The Cheney connection (Blood For Oil alert)

Boston Globe ^ | 3-31-03 | Ruben Navarrette Jr.

[Lance Romance]

I KNOW the saying dictates that to the victor go the spoils. But there are serious questions emerging over the process by which US companies are hired to put out oil fires, build roads and bridges, restart oil production, and do whatever is necessary to ''reconstruct'' Iraq after allied forces deconstruct it. Some answers need to come from Vice President Dick Cheney, a major architect of the war with Iraq, according to many newspapers and columnists around the country. That's the same Dick Cheney who was, until 2 1/2 years ago, chief executive officer of Halliburton Co., a Houston-based oil field services firm that takes in nearly $20 billion annually.

[Lance Romance]

Here's the big question: Did the vice president of the United States use his influence to help make his wealthy friends at his old company wealthier?

No, the bigger question is how you became a columnist. This article only provides innuendo, not one shred of evidence of impropriety.

Oh yeah, Dick Cheney doesn't work for Haliburton anymore and maybe the reason they won the bid is because they can get the job done.

What an F--in moron.

[chance33_98]

When Cheney stepped down as CEO of Halliburton to run for vice president, he sold his company stock and gave profits from his stock options to charity. But Naughton and Hirsh report that he still had more compensation coming. Rather than taking it in a lump-sum payment of about $800,000, Cheney opted for "deferred compensation," Wendy Hall of Halliburton tells Newsweek. Cheney chose annual payments of "less than $180,000" from 2001 to 2005, says Hall, which offers a tax benefit. Cheney, through spokeswoman Cathie Martin, contends he has no financial ties to Halliburton because of an insurance policy he took out for the value of his deferred compensation, which means he'll get paid even if the company goes under. "He has no financial interest in the success of the company," says Martin, who adds that Cheney has no say in awarding defense contracts. Indeed Newsweek learned last week that Halliburton is not a finalist for a $600 million reconstruction contract in Iraq.

From here

[mewzilla]

Seems to me they'd have been better off if we'd've allowed the fields to be torched. But we didn't, did we?

[RushingWater]

Yeah, let's let the UN parcel this out to France, China, and Russia and keep a nice little "UN rainy day" fund on the side.

[conservativecorner]

Same old Dim-o-crapper bias by a liberal rag.

[Conspiracy Guy]

If it weren't for fear of infection, this article would make good TP. No it wouldn't it's already saturated, time to flush.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

I guess the big conspiracy collapsed because Halliburton and its subsidiaries didn't win the bid for the Iraqi work this time around.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

The columnist is obviously horrified that Cheney had worked in the private sector. Apparently, he should have observed the time-honored Dem tradition of being a career politician, or at the outside, perhaps a government employee and member of a public service union.

As for Halliburton getting contracts for extinguishing well fires, this is highly specialized work. There are few firms in the world able to take on this kind of assignment. Sadly, Mr. Navarrette, neither the local organic vegetarian food co-op nor the teachers union just submitted a bid for the job.

[SES1066]

Oil-field firefighting firms fetch up to $50,000 per day, and it can take weeks to cap a single well.

There is a reason for this cost - it is a highly specialized and expensive operation that requires special tools and skills that very few companies have. Boots & Coots and Kellog Brown & Root (KBR) are 2 of the most experienced in this field. The one point of info here is that a single contract has been awarded to Kellog (KBR) to work the oil field fires. As this link points out, Haliburton has not been selected for any other contract. I think that this 'columnist' believes in the VOIC (Vast Oil Industry Conspiracy), to the exclusion of facts to the contrary.

[Fighting Irish]

I guess the writer missed this one...

------------------------------------------------

Halliburton misses $600m Iraq contract

Mark Tran Monday March 31, 2003

Halliburton, the company once headed by the US vice-president, Dick Cheney, has failed to make the shortlist for an American government contract to rebuild Iraq, it emerged today.

[Lance Romance]

If you liked the articles you should read the letters to the editor. This is prime Massachusetts liberalism at it's best in black and white. It's days like these that I'm happy I moved out of that hell hole.


http://www.boston.com/globe/letters/

[Lockbox]

Bad news guys, the relationship between Brown & Root goes back to the days of LBJ. Over 40 years of government and military contracts.

Brown & Root was used by Clinton to build bases in the Kosiva war.

The press gin up a story again!

[biblewonk]

Why did I start reading this stupid thing?

[Republican Wildcat]

Cheney is divested from Halliburton. What is the author's point? Of course as large a firm as Halliburton would be on the short list of companies that could get this job done, regardless of who once worked with it. This is ridiculous.

[Republican Wildcat]

Indeed Newsweek learned last week that Halliburton is not a finalist for a $600 million reconstruction contract in Iraq.

So the author of this hit piece is just flat-out lying. Good catch.