And Rumsfeld about to give Saddam a left jab!

[MK133]

I bet Rumsfeld wishes he could go back in time! Here is a pic from the 80's
http://www.msnbc.com/news/1639839.jpg

[hood]

That's one stylin' hair do he's got going on. I can only hope I'm so capable over age 70 when/if I reach it.

[Merik]

Errrr which one is Rumsfeld lol?

[Vance]

The dude shaking Saddam's hand.....

[Smoothie104]

Thats back when the U.S. was selling him Chemical Weapons. I believe we sold them to him after he gassed the Kurds too. Awfully Hypocritical if you ask me. One the one hand we sell them to him, knowing what he will do with them. But now its our reason for removing him.

http://www.sundayherald.com/27572

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A52241-2002Dec29¬Found=true



Here's a tidbit about when he recieved the key to the city of Detroit.

http://ia.clickondetroit.com/iraq/2064887/detail.html



The contract for putting out oil fires in Iraq was awarded to Haliburton. The Same Company that re built Kuwait. Under the UN heading of "Humanitarian Aid". That way all the profits were tax free. Who was the CEO of Haliburton? **** Cheney of course.

To the victors go the spoils, but what about you and I?

[hood]

According to various places, the only thing Haliburton is contracted for, is putting out the oil well fires. Nothing more. Have a link where the contract for additional work is detailed?

[Smoothie104]

Hood,

Sorry, I jumped the gun a bit. I have edited previous post.



Fascinating reading here.


http://baltimorechronicle.com/media_ommisions_jan03.html

[papabear]

http://baltimorechronicle.com/media_ommisions_jan03.html

US corporations listed in the missing pages of the report include Hewlett Packard, DuPont, Honeywell, Rockwell, Tectronics, Bechtel, International Computer Systems, Unisys, Sperry and TI Coating. Further, the missing information shows that US governmental agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Agriculture, as well as the U.S. government nuclear weapons laboratories Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia, all illegally helped Iraq to build its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs by providing supplies and/or training.

The news about U.S. corporations helping out Iraq would not be surprising, if true. Afterall, the government tends to take a "hands-off" approach to the coroporations. However, the news of government aid, whether approved or not from the top, would be very disturbing, indeed.

If this is true, just more indications that we need to clean things up at home.

[Smoothie104]

US Army Delays Replacing Halliburton No-Bid Iraq Contract
June 12, 2003: 12:41 a.m. EST



WASHINGTON (AP)--Halliburton Co.'s (HAL) no-bid work to revive Iraq's oil industry is likely to last longer than originally estimated, the U.S. Army has acknowledged, and the cost to the government has more than doubled in the past month.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week backed off estimates that a fully competitive replacement contract would be awarded by August.

There will be no second contract if the oil restoration mission is completed before another company can take over, or if the Iraqis make their own arrangements for additional help, the Corps said.

"We're not going to try to discuss a specific timetable," a Corps spokesman, Lt. Col. Eugene Pawlik, said. Asked about the Corps' earlier August estimate, Pawlik said, "I would be very surprised if that would be in the timetable, with all the requirements that are out there."

While the Army delays its decision, the government cost of the noncompetitive work awarded to Vice President **** Cheney's former company is ballooning. The total as of last week was $184.7 million, up from $76.7 million a month ago, shortly after the assigned work expanded significantly.

Several members of Congress have invoked Cheney's name to raise the hint of favoritism in a contract originally described as a bridge between emergency repair and longer-term assistance to restore full oil production.

Cheney's office repeatedly has said he had no role in the award, which was given to Halliburton's KBR subsidiary. Cheney left the company in August 2000.

Halliburton's spokeswoman Wendy Hall said, "KBR is proud to assist with the restoration of Iraq's oil infrastructure, which is the fuel for the country's economic recovery."

The Houston firm's oil industry assistance in Iraq is only part of the more than $600 million in military work received by Halliburton in connection with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As the Army's sole provider of troop support services, KBR has received work orders totaling more than $500 million under a 10-year contract with no spending ceiling.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chief House critic of the Halliburton oil contract, reminded the Corps in a letter last week that the Army expected to advertise for bids by the spring or early summer.

Writing to Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers, the Corps commander, Waxman asked whether the Corps "has done an about-face and is poised to give additional benefits to Halliburton under its no-bid contract."

Waxman cited a Dow Jones Newswires story in which Gary Loew, planning director for the Corps oil restoration project, said there might not be time to award a second contract and still meet deadlines for restoring the industry.

Flowers responded that the Corps was moving ahead with plans for a replacement contract "if needed."

He also said the Iraqis had the choice of obtaining services elsewhere. "The competitively awarded contracts will be one of the many sources available to the Iraqi management team; the Iraqis will not be required to make use of the contracts," Flowers said.

Flowers contended KBR was the only practical choice when, in February, the Corps was given the prewar contingency mission of keeping the Iraq oil industry afloat after fighting ended.

"With only weeks to be prepared to execute, full and open competition was not feasible," Flowers said.

Dow Jones Newswires 06-12-03 1641ET Copyright (C) 2003 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

[hood]

I watched a special on this.. I forget if it was dateline or frontline. What it came down to, was that the Haliburton company is one of the few extremely large services companies that could handle the job in the timeframe. Even with bids, the list is extremely short. They interviewed a bunch of other companies who felt cheated out of possible contracts, but when it came to the questions about their capabilities, they all fell nicely short of Haliburton. What's important is that the Iraqi's will have the choice available when opportunity arrives.