have to remind people how close the Bushies are to the Saudi royal family.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

6. FWIW, new book out in next week on Bush's & al-Saud's

<b>House of Bush, House of Saud</b> begins with a politically explosive question: How is it that two days after 9/11, when U.S. air traffic was tightly restricted, 140 Saudis, many immediate kin to Osama Bin Laden, were permitted to leave the country without being questioned by U.S. intelligence?

The answer lies in a hidden relationship that began in the 1970s, when the oil-rich House of Saud began courting American politicians in a bid for military protection, influence, and investment opportunity. With the Bush family, the Saudis hit a gusher -- direct access to presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. To trace the amazing weave of Saud-Bush connections, Unger interviewed three former directors of the CIA, top Saudi and Israeli intelligence officials, and more than one hundred other sources.His access to major players is unparalleled and often exclusive -- including executives at the Carlyle Group, the giant investment firm where the House of Bush and the House of Saud each has a major stake.

Like Bob Woodward's The Veil, Unger's House of Bush, House of Saud features unprecedented reportage; like Michael Moore's Dude, Where's My Country? Unger's book offers a political counter-narrative to official explanations; this deeply sourced account has already been cited by Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, and sets 9/11, the two Gulf Wars, and the ongoing Middle East crisis in a new context: What really happened when America's most powerful political family became seduced by its Saudi counterparts?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/074325337X/qid=1078705257//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-6717500-3987926?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Kerry should try & get this guy -- Chris Unger -- as well as Robert Baer ("Sleeping With the Devil") on board.