March 04, 2008
Was Obama's Iraq War Opposition Based upon a Relationship to Saddam's Arms Dealer?
That is the theory being floated by conservative blog Illinois Review, and frankly one I've heard speculated about before... but does that speculation hold water?
The theory goes like this:
Barack Obama has had questionable dealings (including the purchase of his home) with Tony Rezko, who is on trial on corruption charges, and who may have directed kickbacks to Obama.
Resko has had numerous business deals with Nahdmi Auchi, who once sold arms to Saddam Hussein and had other dealings with the Hussein regime.
Resko and Auchi also had business dealings with Aiham Alsammarae, a fugitive from Iraqi justice who allegedly stole $650 million from the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity, who is now apparently living in Chicago, despite having been convicted and sentence to 14 years in prison in Iraq.
All these questionable relationships. however, have not produced a "smoking gun," and there is no direct evidence of anything illegal transpiring between Obama and these three men (or any others) at this time.
His mere association with these men, however—men who have continually operated on the edge of the law, and sometimes over that edge into clearly illegal activity—is troubling, and peels off some of the veneer of a candidate who promises "change" but instead seems to be far less pure than the image he'd like to project.
I must wonder, however... will the same left-leaning blogs and news sites that so throughly flogged every questionable Bush/Cheney associate, association, and decision be as willing to investigate every nuance of Obama's questionable ties as they develop?
Frankly, I'm not holding my breath.
From what you wrote and what I have read elsewhere, there is no evidence of contact/association between Obama and Auchi or Alsammarae. Just the relationship with Resko, which is troubling enough.
Worth digging into some more, but right now the Auchi/Alsammarae association seems more like throwing mud on the wall to see what sticks than anything else. Certainly it won't convince anyone at this point that Obama is any more corrupt than your average politician.
Posted by: iconoclast at March 4, 2008 02:15 PMAs a person who would encourage people to investigate Arbusto, James Bath, Enron, Halliburton et al, I would have to in all fairness invite them to check into Obama's background.
Posted by: chris lee at March 4, 2008 03:53 PMStop funding the terrorists!
No more Oil Wars!
Energy Independence Now!
Drill in Anwar.
Build more nuclear power plants
Use More coal.
Use more natural gas
Turn trash into energy
Double the efficiency of windmills and solar cells.
If France can do nuclear power so can we.
If Brazil can do biomass/ethanol power so can we.
If Australia can do LNG power so can we.
Domestically produced energy will end the recession and spur the economy.
Stop paying oil dollars to those who worship daily at the altar of our destruction.
Preserve our Civil Rights and defend our Freedom by ending dependence on foreign oil.
Wow, that's gotta be the most mindlessly-repeated talking points I've ever seen crammed into one post.
Posted by: C-C-G at March 4, 2008 07:28 PMDear Poetryman,
One's day job, it should
not be quit. you reading me,
you ignorant git?
Haiku you buddy-roo.
Not buying it however, the Obama messiah (pbuh) is a Chicago Daley political machine corruptocrat. So no surprise when it is learned he is not the squeaky clean wonder boy the MSM is making him out to be, change hope? Yeah right it just proves that a good chunk of the liberal population are a bunch of fools.
Posted by: Oldcrow at March 5, 2008 12:10 AMThe left has floated far flimsier "seven degrees of separation" theories about George Bush for years, trying to dirctly link his business dealings to Saudi terrorists and to the Taliban (as in Fahrenheit 9/11). Turnabout is fair play.
Posted by: John Rohan at March 5, 2008 04:27 AMActually, John, I must respectfully disagree.
We, as conservatives, don't want to sink to the level of the rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth anti-war lefties.
Let them have the reputation for scraping the bottom of the barrel to smear an opponent. I don't want that reputation.
Posted by: C-C-G at March 5, 2008 09:27 AMThe thing is, John, that that sort of flimsy conspiratorial crap only sells to the people who already believe it. Real BDS sufferers already believe that Bush is a secular Satan who eats babies for breakfast before torturing innocent Americans at lunchtime in the White House basement.
So to my mind, actually claiming a relationship with anymore than Resko will-absent further evidence-just convince the undecided that they are talking to a nutcase. And, in fact, decrease the likelihood that--assuming a real relationship exists--that the undecided voter will believe the existence of a relationship even after proof is uncovered.
And, anyway, the Resko relationship with these two slimebags definitely provides an indication of the character of Resko. That Obama allows dirtbags like Resko in his professional life is indicative of either his own inability to discern unethical people or his indifference to unethical/criminal people as long as they are doing him service.
What percentage of the US population do you believe to be infected by BDS ?
I realize that 2 out of 3 Americans disapprove of his Presidency, are all of them infected with this BDS ?
Since his approval ratings have now often gone below freezing (32) we don't hear as much about BDS, it sort of reminds us of a much simpler time when the anti-war crowd was more easily dismissed.
Posted by: John Ryan at March 7, 2008 09:17 AMWhat's Congress's rating these days, John?
P.S. your "figure" is out of date.
Posted by: Techie at March 7, 2008 04:47 PM
