Who's getting rich from Iraq?

[BubberMiley]

Now that all people in touch with reality have realized that the war had nothing to do with human rights or WMD, it seems clear that it was just a very successful attempt to funnel a lot of money into certain people's pockets. What's surprising is just how blatant they are about it.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews....AQ-USA-CASH.xml

[White Doors]

eh? They are shipping money that is due to the government of Iraq.... Your conclusion is way off base.

[BubberMiley]

"Stuart Bowen, said in a January 2005 report that $8.8 billion was unaccounted for after being given to the Iraqi ministries."

Yeah, waaay off base.

[GostHacked]

Well let's take a look at all the scandals of when Iraq was invaded.

Iraq for Sale : The war profeteers.

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-91...duration%3Along

Comapnies named (United States)

Halliburton

Parsons

Blackwater

Dyncorp

I say we post every money scandal involving Iraq since the drums of war were first being pounded. You may want to go as far back as the frist Gulf War. Corruption runs deep.

I am going to start with Halliburton. Cheney's old company. He was CEO for some time.

http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/

The most obvious thing to see here is how Halliburton's stock is doing.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=HAL&t=5y

From JAN/03 to present the stock climbs from 10/share to about 30/share. All this during the Iraq war. I doubt their stock would have gone up if it was not for a war situation.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2.../24/80648.shtml June 25,2001

Seems like Halliburton was doing some proxy business with other foriegn companies to get around the legal barrirer of not dealing in Iraq

The deal was legal, the Post said, and they showed how U.S. firms use foreign subsidiaries and joint ventures to avoid doing business with Baghdad. The practice is not a violation of U.S. law and falls within the U.N.-run oil-for-food program.

Cheney has long criticized of unilateral U.S. sanctions, which he says penalize American companies. He has pushed for a review of policy toward Iraq, Iran and Libya.

Ahh, I see, once you 'foiund out' that maybe illegal business was done in Iraq, then you push to change policy. The fall out from this? Lybia is now a friend of the US again. Iraq is in shambles, and Iran is next in the sites.

Dig it up people. Let's put the things together that the MSM will not do.

Keep the scandal list going.

[Catchme]

Bechtel Wins Iraq War Contracts

Soon after Riley Bechtel was appointed as an advisor to Bush, on April 21, Terry Valenzano, the man who ran Bechtel's construction business in Saudi Arabia, flew into Kuwait city to meet with Jay Garner, the Pentagon official appointed to oversee Iraq. The two men met at the Hilton resort to plan the reconstruction of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein's government.

It was like a dream come true for former Secretary of State and former Bechtel president, George Schultz, who penned a Washington Post op-ed last September that said: "A strong foundation exists for immediate military action against Hussein and for a multilateral effort to rebuild Iraq after he is gone."

Last week when the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the contract, Tom Hash, president of Bechtel National, released a brief statement: "Bechtel is honored to have been asked to help bring humanitarian assistance, economic recovery, and infrastructure reconstruction to the Iraqi people."

The initial contract is capped at $680 million over 18 months, although experts say this may be one of the biggest export bonanzas in history that could eventually be worth up to $100 billion. Eventually Iraqi citizens will probably be handed the bill, most likely to be financed out of the country's oil revenues.

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=6532

And we can again here connections to those involved with Iraq with:

The two men meeting in Kuwait this week to plan Iraqi reconstruction -- Jay Garner and Terry Valenzano -- work for the very same public/private alliance that lobbied Saddam two decades ago. Today, Defense Secretary Rumsfield heads up the Pentagon, which is paying Garner's salary, while Shultz is a board member of the Bechtel Company who is paying Valenzano's bills.

That's not all: Jack Sheehan, a senior vice president at Bechtel, is a member of the Defense Policy Board, a government-appointed group that advised the Pentagon on the war. Meanwhile Bechtel also advises both the federal agencies that provide loans and insurance to American companies overseas. Daniel Chao, another Bechtel senior vice president, serves on advisory board of the US Export-Import Bank, while Ross J. Connelly, a 21-year veteran of Bechtel Group, is the chief operating officer for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

Indeed, Andrew Natsios, the administrator of USAID, which awarded the reconstruction contract for Iraq, was overseeing Bechtel just two years ago as the chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which hired the company to complete the Boston Central Artery project.

