On the heels of reports that Ray L. Hunt signed a secret pact with the Kurds for oil exploration in N. Iraq - many concerned Americans were taking pause to wonder which came first - the horse or the cart?
Of course, it was always alleged that the United States attacked Iraq for the "oil", although reputable pundits and political analysts pooh-poohed the silly, hysterical thought!
However - in retrospect - the idea was not far-fetched.
For the record, it should be noted that Ray L. Hunt contributed $35,000,000.00 towards the purchase of land for the Bush Library. And, as a gesture of his appreciation, George W. Bush bestowed on Ray L. Hunt a prestigious post on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
Say what?
Some may recall in the cobwebs of the inner recesses of their minds that the Hunt family - from whence Ray L. was sprung - tried to corner the silver market a scant few years ago.
Nelson Bunker Hunt (born February 22, 1926) was an American oil company executive and chairman of Hunt Exploration and Mining Company (HEMCO) and the son of H. L. Hunt (deceased, 1974) whose oil empire started from poker wins which Nelson - nonetheless - inherited most of.
Nelson Bunker Hunt played a very significant role in the development of the oil fields in Libya which were later Nationalized by Muammar al-Gaddafi.
In 1973, the Hunt family of Texas - one of the richest families in America - hatched a scheme to buy precious metals as a hedge against inflation. Private citizens were barred from owning gold at that time, so the Hunts gobbled up silver in enormous quantities.
In 1979, the sons of H.L. Hunt (Nelson Bunker and William Herbert) and a handful of wealthy Arabs formed a silver pool. In a short span of time, they amassed more than 200 million ounces of silver equivalent to half the world's supply.
When the Hunt's started accumulating silver back in 1973 the price was in the $1.95 per-ounce range. By early 1979, the price shot up to $5 dollars. Remarkably - by early 1980 - the price stood at a whopping $50 dollars to later peak at $54 an ounce.
Once the silver market was cornered - outsiders sought a piece of the pie - but a combination of trading rules changed on the New York Metals Market (COMEX) and the intervention of the Federal Reserve caused the precarious game to come to a screeching halt.
The prices plummeted - a 50% one-day decline on March 27 (1980) - from $21.62 to $10.80.
The collapse of the silver market meant countless losses for speculators. Caught in the flap, the Hunt brothers declared bankruptcy.
By 1987, their liabilities had grown to nearly $2.5 billion against assets of $1.5 billion. After a thorough criminal investigation, the Hunts were convicted of conspiring to manipulate the market through an International Metals Investment Company in August of 1988.
Ray L. Hunt, subject of this post, stuck with oil reserves and scored big with a deal in Yemen.
At this juncture, Hunt moved into natural gas in Peru.
You know the old saying.
"There are no Nations, only Corporations."
And yes, the conglomerates have been special friends to the Bush's, believe me!
But, it's a two-way street; indeed, the shenanigans of the Hunt family - whether cloaked in the corporate veil or not - have prospered remarkably through ties with the Bush clan.
Unlike many of the powered-elite, Ray L. Hunt prefers to keep his name out of the papers.
For good reason.
In high society, it's often deemed gauche to have one's good name dragged through the spotlight - the focus of the lowly media - or used as fodder for the tabloids.
Limited intrusion by the press is a standard the old guard strictly adheres to.
For a Blue Blood, a requisite three presses releases are issued to the media during the course of his life which consist of a birth announcement, a formal notice of the "union" of two house in marriage, and - at the time of his demise - an understated obit.
But, Ray L Hunt's penchant for mystery may be motivated by his clandestine activities and the need for privacy. In fact, there has been a swirl of intrigue around his investments and business activities over the past year.
However, securing details about his private oil deals and investments is like pulling teeth, some say. Wild horses couldn't drag the info outta' him!
Democratic lawmakers moved forward on investigations pertaining to Hunt's oil exploration contract in Iraq last year, noting the company's ties to President Bush raised questions about whether insider information helped seal deals.
U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee) and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) asked Hunt to turn over all Iraq-related communication with the U.S. government by a set deadline.
The lawmakers also demanded that Ray Hunt (Hunt Oil's chief executive) submit copies of information he may have received about Iraq as a member of Mr. Bush's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
A Hunt spokeswoman said the company would cooperate with the request for "certain limited information." Typical Bush language for "no way".
Of particular concern are the facts surrounding the biggest oil exploration contract to come out of Iraq since the war began - which has upset, for want of harsher words - the Iraqi Parliament.
