But it's not about the oil!--Pt. 2

One of the disputes roiling Iraq is the level of Kurdish autonomy. Part of that is the Kurdish government's propensity for signing oil deals on its own without reference to the national government. According to the New York Times, Hunt Oil company of Dallas signed a deal with the Kurds in September and it seems our State Department "did nothing to discourage the deal and in some cases appeared to welcome it". The State Department denies this but there are apparently documents to the contrary.

Ray Hunt is apparently close enough to President Bush to be on his Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and the Board of Trustees of the George Bush Library Foundation. OpenSecrets.org has him as a major contributor to Republican candidates and the Republican party. He was the 33rd largest nationwide in 2004 with $277,984 going overwhelmingly to the Republicans. Sourcewatch has other Hunt-Bush connections. He is on the Board of Directors of Halliburton and the American Petroleum Institute and chaired the National Petroleum Council.