Now here is another company making huge profits off of Iraq, Kellogg Root and Brown and it is a subsiduary of Halliburton. The Browns in this equation was also, Brown Bros Harriman, Prescott Bush's partners in financing Germany into WWII.

Kellogg, Brown & Root is the engineering and construction arm of the Halliburton Company, which calls itself "the world's largest diversified energy services, engineering and construction company" with operations in more than 100 countries and 2002 sales of $12.4 billion.

KBR does everything from conducting or managing large construction projects, such as power plants and pipelines, to providing maintenance for existing facilities or government operations. Halliburton was founded in 1919 by Erle Halliburton, who innovated a way to fortify oil wells with cement. The company acquired offshore-platform constructors Brown & Root in 1962 and expanded worldwide through the 1990s. In 1998, Halliburton acquired oil field equipment manufacturer Dresser Industries for $7.7 billion, which had acquired the oil services company M.W. Kellogg ten years earlier. Dresser Industries became embroiled in a series of asbestos lawsuits in 2001, causing Halliburton to reorganize. In 2002, the company split its operations into two distinct entities in order to protect its assets from the asbestos litigation: Halliburton Energy Services Group, which provides equipment and services such as well drilling for the oil and gas industry, and KBR. Halliburton placed KBR under bankruptcy protection.

Halliburton discovered the benefits of government patronage when its support for U.S. President Lyndon Johnson resulted in several contracts, such as constructing military bases during the Vietnam War. In 1991, after the Persian Gulf War, then-Defense Secretary Cheney commissioned Brown & Root to conduct a study on the benefits of military outsourcing, paying the company an additional $5 million to update the report months later. In 1992, Brown & Root was awarded the U.S. Army's first Logistics Civil Augmentation Program contract, an omnibus contract that allows the Army to call on KBR for support in all of its field operations, including combat, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. LOGCAP is a "cost plus award fee" contract, meaning that KBR is paid a fee above the cost of the service ranging from two percent to five percent, depending on performance. When the Army needs a service performed, it issues a "task order," a sort of minicontract that outlines the tasks the contractor needs to perform.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=31

And still more nasty stuff:

Kellogg Brown and Root, also known as KBR Engineering & Construction, is a unit of the Halliburton Company which provides military support services.

- Formerly known as Brown and Root Services, KBR was scrutinized in 2000 by the GAO for overcharging and providing unnecessary services in the Balkans.

- Balkans Support Contract is the largest contract for services to U. S. forces, representing about $2 billion in contract costs spent in the Balkans since December 1995.[1]

Brown & Root's open-ended logistics contracts from the Army and Navy --indeed much of the military privatization campaign -- are grounded in a 1992 study the company did for the Defense Department that several analysts said formed the template for privatization of logistics for a downsized U.S. military. Soon after the company delivered the classified study, which reportedly concluded that the Pentagon could save hundreds of billions of dollars by outsourcing, Brown & Root won its first competitively bid logistics contract.

Vice President Dick Cheney was defense secretary when the first Brown & Root study was done, and he became chief executive of its parent company, Halliburton, when he retired.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title..._Brown_and_Root

[Catchme]

Now enters the Canadian connection that is of particular interest now when our government is busy issuing no bid contracts worth billions, and O'Connor is war mongering everywhere.

O’Connor’s Halliburton Connection

While our new Minister of National Defense, Gordon O’Connor was employed by marketing and lobby firm Hill & Knowlton, KBR lobbied and eventually managed to secure sole-source and other contracts in support of war on Iraq from the US military worth at least 7 billion dollars.

