Bob Schaffer Helped Out With Kurdish Oil Deal Opposed By US State DepartmentBob Schaffer voted for the war in Iraq in 2002, then left Congress and went to work for the oil men hoping to profit from it.
We recently learned that the energy company that the Colorado Republican went to work for in 2003, Aspect Energy, is among the handful of companies who signed deals with Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government last year.
Those oil deals were officially opposed by the Bush administration, but maybe tacilty endorsed behind closed doors.
Schaffer visited Iraq’s Kurdish region in November 2006 along with other officials from Aspect Energy.
State Department officials say those oil deals have threatened security in Iraq by undermining the federal government in Baghdad, which about 150,000 U.S. troops are now helping to prop up.
Schaffer said he had no idea that U.S. officials formally opposed to such deals.
Schaffer said he was unaware the State Department had warned energy firms not to strike oil deals with the Kurdistan Regional Government at the time of his visit. “We didn’t experience any discouragement,” Schaffer said.
Reader EL points out that Schaffer’s ties to big oil have been a big campaign issue for him in his race for the Senate this year.
Late Update The Daily Sentinel in Colorado has a taped interview of Schaffer talking about his trip to Iraq and the oil contract.