McCain Transition Chief Helped Saddam Hussein Lobby Against Sanctions
McCain Transition Chief Helped Saddam Hussein Lobby Against Sanctions
In 1993, President Clinton launched strikes on Saddam Hussein’s regime in response to Iraq’s alleged plot to assassinate former President Bush. At the time, Sen. John McCain staunchly supported striking Iraq:
I support the Presidents decision to launch this action against Iraq in response to Saddam Hussein’s failure to comply with United Nations resolutions. His continued failure to comply with international law merits a condemnation of the world and this decisive action by the world community.
It is thus particularly ironic that William Timmons, the Washington lobbyist who heads McCain’s presidential transition team, was involved in a lobbying effort on behalf of Saddam Hussein around the same time as Clinton launched strikes against Iraq “to ease international sanctions against his regime,” as Murray Waas reports today on The Huffington Post:
Talking points that Timmons produced for the lobbyists to help ease the sanctions, for example, were reviewed ahead of time by [Saddam aide Tariq] Aziz, [lobbyist Samir] Vincent testified in court. Proposals that Timmons himself circulated to U.S. officials as part of the effort were written with the assistance of the Iraqi officials, and were also sent ahead of time with Timmons’ approval to Aziz, other records show.
Beginning in 1992, Waas adds, Timmons “worked closely with the two lobbyists, Samir Vincent and Tongsun Park, on a previously unreported prospective deal with the Iraqis in which they hoped to be awarded a contract to purchase and resell Iraqi oil. Timmons, Vincent, and Park stood to share at least $45 million if the business deal went through.” On September 19, 1991, however, McCain said Iraqi oil revenue should “go to the people that need it”:
KING: But the U.N. did approve today his selling of oil. I think they’re going to let him sell a billion and a half dollars worth of oil this winter. Did that surprise you?
Sen. McCAIN: No. There are starving people in Iraq and the American people and people throughout the world want to make sure that children don’t die. The key to it, though, is to make sure that those revenues don’t go to Saddam Hussein but they go to the people that need it. That’s what we’ve got to make sure of.
The people who were supposed to receive the benefits of Iraq’s oil, however, ended up being people like Timmons. Did McCain know Timmons was “palling around” with Saddam’s friends?
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Um...is it fair to say that McCain is "palling around" with someone who was working with our enemies? Somehow, Obama's association with Ayers looks pretty paltry by comparison.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:57 pmWOW, just how politically tone deaf can these guys POSSIBLY be?
October 14th, 2008 at 5:58 pmI wonder how much money William Timmons received for his
October 14th, 2008 at 6:01 pmefforts?
And there it is Ladies & Gentlemen... I now like to introduce our next President of the United States: Barack Obama.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:01 pmOh, my . . . is it John Sadam McCain?? Is he 'palin' around with terrorists??
October 14th, 2008 at 6:08 pmTime for a Scooby/Elmer combo:
Ruh-row.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:14 pmA-bah-dee-a-bah-dee-a-bah-dee, that's all folks.
The Poker/Debate tomorrow night:
Obama: "I'll see your William Ayers and raise you a William Timmons."
October 14th, 2008 at 6:16 pmBut to be fair McCain was only eight years old when Timmons lobbied for Saddam. . . oh, never mind.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:19 pmApparently the GOP ends it's vetting process once they establish the new hire doesn't suffer from worms or external parasites.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:20 pmTomorrow he can fire him to show just how "mavricky" he is.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:24 pmSo I wonder, did these lobbying efforts have any advantageous effect for Hussein?
If they did ,then McCain;s pal abetted an "existential threat" to regional and world peace, yadda-yadda et cetera and so forth and helped reduce the effect of the sanctions, which Bush insisted weren;t working and therefore...you all know the rest.
If these lobbying efforts nonetheless failed, then the sanctions were presumably functional at least and not corrupted as Bush claimed, ergo no reason to act unilaterally on the partial excuse that the sanctions weren't working.