What’s particularly interesting about O’Connor’s activities on behalf of KBR is the timing. While George W. Bush and his crew were building up excuses to invade Iraq, from February 19th, 2002 to January 3rd, 2003, O’Connor lobbied the federal government on behalf of Brown & Root. For what? Military outsourcing contracts, like those which KBR provides the US Military in Iraq.

What kind of Minister will O’Connor be?

Lets be blunt and to the point – we can infer from O’Connor’s work done for KBR two important conclusions:

- Gordon O’Connor had no reservations supporting a company with a long-established history of ethical failures and illegal activity in the US and on the world stage

- Gordon O’Connor was in favour of Canada supporting the US war in Iraq

And now Mr. O’Connor, former defense lobbyist for some of the largest military industrial companies on the planet – companies which profit best in times of war – is Canada’s Minister of Defense. No matter where one’s partisan heart is beholden to, the appearance of bias and conflict of interest requires that the spotlight remains focussed on Mr. O’Connor.

http://mikewatkins.ca/categories/2006/Feb/13

[GostHacked]

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/30/iraq.audit/ Jan 31, 2005

OH NO more money missing....

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Nearly $9 billion of money spent on Iraqi reconstruction is unaccounted for because of inefficiencies and bad management, according to a watchdog report published Sunday.

So this crap better not come as a surprise to anyone, this came out last year.

The CPA did not establish or implement sufficient managerial, financial and contractual controls to ensure that [Development Fund for Iraq] funds were used in a transparent manner," said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., director of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

The money came from revenues from the United Nations' former oil-for-food program, oil sales and seized assets -- all Iraqi money. The audit did not examine the use of U.S. funds appropriated for reconstruction. (Full story)

So this money did not even come from the American Taxpayers. It came from the Oil for Food programme.

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040321-101405-2593r.htm

Most disturbing are Iraqi records that suggest Benon Sevan, the executive director of the Oil for Food office, received a voucher for 11.5 million barrels of oil from Saddam's manipulation of the program — enough to yield a profit of between $575,000 and $3.5 million.

The intent of the program was to sell Iraqi oil to pay for food and medicine for the Iraqi people, who were suffering due to sanctions. Instead, vouchers were doled out as gifts or as payment for goods imported into the country in violation of U.N. sanctions. The recipient would then turn the voucher over to one of a number of firms operating in the United Arab Emirates, in exchange for commissions ranging anywhere from 5 cents to 30 cents per barrel, depending on market conditions. (This translates into a profit of $50,000 on the low end and $300,000 on the high end for every 1 million barrels worth of oil vouchers.)

You can read the article to show who made some money off it. The Iraqi citizen lost out twice in this scandal. Lost oil, and stolen money that was to pay for the basics of living.

Such a shame. Not just the US was in on the Oil for Food programme.

Just wanted to add this,,,, hilarious

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132832,00.html Sept 20,2004

Thirteen years later, a second U.S.-led coalition made of a smaller group of nations than the first effort finally knocked Saddam out of business. And it did so without the help of the United Nations, which failed to pass a resolution backing the U.S. effort.

and....

As the death toll rises in Iraq -- the number of U.S. military casualties is now above 1,000 and Iraqi citizens continue to die daily from insurgent attacks -- the question arises: Can the United Nations help now?

Bash the UN then ask for their help,,,, nice.

“I think we need the U.N. But we need it to be an honest institution,” Shays said. “When there are mistakes made, you have to uncover them and deal with them.”

I think we need some honest people in the United States as well.

And yet people still support this war.

[Canadian Blue]

I think we need some honest people in the United States as well.

And yet people still support this war.

Last time I heard, around 70% were against the war in Iraq, and around the same number dissaprove of Bush's administration.

[Catchme]

How will President George W. Bush personally make millions (if not billions) from the War on Terror and Iraq? The old fashioned way. He'll inherit it.

It is hard to imagine an address closer to the heart of American power. The offices of the Carlyle Group are on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, midway between the White House and the Capitol building, and within a stone's throw of the headquarters of the FBI and numerous government departments. The address reflects Carlyle's position at the very center of the Washington establishment, but amid the frenetic politicking that has occupied the higher reaches of that world in recent weeks, few have paid it much attention. Elsewhere, few have even heard of it...

