Why would Iraqi goverment allow the removal of its weapons before the war? It does not make much sense. Or maybe it was a covert sabotage to help US?
The Internet's Intelligence Digest
Intelligence, Market Timing, And Trading Strategy For Traders and Investors
"Pentagon Iraq Scandal Brews. Dems And The Fed. Oil Heading Higher. Market Keeps Dizzy Spell."
Send this site to a friend! (click here) by Dr. Joe Duarte,
Dallas, TX, July 7, 2004, 08:00 EST
The pre-market stock futures were attempting to bounce back on July 7. The U.S. Dollar was mixed. Asian markets closed mixed. European markets were slightly higher. U.S. Treasury bond yields were higher. The U.S. Ten Year note was trading with a yield of 4.49% in electronic trading. Crude oil was trading pulling back, but was still trading above $39. Gold was below $400, although it was rallying.
The economic calendar for July 7: MBA Refinancing Index. ICSC-UBS Store Sales Index. Redbook Retail Sales Index.
Pentagon Official May Have Been Involved In Illegal Iraq Activity
In what could be the item that gets Vice President Cheney off the hook on the frequent allegations of cronyism with his old firm Halliburton, the L.A. Times reported late on 7-6 that “A senior Defense Department official conducted unauthorized investigations of Iraq reconstruction efforts and used their results to push for lucrative contracts for friends and their business clients, according to current and former Pentagon officials and documents.”
The report cites that “John A. "Jack" Shaw, deputy undersecretary for international technology security, represented himself as an agent of the Pentagon's inspector general in conducting the investigations this year, sources said.”
According to the Times, there were several instances of the questionable tactics, including: “In one case, Shaw disguised himself as an employee of Halliburton Co. and gained access to a port in southern Iraq after he was denied entry by the U.S. military, the sources said. In that investigation, Shaw found problems with operations at the port of Umm al Qasr, Pentagon sources said. In another, he criticized a competition sponsored by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority to award cell phone licenses in Iraq.”
Both Halliburton and the Iraqi telecom system have been frequent sore spots with lawmakers, and the intelligence community since the end of the war and the beginning of the occupation in Iraq.
The Times added that “In both cases, Shaw urged government officials to fix the alleged problems by directing multimillion-dollar contracts to companies linked to his friends, without competitive bidding, according to the Pentagon sources and documents. In the case of the port, the clients of a lobbyist friend won a no-bid contract for dredging. Shaw's actions are the latest to raise concerns that senior Republican officials working in Washington and Iraq have used the rebuilding effort in Iraq to reward associates and political allies. One of Shaw's close friends -- the former top U.S. transportation official in Iraq -- is under investigation for his role in promoting an Iraqi national airline with a company linked to the Saddam Hussein regime.”
The Times also noted that “The FBI is also looking into allegations, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, that Shaw tried to steer a contract to create an emergency phone network for Iraq's security forces to a company whose board of directors included a friend and one of Shaw's employees.”
Shaw justified his investigations under a special agreement with the Pentagon inspector general, Joseph E. Schmitz. But according to the article, this is a disputed topic: ["Jack Shaw was never authorized to do any kind of investigation or auditing on his own,"] said one source close to Schmitz. ["The agreement was not for that. He's trying to cram more authority into that agreement than it gives him."]
This is an interesting report, especially given its timing. There was no mention of Vice-President Cheney, or Pentagon big wigs Rumsfeld or Wolfowitz. We get the feeling, though, that the White House is clearly cleaning house on this matter, as the election nears.