Posted on 05/30/2004 12:19:49 PM PDT by El Conservador
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Pentagon (news - web sites) e-mail said Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) coordinated a huge Halliburton government contract for Iraq (news - web sites), despite Cheney's denial of interest in the company he ran until 2000.
The March 5, 2003 e-mail, from an Army Corps of Engineers official, said that top Pentagon official Douglas Feith got the job of shepherding the contract, according to the newsweekly Time that hits newsstands Monday.
Feith had approved the multi-billion-dollar deal "contingent on informing WH (the White House) tomorrow. We anticipate no issues since action has been coordinated w(ith) VP's (vice president's) office," said the e-mail obtained by Time.
The newsweekly said it was three days later that Halliburton won the contract, although no other bids had been submitted.
"As vice president, I have absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts led by the Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the federal government," Cheney told NBC's "Meet the Press" in September, Time said.
Cheney had been Halliburton's CEO until 2000, when he accepted the vice presidential spot.
Halliburton's current CEO Dave Lesar told Time, "There are very few companies in the world that could or would adapt this quickly while, at the same time, (financing) an operation of this magnitude."
However, Halliburton was not up to the job, Lesar admitted.
"Our control system was not ready for the surge of activity," he told the New York-based weekly.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith was handed the job of coordinating the contract by his boss, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Time said.
Feith, Wolfowitz and Cheney, along with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, form the core of Bush administration "hawks" who pushed for the war in Iraq.
It seems to me that if only one bid was received for the work then, that company should/would get the contract. That seems logical to me and I am sure to Mr. Spock as well.
Sailorman
What amazes me is that no one has traced the path of dollars from Halliburton to Cheney's pockets. This should not be hard to do if Cheney is on the take.
How much you want to bet that maggot Kerry will now call for Cheney to resign, reported with breathless anticipation by Jennings, Brokaw and Rather?
Good Lord. . .you think they might do that? I mean, come on. . .a Vietnam vet like Kerry would do something like that? (I'll bet you didn't know Kerry was in Vietnam, did you.)
;-)
Because it's a Rat witch hunt, that's why.
I tend to agree with your sentiment. You however are playing on dangerous ground here.
Okay soreloser troll, I acknowledge that Cheney has done nothing wrong as you reported.
Troll Alert
"We conservatives," the dead-nuts giveaway.
So what ? I don't understand what the big deal is! As if other administrations haven't helped out their friends etc. Get real liberals!
Read this crapola
LordHaveMercy. The left is absolutely obssessed with Cheney/Halliburton. Just mention either name and they go berserk. LOL. Dollars to doughnuts these comments are taken out of context. So what if Halliburton, the only company in the world capable of undertaking this project, won the bid ? I expect Lesor meant they needed to get people and equipment in place for such an enormous task.
Actually it was awarded under an existing contract that KBR already had with the Government. The existing contract was awarded long before we went to war in Iraq and is a comprehensive type that includes other parts of the world ie: Afghanistan, Kuwait etc.
The only thing I know about the payments to Cheney is that they are as you said payments due to his termination with Halliburton, nothing more. ie: Severance Package.
Sailorman
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