Written by: Beck

OK, so maybe Saudi Arabia didn't say they were going to crush oil prices prior to the election to benefit Bush. Essentially, it seems, some of the content of Woodward's new book Plan of Attack came out rather skewed during his 60 Minutes interview. Here's what he has to say now:

"I don't say there's a secret deal or any collaboration on this," Woodward told CNN's "Larry King Live" Monday. "What I say in the book is that the Saudis ... hoped to keep oil prices low during the period before the election, because of its impact on the economy. That's what I say."

And yes, the Saudi's have been saying all along that they wouldn't let the price of oil skyrocket. They've been saying it publicly since before the war in Iraq. It took 60 Minutes to make it sound like this was some sort of secret deal between the White House and the Sauds. Quoth Bandar bin Sultan,

"We hoped that the oil prices will stay low, because that's good for America's economy, but more important, it's good for our economy and the international economy," he said. "This is nothing unusual. President Clinton asked us to keep the prices down in the year 2000. In fact, I can go back to 1979, President Carter asked us to keep the prices down to avoid the malaise."

Then he added, "Saudi Arabia does not live on the moon. When the world economy gets hurt, we get hurt also," Bandar said.