But since the start of the "war on terrorism", the firm - unofficially valued at $13.5bn - has taken on an added significance. Carlyle has become the thread which indirectly links American military policy in Afghanistan to the personal financial fortunes of its celebrity employees, not least the current president's father. And, until earlier this month, Carlyle provided another curious link to the Afghan crisis: among the firm's multi-million-dollar investors were members of the family of Osama bin Laden

http://www.hereinreality.com/carlyle.html

[geoffrey]

Carlyle's board of directors has a prominent Liberal member.

It also has close ties with Liberal funding machine, the Power Corporation.

[Catchme]

lets see the proof geoffery, its all in da proof.

Plus Power corp's board does not have their children sitting as President or Prime Minister and making huge bucks off of the war. Like said child George Bush is conducting, or Cheney with Halliburton or all the others who actually are in government and high positions of aiuthority in the military who are shown to making huge bucks off of this. Oh and let us NOT forget O'Connors ties to these people too, eh!

What do you think of this geoffery? Do you think it is right that the US administration is bilking Americans out of trillions of their tax dollars by holding an illegal war based upon lies, and invading an another and occupying it as well? and they are apparently going to do it to a 3rd country even.

Let's look beyond the trillions Cheny Bush et al are making off of these actions, what about the people dying on both sides so these people can get good honest hard working Canadian and American tax dollars into their bank accounts. Do you agree with it?

Honestly, I cannot understand how people can be accepting of this travesty perpetuated upon taxpayers and families who have given up loved ones based one lies.

[GostHacked]

Catchme , stick to the topic, let's get more links up in this here thread about the money.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/20..._x.htm?csp=N009 dated 10/10/2004

But there are signs that some of the early momentum is gone, particularly for big infrastructure projects. The Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works initially planned to use U.S. funds for 81 much-needed water and sewage treatment projects across the country, says Humam Misconi, a ministry official. That list has dwindled to 13.

Besides escalating security costs, reconstruction also has been dogged by allegations of fraud and mismanagement. Nearly $100 million in Iraqi funds distributed by the Coalition Provisional Authority for reconstruction was either spent without supporting receipts or vanished, according to an April audit by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq reconstruction.

So money is missing and Iraqis are suffering the pain of empty promises.

[Catchme]

More of the network with Canadian connections

Note Global Crossing's is Carlyle linked

http://www.hereinreality.com/news/axis.html

The versatility and efficacy of the FCO’s network was further demonstrated in recent months when Global Crossing extended the FTN into Kabul in Afghanistan and provided international communications to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq. Rapid-deployment satellite links in the two major cities of Basra and Baghdad, featuring secure communications equipment, were commissioned within a month and will continue to operate until a sovereign government is elected.

In addition, the FTN is now used by other government departments that share FCO offices around the world – more than 2,000 staff of Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise and the Department for International Development that are posted abroad use the FTN for their communications needs in 52 countries.

Phil Metcalf, managing director of Global Crossing Europe, said: “The completion of this final phase of the FTN underscores our ability to deploy global managed services, regardless of the challenges of geography, technology, security and scalability.

Global crossing

It seems, Carlyle makes the companies, gets the military contracts then takes the taxpayers money given to corps such as these and then poofs the company.

[Cameron]

Question: Do you think the military started to look for ways to save money after the reduction of budgets after the fall of the Soviet Union? Thus the creation of companies to to fill the need for services that the military doesn't want to do any more, or doesn't have the money to do.

Me: I think this could be a valid reason for the amount of companies that have sprung up to fill the need for "mundane" work in combat situations.

I think this goes beyond the "GWB is the devil" pundits. I think ties to outsourcing companies goes deep into the US Military machine...over many years....

Good video post, BTW.