The Iraqi oil Minister denounced the agreement as illegal, but there is no law in place, so that the issues may be pursued.
In recent months - a law was requested to regulate in respect to revenue sharing - but the talks stalled on occasion because of the release of information about the Hunt deal.
In retrospect, it appears that while the government was fervently pursuing an agreement on the much-touted oil revenue sharing law, Ray L. Hunt was cutting his own deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government - and some accuse - contributing to the death of the negotiations in Baghdad.
In fact, it has been reported by informed sources that Iraq-Arab leaders were angered by the Hunt machinations; after all, they perceived the deal as a Kurdish power-play for the country's oil reserves.
In the final analysis, the deal shattered fragile negotiations for peace and an agreement to share oil profis in the region with the Sunni, Shiites, and Kurds.
One reporter lamented in response,
"Was there any flappy-jowled howling outrage from the Republicans in Congress? Any bellowing accusations of undermining the mission of our troops from right-wing loudmouths like Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh? Nope! Not a peep. Why? Ray is golden. Ray is untouchable. Ray is a "Loyal Bushie"."
It should be noted that Ray L. Hunt's power additionally resided in the fact he has held posts on the Board of Directors for Dresser Industries, EDS, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Pepsi, and Haliburton.
More disturbing is the revelation that he is also on the Board of the American Petroleum Institute, a lobbying organization for the oil and natural gas industry.
In the past, Hunt donated oodles of money to the Republican party; enough - in fact - to secure an appointment as the Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee’s "Victory 2000" Committee.
But the real capper was yet to come.
In October 2001 (one month after 9/11) George W. Bush appointed him to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory. In sum, the panel of outside elders oversee whether the Commander-in-Chief secures advice from the Intel community.
"The President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) provides advice to the President concerning the quality and adequacy of intelligence collection, of analysis and estimates, of counterintelligence, and of other intelligence activities. The PFIAB, through its Intelligence Oversight Board, also advises the President on the legality of foreign intelligence activities."
"Through meetings with intelligence principals, substantive briefings, and visits to intelligence installations, the PFIAB seeks to identify deficiencies in the collection, analysis, and reporting of intelligence; to eliminate unnecessary duplication and functional overlap; and to ensure that major programs are responsive to clearly perceived needs and that the technology employed represents the product of the best minds and technical capabilities available in the nation."
"In carrying out their mandate, the members of the PFIAB enjoy the confidence of the President and have access to all the information related to foreign intelligence that they need to fulfill their vital advisory role."
Mr. Hunt, 64, has not talked about his role on the intelligence board which meets about six times a year. Its members are all Presidential appointees with security clearances and much of their work is classified.
Former board members and intelligence experts allege the membership doesn't often deal with specific intelligence. Instead, it is hinted that they focus on broader concerns such as whether one agency is cooperating with another or how a training program is working.
"Their job is to advise the president about the efficiency of the intelligence systems and where things need to be changed," said Arthur S. Hulnick, a CIA veteran who is now an associate professor of international relations at Boston University.
"It is more management than substantive."
That said, members must study intelligence-gathering efforts if they are expected to judge how the system works, Mr. Hulnick said.
"They clearly have to see it, things like estimates and daily reports, finished intelligence and analyzed intelligence," he said.
If I recall correctly, wasn't one of the excuses that Bush made about the errors regarding "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq due to "bad Intel"?
Mr. Waxman's committee have subpoena power.
"We are in the information-gathering stage," said Natalie Laber, a spokeswoman for Mr. Kucinich. "Before we hold hearings, we gather information."
Mr. Waxman (D-Calif) has held a series of contentious Iraq-related hearings in recent months. At one - Democrats grilled Blackwater - the State Department's private security contractor.
Members also investigated corruption in the Iraqi government.
In a climate of anti-oil, and accusations of invasions of Iraq for the development of rich oil fields, Mr. Bush has distanced himself from Mr. Hunt in the public arena.
In spite of the fact Hunt donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to get George Bush elected (and daddy, George Senior, too) and lobbied to build the Bush Presidential Library at SMC (with $35 million donated for the land purchase) our President claims he had no knowledge of the N. Iraq deal with the Kurds.
The accusations against Bush are typical. Critics allege he helped a big time contributor line his pockets at the expense of Iraqi peace.
Of course, the White house denies knowledge of the deal!
And, guess what? Ray L. Hunt is mum, too.
When Government officials dialed up Hunt for details, they were denied info.
