Doggedly searching for the crux of the biscuit.
Oh my. Take a look at this.
Judicial Watch, which has gone after Bush as resolutely as it went after Clinton, has the results from its Freedom of Information Act request on the secret energy task force meetings led by Dick Cheney. And interestingly enough:
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, said today that documents turned over by the Commerce Department, under court order as a result of Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit concerning the activities of the Cheney Energy Task Force, contain a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as 2 charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects, and “Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts.” The documents, which are dated March 2001, are available on the Internet at: www.JudicialWatch.org.
The Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates (UAE) documents likewise feature a map of each country’s oilfields, pipelines, refineries and tanker terminals. There are supporting charts with details of the major oil and gas development projects in each country that provide information on the projects, costs, capacity, oil company and status or completion date.
Judicial Watch has been seeking these documents under FOIA since April 19, 2001. Judicial Watch was forced to file a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Department of Energy, et al., Civil Action No. 01-0981) when the government failed to comply with the provisions of the FOIA law. U.S. District Court Judge Paul J. Friedman ordered the government to produce the documents on March 5, 2002.
The documents were produced in response to Judicial Watch’s on-going efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in government on behalf of the American people. Judicial Watch aggressively pursues those goals by making FOIA requests and seeking access to public information concerning government operations. When the government fails to abide by these "sunshine laws" Judicial Watch files lawsuits in order to obtain the requested information and to hold responsible government officials accountable.
"These documents show the importance of the Energy Task Force and why its operations should be open to the public," stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
Click here for: MAPS AND CHARTS OF OILFIELDS: CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE
Yes, I'll just bet Cheney wants those records sealed. As Tom Tomorrow adds:
If this is on the level, the implications are extraordinary. I always had it in the back of my mind that Cheney was stonewalling on the energy task force to hide the corruption, the ties to Enron and so on. But what if the sons of bitches were sitting around deciding how to divvy up Iraq? What if that most reductionist of slogans is a simple statement of fact: it's all about the oil?
If this is on the level? Like the FBI would lie to the Vice president's disadvantage.
Hat tip to Jorge, who sent the tomtomorrow link. Also at that site, just below that post, is a link to this disturbing article. Apparently reading a Hal Crowther column in a coffeeshop is enough to get you questioned by the FBI these days.
UPDATE (7/18, 11:02 am): In the comments, Froz questions the noteworthiness of these documents. This story has been picked up by Daily Kos, and the debate over their noteworthiness continues in the comments there, too. Concensus seems to be that absent further documentation, these tell very little.
I'll agree with Froz's comment, though, that this is the real scandal surrounding the Energy Task Force, and there's nothing speculative about it.
TrackBackWell, now, hold yer horses, Apostropher. Any analysis of world oil resources (which any self-respecting (sic) energy task force would want to conduct) would "contain map(s) of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as 2 charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects". I agree this whole GulfwarII is about oil - any thinking person knows it is - but these revelations about Cheney's task force looking at Iraqi oilfield maps aren't anything noteworthy. Spinworthy, perhaps, but livebythesword etc. Similar maps are all over the place (see http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/iraq_oil_2003.jpg and, well, for your own intellectual curiosity http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/iraq_oil_2003.jpg for that matter.
If the documents show something to the tune of "we have to get our cronies' hands on this stuff in order to preserve the American way of life and who cares how many innocent babies we have to bomb in order to do that" well, then, that's another matter. But this isn't Earth-shattering. What's far more scandalous is how even NOW alternative energy experts and advocates are being systematically shut out of high-level energy policy discussions. Soldiers are dying to the tune of one-a-day to secure this resource (another Country's, by the way) while those who suggest that wind, solar, biomass, landfill gas, waste pyrolysis and depolymerization, and anything else that Cheney et al aren't heavily invested in get SHUT OUT COMPLETELY. See http://www.ucsusa.org/news.cfm?newsID=350 and then just start surfestigating around.
Posted by: at July 18, 2003 01:00 AMSorry, Apostropher, that last one was from me, Froz; I forgot to sign it.
BTW - Too bad the "Foreign Suitors" document doesn't go (alphabetically) past "I" - Italy.
Posted by: Froz at July 18, 2003 01:09 AMNo, the maps aren't what's interesting, it's the list of foreign suitors. If I remember correctly, at the time of the Energy Task Force, Iraq was only allowed to sell oil through the UN Oil for Food program. Unless we were planning on lifting sanctions, it's hard to figure (for me, anyhow) exactly what that list was doing at the US Energy Policy formulation. We know that Cheney and his PNAC buddies had been openly advocating overthrowing Hussein for some years prior.
Anyhow, an FOIA request is subject to redaction, so if these did show up, it makes me wonder what is still being withheld...
Posted by: apostropher at July 18, 2003 07:13 AMAnd you're right. The shutting out of renewable resources is one ugly, self-defeating policy. Unless, of course, you have spent big chunks of your life working in the fossil fuel industry and don't want those profits threatened.
Posted by: apostropher at July 18, 2003 07:16 AMHowever, my knowledge of the specifics of the Oil for Food program could fill a thimble (and I don't hve the time to look it up right now), so that suspicion may be total BS.
shrug.
Posted by: apostropher at July 18, 2003 11:10 AM