ARAB-US RELATIONS - Sept. 29 - Bush & Gore Trade Blows On Oil.

Republican presidential candidate George Bush Jr. accuses the Democrat Clinton-Gore administration of "failed leadership", saying it had watched the US-led Gulf war coalition fall apart, allowing Iraq to increase its influence over world oil supplies. He adds: "This means that one of our worst international enemies is gaining more control over America's economic future". He pledges the make energy security a priority in his foreign policy, if he is elected president on Nov.7. (The US now imports 56% of its oil, compared to 36% before the 1973 oil crisis. Energy policy moved centre-stage in the presidential campaign when VP Al Gore, Bush's Democrat rival in the presidential race, on Sept. 21 proposed releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve - SPR - in an attempt to lower oil prices. President Bill Clinton followed suit on Sept. 22 by ordering a release of 30m barrels of crude oil from the SPR. Bush immediately condemned that move. The Gore campaign on Sept. 29 condemned Bush's environmental record, and his proposal to open a wildlife refuge in Alaska for oil and gas E&P. Joe Lieberman, a conservative Jew who is the Democrats' VP candidate, challenged Bush's energy proposals, given Bush's personal links to the oil industry. Bush and his running mate Dick Cheney have enjoyed lucrative careers as oil executives, including Cheney's most recent position at the head of Halliburton, the oil services conglomerate).