The Cheney Observer


Abramoff probe throws wide scandal net over GOP

By Staff and Wire ReportsNov 27, 2005, 03:20
The rapidly growing scandals surrounding tainted lobbyist Jack Abramoff now involves four members of Congress, several former
and current congressional aides and two former Bush administration officials.
Prosecutors in the Justice Department's public integrity and fraud divisions are looking into Abramoff's dealings with four
Republicans -- former House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, Rep. John Doolittle
of California and Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana. Abramoff, long known as one of Washington's most shady operators, is under investigation over his lobbying efforts for Indian
tribes with casinos. He has also pleaded not guilty to federal charges in Florida that he defrauded lenders in a casino
cruise line deal.
The prosecutors are also investigating at least 17 current and former congressional aides, about half of whom later took
lobbying jobs with Abramoff, as well as an official from the Interior Department and another from the government's
procurement office.
Justice Department spokesman Paul Bresson declined to comment on the investigation.

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7707.shtml



The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush

BY WILLIAM BRYK08.06.2004 POLITICS
Theodore Roosevelt, that most virile of presidents, insisted that, "To announce that there should be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong,is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American people."

With that in mind, I say: George W. Bush is no conservative, and his unprincipled
abandonment of conservatism under the pressure of events is no statesmanship. The Republic would be well-served by his defeat this November.

William F. Buckley's recent retirement from the National Review, nearly half a century after he founded it, led me to reflect on American conservatism's first principles, which Buckley helped define for our time...

...To sum up: Anything beyond the limited powers expressly delegated by the people under the Constitution to their government for certain limited purposes creates the danger of tyranny. We stand there now. For an American conservative, better one lost election than the continued empowerment of cynical men who abuse conservatism through an exercise of power unrestrained by principle through the compromise of conservative beliefs. George W. Bush claims to be conservative. But based upon the unwholesome intrusion into domestic life and personal liberty of his administration and the local governments who imitate it,
George W. Bush is no conservative, no friend of limited, constitutional government--and no friend of freedom. The Republic would be better served by his defeat in November.

http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/article.php?id=300



Electricity Production in Iraq Remains Below Pre-War Levels

by Dahr Jamail (bio)
Contrary to Bush Administration reports, Iraqi officials say the country's electricity problems remain endemic, and fear that
despite Coalition promises, Iraq's plants will remain inadequate for the foreseeable future.
Baghdad, May 14, 2004 - Contrary to US President George Bush’s recent statement that electricity in Iraq "is now more widely
available than before the war," Iraqi officials say the power supply in their country has not yet been repaired to pre-war
levels. Bush made the claim in his May 1, 2004 speech commemorating the one-year anniversary of the "mission accomplished"
address he delivered from aboard the USS Lincoln.
Twelve months later, it appears as though the majority of Iraqis have seen little improvement in their power supply.

http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=345



Abramoff Scandal Points To Corruption In Congress And Exec. Branch Agencies…

Washington Post Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi Posted November 26, 2005 10:21 AM
READ MORE: Jack Abramoff, Investigations The Justice Department's wide-ranging investigation of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has entered a highly active phase as
prosecutors are beginning to move on evidence pointing to possible corruption in Congress and executive branch agencies,
lawyers involved in the case said.
Prosecutors have already told one lawmaker, Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), and his former chief of staff that they are
preparing a possible bribery case against them, according to two sources knowledgeable about the matter who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2005/11/26/abramoff-scandal-points-t_n_11260.html



Report: Burns-Abramoff dealings under scrutiny

By Gwen Florio Tribune Capitol Bureau
Interest is sharpening in U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns' relationship with Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist under
investigation for his dealings with Indian tribes.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Burns was one of four Republican members of Congress whose dealings with
Abramoff are being examined. The Montana Democratic Party, which already has run two ads highlighting Burns' ties to the controversial lobbyist, sees the
story as more ammunition against Burns in his re-election campaign next year.
But Burns' spokesman, James Pendleton, said Friday that the Democrats are firing blanks.
"Conrad Burns is

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051126/NEWS01/511260302/1002



Bob Ney: Will Ethics Scandals Hurt GOP Bids in 2006?

Dec. 5, 2005 issue - Ohio Rep. Bob Ney has long been known as "The Mayor of Capitol Hill," a name tied to his role overseeing
a committee charged with such mundane tasks as doling out parking spaces and buying office furniture. But last week Ney was
known as "Representative No. 1," the lawmaker identified by federal prosecutors as the recipient of free trips, sports
tickets and campaign donations from indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff allegedly in exchange for official favors.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10218892/site/newsweek/



Cheney's Lies Will Bring Him Down

by Jeffrey Steinberg
Nov. 25 (EIRNS)—Vice President Dick Cheney has spent the past week delivering a series of rants against Administration critics who dare accuse him of lying the United States into a disastrous war with Iraq. Speaking on Nov. 21 at the American
Enterprise Institute, Cheney snarled that anyone making such accusations is "reprehensible" and practically guilty of high treason. His scheduled 90-minute appearance at the primo neocon thinktank in Washington, where his wife Lynne is a resident fellow, lasted a total of 19 minutes. Cheney came, he ranted, and he departed, without taking a single question. The Vice President is a man with something to hide. The simple truth is: Cheney did lie, repeatedly, to bludgeon the U.S.
Congress into approving an unnecessary and disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq. According to several eyewitness accounts, Cheney personally lied to members of the U.S. Senate, claiming that the White House had rock-solid proof that Saddam Hussein was close to building a nuclear bomb, and that war was the only option. No such evidence existed.