Either way it's all immoral bollocks, by which I mean to say; 'mavericky".
October 14th, 2008 at 6:24 pmBeginning in 1992, Waas adds, Timmons “worked closely with the two lobbyists, Samir Vincent and Tongsun Park, on a previously unreported prospective deal with the Iraqis in which they hoped to be awarded a contract to purchase and resell Iraqi oil. Timmons, Vincent, and Park stood to share at least $45 million if the business deal went through.” On September 19, 1991, however, McCain said Iraqi oil revenue should “go to the people that need it”:
TP should have dug a little deeper. Remember when the Right was screeching constantly about the hideous corruption behind "Oil for Food" and blaming Democrats and liberals? Funny, but the first person convicted for money laundering and acting on behalf of Saddam was . . . drum roll, please . . . Timmons' buddy Tongsun Park. Who was also heavily involved in . . . trumpet blast, please . . . Koreagate in 1976.
Does this mean McCain has been pallin' around with dirtbag criminals?
October 14th, 2008 at 6:28 pmDo you think we'll hear as much about this as we have heard about mcCains keating 5 connection in the MSM ?By which I mean nothing at all ?
October 14th, 2008 at 6:29 pmAnd now, in unison, we will hear the Reichwhiners on FAUX and radio shriek, "He hardly knows this Timmons guy".
October 14th, 2008 at 6:32 pmAnd why nopt bring up Prick davis who was reciveing 15,000 a month cause he had a direct pipeline to mccain ask how much of the 15,000 went into mccains pocket so he could make sure dergulation stayed in place exactly how much did his vote cost not to mention shunerman or what ever his name is how much of that lobbiest money he got from tiwan when mccain went out his way to press for subs and jet fighters for tiwan G gordon liddy and ahmed chalabi those two names come to mind too does mccain really really wanna go there I hope so I also hope the obama people read think progress more ammo than needed for barack
October 14th, 2008 at 6:33 pmThat picture of the Senator looks like he just spotted the future Mrs John McCain number three.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:33 pmIf Ayers is brought up in the debate by McCain, Barack can list all of McCain's associates (and Palin's too) without looking like he's going negative.
Ques: Why does McCain have a transition team?
October 14th, 2008 at 6:37 pm@Nat:
He'll need help moving his stuff to Boca Raton for his retirement.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:43 pmNat Says:
Ques: Why does McCain have a transition team?
Because the media finally noticed recently that Obama had a transition team and McDoofus didn't. "Quick, we need a transition team! Yes, him! He'll be great!"
October 14th, 2008 at 6:46 pmThe new McCain strategy: Give Obama so much to attack mccain
October 14th, 2008 at 6:50 pmon so he won't know where to start. Cus you know he has him
right where he wants him. Ha!
Do you think we’ll hear as much about this as we have heard about mcCains keating 5 connection in the MSM ?By which I mean nothing at all ?
-freeman
Two things:
-The media narrative is - McCain had little involvement.
-Barack and his surrogates are not forcing the issue.
I think the media will start examining McCain and Palin's associations if Barack brings them up in the debate. He needs to present the Keating Five like this:
Even if you buy McCain's version of events that he was only trying to protect a constituent and that the letters he wrote to regulators in support of Keating's position had nothing to do with the campaign contributions, free vacations, and Cindy's investment deals, McCain was a witness to illegal activity and he did nothing. He sat on the ass for years and it ended up costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Now this is only if you buy McCain's version of events, I don't.
He can also point out that after McCain sat in a meeting where illegal activity was taking place, McCain went and did it again.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:56 pmNat Says:
Ques: Why does McCain have a transition team?
To go from dumb to dumber.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:58 pmSPQR Says:
He’ll need help moving his stuff to Boca Raton for his retirement.
Yet another McCain house? I'm starting to lose track here...
October 14th, 2008 at 7:02 pmWill the MSM pick up on this? But most importantly, does Sarah Palin know?!