His rep issued the following statement,
"We do not discuss deals with the United States Government."
Critics noted there was a simple way for the Government to determine how the deal came about.
Mr. Bush should call up his good buddy on his cell and ask point-blank, they argue matter-of-fact. In response, Mr. Bush stated for the record he was concerned about Hunt's deal if it jeopardized Iraq's ability to pass a National oil-sharing law.
In a letter to Hunt, Mr. Waxman and Mr. Kucinich asserted that Hunt's deal "may have undermined U.S. national policy of working toward the passage of an oil revenue sharing plan."
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's oil Minister was more strident and asserted Hunt's deal was illegal.
Congressional Democrats have jumped into the fray alleging that Hunt Oil managed to secure the deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government because it had insider information about the future of Iraq's National oil law.
"Ray Hunt is in a unique position to know what is happening in Iraq," said Rep. Edward Markey (Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming).
Hunt Oil's decision to enter Iraq was only based on information that - "was in the public domain" - asserted their public relations department.
Hunt Oil and the Kurdistan Regional Government have said that their deal complied with the National constitution and noted that the agreement called for sharing revenue with other regions of Iraq. They said Mr. Hunt's political relationships were irrelevant to the firm's decision to explore in Iraq.
"The outcome of the deliberations for the national hydrocarbons law will not affect this agreement one way or another," noted Qubad Talabani, a Washington representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The Government put a positive spin on the issue, nonetheless; with a straight face, representatives noted it was a good sign that investors wanted to put their money in Iraq.
Back to the question.
Which came first, the horse or the cart?
Some analysts have touted the turn of events as positive. They assert that machinations of Hunt Oil will motivate the three groups in Iraq to secure a National oil law to avoid future secret deals with Hunt and others.
Texas' Hunt Oil and the Kurdistan's regional government acknowledged publicly they had signed a production-sharing contract for petroleum exploration in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, the first such deal since the Kurds passed their own oil and gas law last August.
Meanwhile - a Hunt subsidiary began geological survey and seismic work with a plan for drill exploration to be underway fully by the end of 2008 - according to a press release issued a few months ago. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"We're very pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of these landmark events by actively participating in the establishment of the petroleum industry," CEO Ray L. Hunt said in a prepared statement.
Revenue will be shared by the KRG throughout Iraq, consistent with the Iraq constitution and the Kurds' new petroleum law, issued by the Kurdistan National Assembly.
Despite Iraq's vast oil reserves, major International companies have basically sat on the sidelines - not only for security reasons - but because of the absence of legislation governing the industry and offering protection for investments.
Ashti Hawrami, the regional government's Minister of natural resources, argued that the Hunt deal is evidence the government's new oil and gas law created a "supportive and transparent business environment which promotes investment by international oil companies in our region for the benefit of all."
A major strategic goal of the signing may have been to resurrect an old pipeline route from Mosul in Kurdistan through Jordan and on to Israel. The pipeline would presumably follow the southern route on the map.
In the final analysis, critics assert that Hunt was in a position to know what Cheney and Bush would like to see happen in Iraq. Ultimately, because Hunt was privy to the grand strategy for the Middle East, it is alleged that he elected to seize the opportunity to use that knowledge for the profit of his own company and his family.
Investigators noted they intended to pursue the possibility that Hunt's connections with the intelligence community may have been more sinister; after all, a Hunt company aircraft was recorded landing at the CIA's training facility at Camp Peary (Virginia) in late November (2006).
There are some pressing questions as to whether Hunt's connection with CIA activities extend to covert activities in Iraq's Kurdistan.
Others speculate that Hunt may have allowed his company to be used as a commercial cover mechanism to ship arms and launder money for activities directed by the CIA.
More strident accusers claim outright that the Bush/Cheney White House used Hunt and his commercial enterprises to circumvent the legal requirements of informing Congress of covert activities by conducting such operations through the National Security Council (which Hunt is a member of) and the Department of Defense as "black operations" with no notification to Congress.
Hunt Oil, with its presence in Kurdistan, would be in an ideal position to serve as a commercial vehicle for such "black operations".
In time, perhaps the truth will be revealed. Do inquiring minds want to know?
In the interim, other oil companies have followed Hunt's lead in pacting oil deals with the Kurds. At last glance, the French company Perenco, had signed on.
Others will surely follow.
Then, what of the War in Iraq?
When the government was not pleased with the response, a top-ranking official - played cunningly by Meryl Streep - barked an order to her disapproving aide.