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2005/3247cheneys_lies.html



Cheney's history needs a revise

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-et-rutten26nov26,1,1043228.story?coll=la-iraq-complete

TIM RUTTEN IF the debate over the war in Iraq now raging across our front pages and airwaves proves nothing else, it already has demonstrated that this administration believes the people's attention span can be measured in nanoseconds and that memory has
the shelf life of fresh bread.

Take, for example, this week's astonishingly revelatory public statements by Vice President Dick Cheney and Porter J. Goss, the director of central intelligence:
... Apparently it does to other people in the CIA. As the New York Times reported Thursday, one of the major reasons the
government lessened the charges against alleged terrorist Jose Padilla — who the administration initially said plotted to set
off a so-called dirty bomb inside the United States — was that the chief witnesses against him have been tortured. They are
two senior two Al Qaeda leaders, Abu Zubeida and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, currently being held in secret by the U.S.
government.



Bush, Cheney must focus on their 'false charges'

First published: Saturday, November 26, 2005 In his Veterans Day speech at the Tobyhanna, Pa., Army Depot, President Bush said, "The stakes in the global war on terror
are too high, and the national interest is too important for politicians to throw out false charges."Does Bush mean charges of preferential treatment for war profiteers with links to and support for his administration?
Halliburton's billions in no-bid contracts for scandal-plagued services, and the successful Bush family war and oil business,
Carlyle Group, seem to support this charge.
Does he mean the charge that his administration outed CIA agent Valerie Plame in retaliation against her husband, Joe Wilson,
for his criticism of the war? It turned out that wasn't a false charge, but a true one.
Does Bush mean the charge that intelligence was manipulated before it was presented to Congress and the United Nations?
Prewar CIA reports found nothing linking Iraq and al-Qaida, and the 9/11 commission reached the same conclusion. Yet Bush,
Vice President Dick Cheney, and even then-Secretary of State Colin Powell insisted the two were linked. Two other supporting
arguments for the war were that Iraq was seeking aluminum tubes and Niger uranium, yet these claims, the CIA report documents
show, were also already known to be false.
President Bush and Vice President Cheney should focus on their own false charges, which they used to promote sending our
brave soldiers to die in a war in Iraq.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=423497&category=OPINION&newsdate=11/26/2005



Sarasohn: Cheney launches nuclear attacks on his foes

David Sarasohn, THE OREGONIAN
Saturday, November 26, 2005
In what reporters actually called an easing of the rhetoric on Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday called 57 percent
of the American people "dishonest and reprehensible."
And that was the friendly part.
Speaking to the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute — these days, the president and vice president
speak mostly to conservative groups, if they can't find a military base — Cheney attacked claims of manipulation of prewar
intelligence as "dishonest and reprehensible," and launched his legendary sneer at the senators who suggested it.
But earlier this month, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll asked the question, "Do you think President Bush gave the
country the most accurate information he had before going to war with Iraq, or do you think President Bush deliberately
misled people to make the case for war with Iraq?" Of the sample, 57 percent thought the president misled them.
That's a lot of reprehensibility.
It may be that on Iraq, the vice president needs more than a new American policy. He may need a new American people. And he
may have to look hard.

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/11/26sarasohn_edit.html



Cheney's trouble with the truthBig lies back the Iraq war

You've got to hand it to Dick Cheney — no other modern politician has come so close to perfecting the theater of the absurd.
Even as he protests his innocence of lying about matters of state, he lies about matters of state. In two major speeches Friday and Monday, the vice president — who has long insisted Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida were allies,
Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, we would be greeted as liberators in Baghdad and the Iraqi insurgency is in its 'last
throes" — again evidenced his trademark inability to speak the truth.
Continuing the administration's recent shrill defensive barrage over whose fault the Iraq mess is and with the truth chasing
the lies in full public view, Cheney had the gall to smear the war's critics as 'corrupt and shameless." Then, within a few
sentences, he showed again why 52 percent of those recently polled by Newsweek believe Cheney deliberately "misused or
manipulated" prewar intelligence.

