Posted on 05/26/2002 5:52:53 AM PDT by rdavis84
Report Alleges US Role in Angola Arms-for-Oil Scandal Special to CorpWatch May 17, 2002 |
As the US Congress continues its investigation of the Enron affair, human rights advocates are calling for a probe of the Bush administration's possible role in another energy and influence-peddling scandal. According to a recent report by the British-based non-governmental organization Global Witness, Bush and US oil interests have ties to some of the key figures in the arms-for-oil scandal which has devastated Angola. Known as "Angolagate" in France, the scandal involves arms-for-oil deals between French businessman Pierre Falcone, the head of a firm called Brenco International; his colleague Jean-Christophe Mitterand, the son of the former French president; and a Russian-born Israeli named Arkadi Gaydamak. According to "All the Presidents' Men," a March 25 report on Angolagate by Global Witness, Gaydamak funneled billions of dollars in arms and oil-backed loans to Angola's government in return for lucrative oil contracts with Western oil companies. Falcone and Gaydamak, relying on the special access that Mitterand had to the Angolan government, managed to transfer some $463 million in arms to Angola. The net effect of the Angolan arms buildup was the scrapping of the 1994 Lusaka Peace Agreement between Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and long-time UNITA rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, a one-time favorite of the Central Intelligence Agency and a person who President Reagan once hailed as the "George Washington of Angola." The newly-armed Angolan Army -- supported by an array of US-based private mercenary companies like MPRI and AirScan -- went on a bloody offensive against UNITA in 1998 and was eventually able to push Savimbi's rebels further into the jungles in the eastern part of the country. This compelled UNITA to mine and sell more diamonds on the black market to buy arms. The trade in "blood diamonds," in turn, led to a number of human rights abuses by UNITA. Ironically, Savimbi -- Reagan's George Washington of Africa -- was gunned down by Angolan Army troops in a remote area of Angola on February 22, the birthday of America's first president. According to Global Witness, the links between Angola's corrupt government and the Bush administration are just as odorous as those linking Luanda's leadership to past and current members of the French government, both Socialist and Gaullist. In addition to the French oil giant Total-Fina-Elf, oil companies like Chevron, Texaco, Philipps Petroleum, Exxon Mobil, and BP-Amoco -- all with close links to Bush and his White House oil team -- were heavily involved in propping up dos Santos in return for profitable off-shore oil concessions. After transferring some $770 million in oil revenues to their own private bank accounts, dos Santos and his cronies became convinced that pluralism in their country would be a very dangerous thing for their future business deals. They also quickly abandoned their former Marxist beliefs in favor of the type of capitalist principles embraced by George W. Bush and Jacques Chirac. |
"Overview----
Internationally, MPRI provides a wide range of services to the US government and, under license by the US government, to a number of foreign countries. Our work ranges from assisting Ministries of Defense establish policies, procedures, and strategic plans; assisting armed forces in democracy transition efforts; working with armies to attain greater efficiencies, economies, and effectiveness; working with legislators to provide effective oversight; and a long list of humanitarian and peace operations around the world.
For example, under contract with the U.S. Department of State, MPRI shipped more than $900,000,000 worth of donated food and medical supplies to the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union over a five year period; MPRI has provided peace keeping monitors for both the Department of Defense and the Department of State and MPRI provides major support and program integration expertise to the State Departments Africa Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) and the Defense Departments African Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS).
A number of MPRI's current international contracts are directly established with a foreign government ---; Each has in place a license from the U.S. Department of State. MPRI's current international efforts are ongoing in every major region of the world. In the Balkans, for example, MPRI conducts Democracy Transition Assistance Programs, Long Range Management Programs, and Military Stabilization Programs involving the training and equipping of armies in transition. As part of these programs, MPRI established and runs Battle Simulation Centers and a Combat Training Center. A wide range of programs is ongoing in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and in Latin America."
From their site --- More MPRI
WHO WE ARE ---
AirScan, Inc. is a veteran owned, small business specializing in airborne surveillance and security. Using state of the technology, AirScan has for over ten years provided clients with the highest quality support to meet their surveillance, security, and training requirements. As AirScan's capabilities have expanded, our professional, comprehensive results have provided clients with the information needed to respond in a timely manner to a wide variety of security, environmental, and research needs. AirScan, Inc. is headquartered in Rockledge, FL and has elements located in Santa Maria, CA, Washington DC, Boise, ID, and various locations in Africa and Europe. Clients include the United States Air Force, NASA, Angola, multi-national oil companies, various state and private agencies, ESPN, and others.
From ---- AirScan
Whatever arms-for-oil arrangements there are, have been going on for 40 years and Bush has nothing to do with them, although, his father might have.
O. K. h e r e 's__s o m e t h i n g__f o r__y o u__t o__t r y.
Click the link that goes to CorpWatch as the source, find their "Contact Us" link and ask them those questions. Otherwise, realize s l o w l y that this is here for varied reading purposes of those who want to view different "takes" on issues.
O . K . ?
Well, it sure got you and some 'buddies in kind' riled up, didn't it?
I suspect that the most frequently visited threads these days are "Day in the Life of....." drivel that speak for themselves in pictures, right.
You seem to take the standpoint that anything at anybody's site that has viewpoints other than the RNC's should be written by Lawyers. That isn't going to happen. This isn't a Courtroom, and the best advice you should follow is "Get Over It".
The level of "irate" about this info/viewpoint brings to mind the questions "Why is this so sensitive, and why now?", to me.
It was probably the guy out in Denver that turned up dead out in the woods :-)
That'll teach him to Count Right!
After transferring some $770 million in oil revenues to their own private bank accounts, dos Santos and his cronies became convinced that pluralism in their country would be a very dangerous thing for their future business deals. They also quickly abandoned their former Marxist beliefs in favor of the type of capitalist principles embraced by George W. Bush and Jacques Chirac.
In reality the "communists" in Angola were simply one Angolan tribal group, and the "pro-capitalist" UNITA were another, rival, Angolan tribal group. One group spouted Marxist rhetoric to please their Cuban paymasters, the other group spouted free market rhetoric to please their capitalist paymasters. That's about as deep as the issues of "left" vs. "right" went in Angola. The reality was tribal politics, not Marxism or capitalism.
And according to this acticle, the "communists" found no real problem switching to "capitalism" when it came time to switch from their former (communist) to their current (capitalist) backers. Once they did that, Savimbi and UNITA became irrelevent to their former backers, who simply switched from one proxy to the other.
Articles that use terms like "highly placed administration sources", and "confidential sources close to.....", and "anonymous sources" are permissable to folks like you if the target is the political opposition.
"Newsflash" ---- most of us are aware of the game. Folks have a tendency to make up their own minds on political matters, and specialists in "Information Control" are going to have to get more Orwellian. It's Close, but not selling real well.
So, we'll just have to let more develop in Africa, won't we? Just like we're required to do in the Balkans, Afganistan, Pakistan, India, and on and on.......
We're just supposed to be Good Little Sheep, and Quiet.
BTW, the polls are starting to get embarrassing with regard to the percentage of 'sheep' who don't trust the government, doncha think?
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