October 14th, 2008 at 7:02 pmMcCain has painted himself into a corner. He's publicly declared that he will go after Obama for his "Ayers connections" in tomorrow night's debate, and here we are, the day before the debate, discovering that McCain's "terrorist" ties are direct and in real time.
Now he has a choice: He continues with his plans to go after Obama and risk having Obama throw all kinds of stuff back at him, or he backs off and risks looking like a wimp and liar to his base who he's riled up for over a week.
Rock - McCain - Hard Place. Too bad, so sad.
PEACE
October 14th, 2008 at 7:15 pmabarts Says:
But most importantly, does Sarah Palin know?!
Yes. Although Sarah had never heard of Saddam Hussein before shes horrified thinking McCain was palling around with a relative of Barack Obama
October 14th, 2008 at 7:18 pmIt just keeps on coming. McCain has a campaign staff of lobbyists and others whose self interest seems to be paramount. Haven't we had enough of that? How can the McCain staff be so tone-deaf?
October 14th, 2008 at 7:21 pmEven McCain's brother came out today and criticized the campaign. They are driving it into the ground due to their partisanship and opportunism.
(Not that I am unhappy about that. In fact -- hooray!)
Bush is going down in flames. McCain will go down in self-destruction. And we will all be better off for it.
What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?
What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said 'I do' to?
What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?
What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?
What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5?
The Keating Five were five United States Senators
What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?
If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would b e as close as they are?
This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.
PS: What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter? What would people be saying?
You are The Boss... which team would you hire?
With America facing historic debt, 2 wars, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc.
Educational Background:
Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in
International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
vs.
McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899
Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism
Now, which team are you going to hire?
October 14th, 2008 at 7:22 pmSpencer'smom'
And in addition to Timmons, let's not forget the convicted felon and terrorists, G Gordon Liddy and Ollie North.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:23 pmWayne A. Schneider Says:
That picture of the Senator looks like he just spotted the future Mrs John McCain number three.
Or the Viagra just kicked in.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:25 pmTimmons is clearly a terrorist sympathizer for trying to materially help Saddam Hussein.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:31 pmSo, will it be dueling terrorists at ten paces?
I'll bet Obama's had a team of political writers working on just the right caliber of reply.
You know he won't fire first, but he will have a Howitzer retort in the chamber.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:31 pmThe pic looks like he associates with Body Snatchers and he's about to reveal someone.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:32 pmWayne A. Schneider Says:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That picture of the Senator looks like he just spotted the future Mrs John McCain number three.
I thought it was when he found out Timmons lobbied for Saddam
October 14th, 2008 at 7:36 pmafter he announced that he had picked him.
So, is it safe to say that McCain has or has had ties to terrorists?
/sarc off
October 14th, 2008 at 7:39 pmNow, which team are you going to hire?
Obviously only one team was a party team: 894 of 899 and 5 colleges! No question that team partied the hardiest. Go Party Team! And don't forget the one guy that came back from war with an injured wife and promptly went to a sunny resort to chase girls! That's my man. YOOO HOOO. And then he picks a party chick to play 'politics' with! Every Joe Sixpacks dream ticket! I can't wait tell they get the whole country partying (and abstaining of course).
/sarc off (did I really need the sarc off thingy?)
October 14th, 2008 at 7:41 pmHow is showing a picture of Darth Vader with his helmet off helping here?
October 14th, 2008 at 11:00 pm.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Please help us welcome...
... Johnny McSaddam!
.
October 15th, 2008 at 1:39 amI'm surprised that this story is not getting more traction. So far just over 30 google news hits. I suspose that this is one of these stories that is just too hot for the MSM to handle. Aside from the Iraq angle I don't know why McCain selection of a super-lobbyist to head his transition team is not raising more alarm bells. How can it be in the interest of the Country to have an Executive Branch handpicked by THE major Lobbyist in Washington. This provides final proof (if it was ever needed) that a McCain Presidency would be completely controlled by Lobbyists.
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