U. S. GOVERNMENT DELEGATE REPRESENTING IRAQ AT OPEC MEETING

FAVORS PRICE-RAISING CUTBACK OF 1 MILLION BARRELS PER DAY;

PRESIDENT BUSH, SENATOR KERRY, AND 29 SENATORS FAIL TO COMMENT

            The United States government delegate representing occupied Iraq at the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna favored the oil price-raising cutback of 1 million barrels per day which OPEC adopted on March 31, 2004.

“The Bush Administration should have instructed its delegate representing occupied Iraq to oppose these crippling price increases that will cost the American public billions of dollars.  President George W. Bush who has the power to remove Iraq from OPEC with the stroke of a pen should do so immediately to stop helping the oil cartel in its economic warfare against the public,” urged Carl Olson, Chairman of State Department Watch, a nonpartisan foreign policy watchdog group headquartered in Washington, D. C.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan did not disclose how the Bush Administration instructed its OPEC delegate to advocate.  He did say, “The President is disappointed in today’s decision.  It is important that producers should not take steps that harm American consumers and our economy.”  He did not indicate how many billions of dollars of harm the OPEC action would cause the American economy.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry (D-MA) issued the following statement on March 30, “OPEC is meeting this week in Vienna and Kerry believes action is necessary.  A Kerry Administration would act immediately to exert pressure on OPEC to abandon its cut in output quotas and instead increase oil supplies.  As President, John Kerry will engage in diplomacy to ensure that US consumers are not held hostage to price fixing by OPEC.”  Kerry’s campaign did not indicate how Kerry would have instructed the U. S. delegate representing Iraq in OPEC, or whether Kerry urged that Iraq be removed from OPEC.

A group of 28 U. S. Senators issued a letter to President George W. Bush on March 30 stating, “Mr. President, it is unacceptable for the whims of OPEC oil ministers to continue to exert undue influence over the United States.  We simply cannot allow our economy, and the world’s economy, to be place in jeopardy by a foreign oil cartel.  Accordingly, we urge you to aggressively pressure OPEC to forgo its planned production cuts and to increase global oil supply.”  The letter did not indicate what instructions the President should give to the U. S. delegate representing Iraq to OPEC, nor whether Iraq should be removed from OPEC.  The signing Senators were Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Jon Cozine (D-NJ), Mark Dayton (D-MN), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Carl Levin (D-MI), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Harry Reid (D-NV), Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) issued a letter to President Bush on March 31 stating, “I was surprised, therefore, to hear Secretary of Energy [Spencer] Abraham announce at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that the Administration would not publicly call on OPEC to roll back the production cuts scheduled for April 1.  I encourage you to ask Secretary Abraham to revisit that decision and publicly press OPEC to abandon its agreement of February 10 and increase oil supplies instead.”  Senator Daschle did not offer any advice on how President Bush should instruct the U. S. delegate representing Iraq to OPEC, nor on whether Iraq should be removed from OPEC.