Ray Hunt is on record as denying that any discussions occurred between his company, Hunt Oil, and the U.S. Government prior to Hunt signing an oil exploration deal with Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish government. Although a company spokesman later backtracked somewhat from that assertion, on October 17, the State Department made it clear that Hunt was warned prior to reaching an agreement with the Kurds that such an arrangement would harm American interests in Iraq.
Details after the flip:
A brief summary:
September 9 - Hunt Oil announces it has reached an oil exploration deal with the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.
September 20 - President Bush says he had "knew nothing" of the deal prior to it being announced.
September 28 - a State Department spokesman states that Hunt was informed prior to the deal that such an agreement would be "unhelpful" to American interests
October 3 - Ray Hunt tells the Wall Street Journal that it received no advice from the U.S. government, and the State Dept. must be "misinformed."
October 12 - Hunt Oil spokeswoman Jeanne Phillips backtracks, saying that a meeting with the State Department took place, but that Hunt did not seek advice, nor where they advised not to pursue a deal with the Kurds.
Now the latest:
October 17 - State Department spokesman Tom Casey contradicts Hunt Oil's assertion that they did not seek or receive advice, saying:
"Hunt Oil has been advised of U.S. policy urging companies not to sign oil contracts with the Kurdistan Regional Government until [an Iraqi] national oil law is passed, as well as the potential political and legal risks inherent in such a contract."
He continued:
"The company decided to sign a contract regardless of our advice, but that is their decision. They are not a U.S. government entity, and they're allowed to make those calls. When they heard our opinion, they clearly made their own choice on this matter, but it"s certainly not one we support."
So according to Casey, Hunt brazenly flouted the State Department's admonishment that a deal with the Kurds would undermine U.S. interests in Iraq. Not only that, but Ray Hunt, who sits on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, as well as the board of Halliburton, lied about whether they had consulted with the State Department before signing the agreement.
Of course this raises several questions. Two that are foremost on my mind are:
a) Considering the State Department knew of this deal involving a close friend of and major contributor to the President, who in the administration knew of the deal before it was signed. What, if anything, was done to try to persuade Hunt from going forward?
b) Considering Hunt has consummated this deal in total disregard of U.S. interests, how can President Bush justify Ray Hunt's remaining a member of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board?
And there's more to the story. Casey claimed in the same statement that there was nothing that could be done legally to prevent Hunt from signing the agreement, because it does not violate U.S. law.
You read that right, ladies and gentlemen - the State Department believes the Hunt/Kurd oil contract contributes to the destabilization of Iraq, and yet it argues that the government had no authority to prevent such a deal from occurring. This is the same administration that believes it can indefinitely detain American citizens suspected of having terrorist ties. The same administration that believes it can spy on American citizens without a warrant, based on the president's expansive wartime powers. Yet somehow that wartime authority does not allow the president to prevent or cancel a contract between an American company and an Iraqi regional government, even when that contract hampers the war effort.
I'm going to put that one in the "no way in hell" category.