The Wake

It’s shaping up to be an interesting year in American electoral politics. Underneath all the noise screaming out of the television, we seem to have a Democratic candidate who flaccidly stands on the issues “for the good of the average American” before retreating to his summer beach mansion financed by his fortune and that of his wife, the heir to the Heinz Ketchup fortune. However, he does look slightly like a shaven Lincoln-esque character, so that seems like a plus. Kerry rails against the “special interests” yet he is as much a product of lobbyists in the banking and financial sector as Bush is to the oil and energy monopolies.

On the other hand, we could have another term of the Bush/Cheney regime, featuring such interesting acts of late as the VP and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia jetting off in Air Force 2 for some duck hunting. One suspects that one of the ducks being shot at was the ongoing inquiry into the classified Cheney Energy Task Force documents from early in 2001. So far, from the few pages Judicial Watch managed to pry open using the Freedom of Information Act, we have a better idea of what we’re looking at pre-September 11. Among other things, a detailed map of all Iraqi oil fields (11 percent of the world supply), and a two-page specific list of all nations with development contracts for Iraqi oil and gas projects and the companies involved. Also there were similar charts and figures for a number of other nations in the area.

Yet, the energy policy gets much murkier than that. In 2001, American government representatives, and UNOCAL businessmen were negotiating to build an oil pipeline through Afghanistan, yet the Taliban were being uncooperative. The last meeting took place in August 2001. Central Asian Affairs representative Christina Rocca voiced disgust and issued a threat to the Taliban ambassador: “Accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs.” Bush promptly informed Pakistan and India that the United States would launch a military mission against Afghanistan before the end of October.

Perhaps the most interesting bit of information comes in an examination of one particular person: Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad, former head of the Pakistani ISI - an equivalent to our CIA. Pakistan considered our ally in the War on a Noun (Terrorism) but, in this case, the devil is in the details; in the summer of 2001, Ahmad wired a $100,000 to assist September 11 hijacker Muhammad Atta. On Sept. 4, 2001, he then arrived for an official state visit to Washington, D.C. Ahmad then met with a number of Washington luminaries including CIA Director George Tenet, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Joseph Biden, and Secretary of State Colin Powell. When the attacks occurred, Ahmad was having breakfast with the co-chairs of the Joint Intelligence Committee of the House and Senate. Yet there will be no answers here. Following the attacks, Ahmad quietly resigned and is interestingly now diseased.

Which brings us to the second duck Cheney and Scalia were making sure would not fly – more and more rumblings coming from the September 11 commission about the lack of cooperation coming from the administration, and the possibility of a forced suit going to the Supreme Court demanding the public testimony under oath of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. That duck may have already been shot from the sky.