March 26, 2003
liberators get early bonus
Advocates of war with Iraq point out (rightly) that the French have huge financial stakes in Iraq. Unfortunately, they also argue that the U.S.'s motives are much more noble: disarming Saddam, removing a brutal regime, liberating the Iraqi people, cutting off financial support of suicide bombers, bringing democracy to the Middle East (Did I forget anything? Oh yeah, bombing Iraq will also get you a date and give you fresh, minty breath, so get on board already.)
Anyway, yesterday, the Bush Administration announced that the first of many Iraq rebuilding contracts had been awarded, one of which was to Halliburton, Dick Cheney's company. The exact amount of the award was not disclosed. Halliburton's profits from the "War on Terror" also extend to the U.S. Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where it was awarded a $9 million contract last year to build cells for prisoners, and to Afghanistan where, through its subsidiary Brown and Root, it was awarded a contract for camp support services.
I can't remember a war where Americans didn't profit financially. The contracts for re-building Iraq and for delivering aid were already negotiated before the invasion began. War has always been big business for America, or more specifically the immense arms industry, and now for close friends of the president.
Posted by: Erik on March 27, 2003 03:40 AMI can't remember a war where Americans didn't profit financially. The contracts for re-building Iraq and for delivering aid were already negotiated before the invasion began. War has always been big business for America, or more specifically the immense arms industry, and now for close friends of the president.
Posted by: Erik on March 27, 2003 03:40 AMIs it just me or does everyone seem to have financial stakes in the outcome?
Posted by: Justin on March 28, 2003 06:06 AMJustin: Short answer: Yes.
Kind of like when colonial powers fought amongst themselves to decide who was going to colonize which parts of Africa.
I'd like to point out that the Bush administration finally woke up to reality on Friday night and removed Halliburton from the process. I'm a long time supporter of W and I was appalled at the annoucement. It just so happens that my congressman is the Speaker of the House and our familiy are 'prominent' GOP donors so I did the American thing and let the money do the talking.
Apparently I wasn't the only one- the backtracking probably went too far because Halliburton is the only legitimate bidder with specialized equipment in the region to meet the RFP requirements. So there will be some who will continue to make hay when Halliburton gets some subcontracts.
Posted by: chi-cogger on March 31, 2003 07:19 AMPost a comment
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