Re:conflict of interrest - very OFF Topic

[Guest guest]

Hi Sharon;

 

Just to give you sites you might want to check out:

 

Regarding " Now no one could deny that Halliburton made out like a fat cat and

Dick Cheney is the reason, as he was a top CEO with Halliburton. "

 

The New York Times, which has been aggressive in covering the contracts given to

Halliburton during the Iraq war, comes to the following conclusion about their

performance in Iraq:

An examination of what has grown into a multibillion-dollar contract to restore

Iraq's oil infrastructure shows no evidence of profiteering by Halliburton, the

Houston-based oil services company, but it does demonstrate a struggle between

price controls and the uncertainties of war, with price controls frequently

losing.

A little later on:

So far this year, Halliburton's profits from Iraq have been minimal. The

company's latest report to the Securities and Exchange Commission shows $1.3

billion in revenues from work in Iraq and $46 million in pretax profits for the

first nine months of 2003.

http://andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2003_12_28_dish_archive.ht\

ml#107271484210786207

 

About the hundreds of millions (not billions) of dollars found in Iraq after the

invasion - a lot of that was used by the military to pay local Iraqis for the

reconstruction of their infrastructure. That was stopped a few months ago, and

the money was being doled out by the CPA - which slowed down progress

tremendously. But things are changing:

GOOD NEWS? Looks like it. Reader Colin Grabow points out that the Wall Street

Journal has an article (you'll need to be a paid r to read it, though)

on the return of CERP money to commanders in Iraq. Excerpt:

WASHINGTON -- To jump-start reconstruction projects in Iraq, the Pentagon is

funneling about $300 million to senior military commanders in the country, more

than double the amount they got in fiscal 2003, defense officials said.

Officials say they believe the cash infusion now will give a boost to

reconstruction projects and help build momentum going into next year when the

vast majority of U.S. troops will rotate out of the country and be replenished

by fresh troops. Spending more money to get unemployed Iraqis onto U.S. payrolls

for low-tech building and security projects, rather than having them join enemy

ranks, is critical to U.S. success in Iraq, these officials said. Senior

Pentagon officials are especially concerned that Iraqi insurgents will increase

attacks early next year to take advantage of the new, less experienced troops

arriving in the country.

" We're giving commanders this money because we realize that when the only tools

you have are guns and bullets it is hard to win counterinsurgency wars, " said

one defense official familiar with the decision.

The $300 million, which has been described by Pentagon officials as " commanders'

walking-around money, " is also designed to keep a large array of smaller

projects churning until a wave of money begins to pour into Iraq next summer and

autumn.

This seems enormously important to me. In fact, I wonder if $300 million is

enough.

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at December 09, 2003 02:19 PM

http://www.instapundit.com/archives/012942.php

 

As far as oil money - did you hear about all the sabotage done to the oil

pipelines by the insurgents? That was on top of the very poor condition that

the oil equipment was it, after years of neglect. It will be awhile before

those oil fields will yield any profit. So much for " War for Oil " theory, eh?

 

About the tax breaks - the theory is that if Joe Average keeps more of his

paycheck, he's going to spend more money, thus helping business that sell to

him, which helps the vendors who sell to the stores, and they all hire more

Joes. Ultimately, the government will more than make up for the lost revenue

from the tax cuts, because of the increased incomes of the newly hired and the

businesses with expanded sales which means more are paying more taxes - although

at a lower rate. It works over time, but it has started already.

 

Finally, I know Butch and I responded to your questions about General Clark, but

maybe we should just keep to the topics of aromatherapy, herbs and such.

Politics, sex and religion tend to be topics that inflame people - so that is

why I won't post on politics anymore.

 

Blessings,

DoreenGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download :

http://explorer.msn.com

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Finally, I know Butch and I responded to your questions about General Clark, but

maybe we should just keep to the topics of aromatherapy, herbs and such.

 

Yes! PLEASE!!!

Neysa