Justice under Bush.

I can't remember the name Oscar Wyatt, Jr. as one that I should remember for any reason, but the Bush family knows that name. The 83 year old oil industry corporation chairman will go to court today against charges leveled by the Justice department that could bring him 60 years in jail if convicted for having paid surcharges to the Iraq government while participating in the U.N. Oil for Food Program. To gain access to Iraqi oil, kickbacks were paid to Saddam. More than 2,000 individuals, companies, and governments paid such fees. Condoleezza Rice even sat on the board of Chevron while that company paid surcharges for oil.

These payments were illegal and the companies have since been allowed to pay fines to avoid prosecution. Today Bob Barr has come out and said "What makes the case against the Texas octogenarian and World War II veteran particularly troubling is the manner in which he seems to have been singled out for what appears to be vindictive treatment."

". . . it appears Wyatt's fate was sealed in the eyes of the federal government when he dared to stand up to the first Bush administration in 1990. He dealt directly with Saddam Hussein to rescue 22 American hostages being held in Iraq as "human shields."

. . . He remained an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq and the Bush family."

Barr's take on the whole issue seems to be that the Justice department is being used as a political sledge hammer by the Bush administration to punish this man who dared oppose them politically. Bob Barr is a former Republican congressman and U.S. Attorney General. He led the impeachment movement against President Bill Clinton.