[Catchme]

The companies have not all of a sudden sprung up to do the mundane, all the contracts have gone to Halliburton, or subsiduaries of Halliburton, with direct ties to Cheney, Rumsfeld and the Bush family, or Becthal, also tied to the Bush admin, Carlyle or subsiduaries of Carlyle like Global crossingsa again with ties to the Bushes and the US admin.

The outsourcing does 2 things;

It is a cost saving for the private companies but not for the Military

It frees up more manpower to fight as enlistment is low.

[Cameron]

Sooo...who took care of this stuff during other administrations? Who were the companies that did this during the Clinton administration for example?

[geoffrey]

Plus Power corp's board does not have their children sitting as President or Prime Minister and making huge bucks off of the war. Like said child George Bush is conducting, or Cheney with Halliburton or all the others who actually are in government and high positions of aiuthority in the military who are shown to making huge bucks off of this. Oh and let us NOT forget O'Connors ties to these people too, eh!

Power Corp's children, if you want to see them that way, have been the political force behind Canada for the last 13 years prior to Harper. Martin worked as an exec in Power Corp, then bought CSL off Power Corp. Maurice Strong was President of Power Corp, giving Martin his first job (he later was investigated in the oil-for-food scandal). Chretien's daughter France is married to Andre Desmarais. Eddie Goldenberg, Chretiens Chief of Staff was a high ranking Power Corp exec. A former Federal Reserve director and a Saudi oil Minister have sat on the board. All public info.

Paul Desmarais (Chair of Power Corp.) sits on the board of directors of Carlyle.

If that's not connections...

Frank McKenna, the former Canadian ambassador to the United States, is the one that has sat on an advisory board to direct Canadian investments from Carlyle.

And after all of that, personally I don't care. Just making it clear that it's not safe to criticise any party without looking at the bigger picture. They all profit from any profitable decision to business. War is just one of them.

What do you think of this geoffery? Do you think it is right that the US administration is bilking Americans out of trillions of their tax dollars by holding an illegal war based upon lies, and invading an another and occupying it as well? and they are apparently going to do it to a 3rd country even.

I try to make it a little more rational, the war isn't illegal, no court has decided that. I'm confused by the bolded part, I think you mistyped something there or maybe I'm just not getting.

I was against the Iraq war at the onset. Unfortunately, we can't reverse that decision and we have to make choices now in the best interest of long term peace and security.

Let's look beyond the trillions Cheny Bush et al are making off of these actions, what about the people dying on both sides so these people can get good honest hard working Canadian and American tax dollars into their bank accounts. Do you agree with it?

No I don't. But I hardly believe that profit is the primary motive here.

Honestly, I cannot understand how people can be accepting of this travesty perpetuated upon taxpayers and families who have given up loved ones based one lies.

Again, I agree. But it's too late now. The last thing we want to do is create a bigger travesty. Now we have to bring the world to work together to create a good solution to minimizes the loss to everyone involved.

[Catchme]

Here is another com[pany that has ties to George Bush, who are making money off of Iraq, Raytheon.

US Doubles Raytheon Iraq Pact

Military Also Extends Time Frame For Storing, Destroying Weapons

Raytheon Co. is best known for weapons like the Tomahawk cruise missile and the laser-guided bombs that played big roles in the invasion of Iraq.

Now the Lexington defense contractor is picking up more business in the aftermath of the conflict, as the search for weapons of mass destruction drags on.

On Sept. 30 the Pentagon nearly doubled to $39.4 million an order under which a Raytheon unit will assist in the storage and destruction of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. The military also extended to May the time frame Raytheon's services might be needed.

The dollar figure isn't a major amount for Raytheon, but it shows the additional resources the Bush administration is giving the research team known as the Iraq Survey Group, which is leading the politically charged search mission.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/200...ytheon-iraq.htm

Things like this cannot be brushed aside as oh well, it is not about profits etc, Apparently it is ALL about profts for the Bush's and Cheny et als.

Exposing how they are making trillions of a lie they created is very important. IT IS ALL about the money and nothing else.

