April 18, 2004
Bush delegates gas price policy to Saudis
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, promised President Bush the Saudis would cut oil prices before November to ensure the U.S. economy is strong on election day, journalist Bob Woodward said in a television interview on Sunday.In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" about his new book "Plan of Attack" on the Bush administration's preparations for the Iraq war, Woodward, a senior editor at the Washington Post, said Prince Bandar pledged the Saudi's would try to fine-tune oil prices to prime the U.S. economy for the election -- a move they understood would favor Bush's re-election.
Questioned about his assertion at a time when oil prices are nearing a 13-year high, Woodward responded:
"They're high. And they could go down very quickly. That's the Saudi pledge. Certainly over the summer or as we get closer to the election they could increase production several million barrels a day and the price would drop significantly."
As Oliver Willis points out, this, combined with the fact that Bush shared classified information with Prince Bandar should be grounds for impeachment. I’m not holding my breath, though.
Posted by Norwood at April 18, 2004 11:03 PM