Information wants to be free - Cheney vs. The People

....Significant evidence points to the possibility that much more could be revealed than mere corporate cronyism: The national energy policy proceedings could open a window onto the Bush administration's decision-making process and motives for going to war on Iraq.

In July 2003, after two years of legal action through the Freedom of Information Act (and after the end of the war), Judicial Watch was finally able to obtain some documents from the Cheney-led National Energy Policy Development Group.

They included maps of Middle East and Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, two charts detailing various Iraqi oil and gas projects, and a March 2001 list of "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts," detailing the status of their efforts. The documents are available at JudicialWatch.org.

These documents are significant because during the 1990s, U.S. policy- makers were alarmed about oil deals potentially worth billions of dollars being signed between the Iraqi government and foreign competitors of the United States including France's Total and Russia's LukOil.

The New York Times reported the LukOil contracts alone could amount to more than 70 billion barrels of oil, more than half of Iraq's reserves. One oil executive said the volume of these deals was huge -- a "colossal amount."....[snip]

Much More at Link

I recall a time when anyone that suggested that Cheney's Energy Policy Group had designs on Iraq's oil was labeled a tin hat conspiracy theorist. But as with much with this Adminidtation yestrday's conspiracy theory becomes tomorrow's conventional wisdom.

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On a compleltey unrelated note: when is the NYT going to pink-slip that shallow Bush apologist, neconservative shill David Brooks?

That guy has no imagination. When he strays from his 'neocanned' script, he is utterly asea. It's shameful.

I'm only pointing this out because I like the guy ;)