[Cameron]

CatchMe

Raytheon has been around for years, Catchme. The amount of weapon systems that they created dates back 50 years or more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raytheon

These companies have relied on the federal government for years and have benefited from wars over the years. Vietnam, Gulf War one, etc. I wouldn't say it's a new thing.

[GostHacked]

CatchMe

Raytheon has been around for years, Catchme. The amount of weapon systems that they created dates back 50 years or more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raytheon

These companies have relied on the federal government for years and have benefited from wars over the years. Vietnam, Gulf War one, etc. I wouldn't say it's a new thing.

Saying 'it is not a new thing' makes it ok then? Not sure where you are comming from here. If they have been doing this for years, then again, it needs to stop and be changed.

Geoffrey

Again, I agree. But it's too late now. The last thing we want to do is create a bigger travesty. Now we have to bring the world to work together to create a good solution to minimizes the loss to everyone involved.

Never too late. If you pull out or stay in there, things are going to get worse. They lied to get the United States into a war, they lied about the reasons for staying, and now they are lying about the future war with Iran. All lies, but no problem, it'd been going on for years.

How much do you take before you say STOP?? What is your tolerance level of imcompetence for the current administration?

[Catchme]

CatchMe

Raytheon has been around for years, Catchme. The amount of weapon systems that they created dates back 50 years or more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raytheon

These companies have relied on the federal government for years and have benefited from wars over the years. Vietnam, Gulf War one, etc. I wouldn't say it's a new thing.

So what you are saying is the Bushes, Cheney, and Rumsfeld et al have been manufacturing wars for decades to get rich.

And you see nothing wrong with this?

[Cameron]

CatchMe

Raytheon has been around for years, Catchme. The amount of weapon systems that they created dates back 50 years or more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raytheon

These companies have relied on the federal government for years and have benefited from wars over the years. Vietnam, Gulf War one, etc. I wouldn't say it's a new thing.

So what you are saying is the Bushes, Cheney, and Rumsfeld et al have been manufacturing wars for decades to get rich.

And you see nothing wrong with this?

Aerospace and Defence companies have been around long before this administration. Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed, etc. have been making planes and weapons for the US for 50+ years. They've been part of almost all major conflicts in the past with new weapons and systems. To say that just this administration has made money off them is stretching it. These companies do well in times of war because the US needs this technology and therefore there is a demand for it. Missiles, bombs, ammunition, etc. are all needed in high demand for the amount of proactive fighting that is going on. The same goes with Canada, UK, and any ther nation that is involved in fighting.

Just because you don't like Bush doesn't mean to can make statements like the ones you've made. Sure he's going to retire wealthy, his family is wealthy. There have been wealthy leaders in the past. Take Paul Martin for one. Do you think he is going to have a rough life when he leaves politics...no.

I know it's tough that the NDP isn't running the country, but you will have to get used to that...

[Catchme]

One sure can note it and bring it to light, and correctly so. When the administration of a government, illegally attacks another country or countries based upon lies, and that same admin, and their extended family are making trillions of dollars from said wars something not only needs to be said, something needs to be done.

It is strange that people are trying to normalize this. again Bushes and Cheney are making trillions off of these wars the USA has engaged in.

[Cameron]

One sure can note it and bring it to light, and correctly so. When the administration of a government, illegally attacks another country or countries based upon lies, and that same admin, and their extended family are making trillions of dollars from said wars something not only needs to be said, something needs to be done.

It is strange that people are trying to normalize this. again Bushes and Cheney are making trillions off of these wars the USA has engaged in.

And what would you propose to do? You're not an American, you can't vote. And Bush and Cheney aren't making "trillions" off this war. Anyone can make money off this war. Just buy A&D stock and sit back and watch.

[Catchme]

Prove that they didn't make trillions? There is much evidence here to prove otherwise.

Those mentioned the Bushes, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld et al are the top stockholders who also sit, or used to sit on the Boards of Directors. They also, are the boards of directors, and holders of stocks in the oil companies that are using Iraq's oil.

Funny how some scream corruption in others, but are willing to discount over the top corruption in those they are partisian too.