POLITICS: Saudis Won't Use Influence in U.S. Election

Saudi Arabian officials said Monday, that it will not try to assist U.S. President Bush in winning his presidential re-election. The Saudi royal family has kept known ties to the Bush family in the past.
They could do so by cutting petroleum prices to boost the U.S. economy and consumer confidence, just before November, the election month. This could give Bush a favorable position.

Reuters

According to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, there was a pact between Bush and Saudi envoy to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, member of the Saudi royal family. Woodward, author of the book "Plan of Attack," said this in a televised interview on Sunday.

The White House declined to take a direct stance on the Woodward's allegations, but stated that in recent meetings with Prince Bendar, the Saudi position was, "committed to making sure prices remained in a range of, I believe, $22 to $28 per barrel of oil, and that they don't want to do anything that would harm our consumers or harm our economy."

Democrat presidential candidate John F. Kerry said, it would be "outrageous and unacceptable" if the allegations of a "secret" deal appear to be true.

"We do not use oil for political purposes; it is too important a commodity, and its impact on the global economy (of which we are a part) is tremendous," said Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
"Saudi Arabia also does not interfere in elections," he said.

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[Edited on 19-4-2004 by Banshee]

I was just about to post a thread on how the Saudis were going to use oil prices to help bush out... i was quite appalled by the fact... but hopefully your info is better hoak... In fact i found an article stating the exact opposite to what you've said

SAUDIS PLEDGE TO OIL BUSHES RE-ELECTION

[Edited on 20-4-2004 by specialasianX]

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Gas prices historically go down in price at the end of summer/beginning of fall, so it is important not to draw false conclusions from this.

Bandar said last night that there never was any such deal.

The Saudis also said that they they receive such requests for stable oil prices before every presidential election; this is nothing new.

Kerry's outrage is nothing more than grandstanding on his part; what would you expect him to say?

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The Saudis and the Bush's would do something like that. Here's some articles covering Woodward's allegations.



SAUDIS OIL BUSH RE-ELECTION BID: REPORT

April 19, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States promised President Bush that his country would slash oil prices before November - just in time to boost the American economy for Election Day, it was alleged last night.
www.nypost.com...




White House reels from Woodward book
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
20 April 2004

Other allegations are that the White House made a secret deal with Saudi Arabia for lower oil prices before this November's election, and that the Bush team secretly used $700m (�390m) of funds earmarked in 2002 for Afghanistan to prepare for an attack on Iraq. Both charges are being vehemently denied by the administration.
news.independent.co.uk...

Bin Sultan and Woodward were on Larry King discussing this.
Here are some excerpts from the trascript:

KING: The story that Mr. Woodward has about the promise to lower the oil prices by the election. Your government has denied has.

WOODWARD: That's not my story. What I say in the book is that the Saudis, and maybe you looked at this section of the book, Ambassador, that the Saudis hoped to keep oil prices low during the period for -- before the election, because of its impact on the economy. That's what I say.

BIN SULTAN: I think the way that Bob said it now is accurate. We hoped that the oil prices will stay low, because that's good for America's economy, but more important, it's good for our economy and the international economy, and this is not -- nothing unusual. President Clinton asked us to keep the prices down in the year 2000. In fact, I can go back to 1979, President Carter asked us to keep the prices down to avoid the malaise. So yes, it's in our interests and in America's interests to keep the prices down.

KING: Do you want President Bush...

BIN SULTAN: But that was not a deal.

KING: Do you want President Bush to be reelected?

BIN SULTAN: We always want any president who is in office to be reelected, Larry, but that is the American choice. This is not our call. This is the American people's call.

edition.cnn.com...

I saw this show live, when it was aired on CNN. Highly interesting on this, and other topics.

Some more quotes from the transcript:

KING: What about the oil price thing?

WOODWARD: What I say in the book is, according to Bandar, the Saudis hoped to control oil prices in the 10 months running up to the election because if they skyrocketed, it would hurt the American economy.

KING: Now, just for the record, White House spokesman Dan Bartlett tells CNN there was no secret deal, no talk of bringing down prices in time for the election. The Saudi government also denies the story, saying the allegation that the kingdom manipulates the price of oil for political purposes or to affect elections is erroneous and has no basis in fact.

WOODWARD: In the book, it's one -- I'm sorry, it's two sentences, and I don't say there is a secret deal or any collaboration on this. I say that Bandar and the Saudis hoped to put prices -- now, I understand there's something on the wire from Bloomberg saying that, in fact, the Saudis have said this, that in the period before the election, they told the president directly that they wanted to keep oil prices low in a range. So...

KING: Well, that's -- that would make Kerry correct, saying they're affecting the campaign.

WOODWARD: Well, I don't know. I mean, Kerry has taken this to the next level. This always gets caught in the political crossfire, and I'm trying to stick with what my reporting showed. And if you looked at it, as the people at "60 Minutes" did, and so forth, you would see how good the sourcing is.

I think, if you use this interview to clarify the possible reality, you shouldn't forget the quotes above, or less important these...

BIN SULTAN: Larry, number one, Bob Woodward is a first class journalist and reporter. And ...

KING: OK, and number two?

BIN SULTAN: And number two, I will never contradict Bob Woodward.

[Edited on 20-4-2004 by Hoaks]

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These points were probably covered in one of the links supplied, so to summarize:

No special deal was made

The Saudis always want the incumbent to be relelected, for purposes of stability

Bandar has stated that Carter appealed for a similar deal, and so did Clinton

Kerry is trying to make a political issue where there is none to be made

Also, Billary was asked whether she had read Woodward's book. Anticipating a hatchet job on the Bush administration, she said, and I paraphrase: "No, but I find it fascinating". When she found out that she had been snookered, she was walkning around with a pair of pruning shears and a lockbox.

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