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=19929



New Orleans gives thanks with traditional parade

26 Nov 2005 22:30:08 GMT
Source: Reuters Background TIPSHEET: Aid experts debunk post-disaster myths
MORE By Janet Guttsman
NEW ORLEANS, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Led by brass bands and filmed by director Spike Lee, New Orleans gave thanks on Saturday for
things not lost in Hurricane Katrina at a "second-line" jazz procession through once-flooded streets.
The parade, with several hundred participants, started at the headquarters of a benevolent association just beyond the city's
famed French Quarter and snaked its way through streets still littered with debris from the hurricane.
"We had to make a statement to the world that our history, that our African-American culture, will continue," said Fred
Johnson of the benevolent group Black Men of Labor.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26637622.htm



NBA: New Orleans 105, Seattle 99

SEATTLE, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- David West scored 21 points Saturday to pace a balanced New Orleans/Oklahoma City attack, as the
Hornets beat the Seattle Supersonics, 105-99.
J.R. Smith added 19 points and Chris Paul had 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Hornets.
The Hornets have won two straight and four of their last five games.
Rashard Lewis scored 21 points and Ray Allen added 15 for the SuperSonics, who have lost three straight following a three-
game winning streak. Vladimir Radmanovic scored 14 points in the loss.



Nagin schedules Town Hall meeting in Houston

NEW ORLEANS Mayor Ray Nagin will hold a town hall meeting in Houston tomorrow for displaced New Orleanians.
Almost 20,000 people fled to Houston after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated New Orleans. People from the Superdome were
also taken to the Astrodome, which served as another temporary shelter.
The meeting is set for 1 p-m at the Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church.

http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=4167591



Atlantic wild birds have H5 avian fluDucks not likely to have deadly strain Further tests needed
to rule out Asian link

Nov. 26, 2005. 01:00 AMALISON AULDCANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX—Officials confirmed yesterday that 35 wild birds sampled in the Maritimes tested positive for H5 avian influenza
viruses, but said they did not believe any were carrying the virulent H5N1 strain decimating poultry flocks in Asia and
entering in Europe.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1132960213035&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467



Flu halted on B.C. duck farms, officials say

Vancouver — One week after a duck at a Chilliwack farm tested positive for avian flu, health officials say they are
cautiously optimistic that the virus has stopped spreading.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency veterinarian Con Kiley said yesterday that 4,500 birds from nearly 90 per cent of all farms
in the surrounding area have been tested since last week.
“One week after the initial detection, we are cautiously optimistic,” he said. “It remains contained and not extended to the
more susceptible chicken and turkey populations.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051126.wxbirds1126/BNStory/National/



Romania Spots First Flu Case in Domestic Bird Outside Delta

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Romanian authorities quarantined the first village outside the River Danube delta area and plan to
slaughter as many as 15,000 domestic birds there after a turkey hen was reported infected with the H5 bird flu virus.
Health workers will start giving flu shots tomorrow to hundreds of residents in as many as 400 households in the eastern
village of Scarlatesti in Braila county, the Agriculture Ministry said today in an e-mailed statement.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aM0HM07dEil4&refer=europe



From the Pulpit

Filtering the truth

Don Fultz
The responsibility associated with the gift of life is that we peacefully interact with the whole of creation as we seek the
truth about what and why we are. Graduation from the human form to the next step in our spiritual evolution requires that we
overcome certain human characteristics, and acquired certain spiritual characteristics.
... Another of my recent articles, "Us and Them," was my attempt to understand why hardworking Americans continue to support
the political party that brought us Halliburton, a company with a history of defrauding the country out of billions. Last
Saturday a new story hit the news that the U.S. is being sued for 120 million dollars worth of overcharges to the Iraqi
people for work that Halliburton either didn't do or that didn't meet minimal standards. You and I are once again paying for
Halliburton's brazen ego. Why do we strive to be fiscally responsible on a personal level then shrug it off when a corrupt
administration charges $20,000.oo worth of national debt to every man women and child in the country. National debt is not a
euphemism for personal debt; we the people will pay it with interest. Why do we let cleverly timed platitudes lull us into
accepting hundreds of billions of military spending that has not increased our safety. With all of the fiscal evidence
pointing in one direction why do we still believe the Republican Party is looking out for us. We do it because our ego's
convictions bring us relief from the anxiety that admitting the Republican Party is rife with fiscal and spiritual evil.

http://www.orovillemr.com/Stories/0,1413,157~26686~3144701,00.html



Immigrant abuse charged in Katrina clean up

NEW ORLEANS — Halliburton, the energy products and services giant whose name has become synonymous with no-bid contracts and
corporate cronyism, is accused of exploiting immigrants and undocumented workers.
Halliburton, through its subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) was granted a $124 million contract to clean up the city
post-Hurricane Katrina..
Writing for Salon.com, Roberto Lovato recounts his observations in the storm-ravaged region, including "squalid trailer parks
where up to 19 unpaid, unfed and undocumented [Halliburton subsidiary] KBR site workers inhabited a single trailer for $70
per person, per week." Many suffer from work-related health problems, including diarrhea, sprained ankles, as well as cuts
and bruises acquired while working for KBR, he claims.

http://www.vermontguardian.com/dailies/112005/1125.shtml



At the White House, the Spin Doctor Is Ill

By Norman Solomon
While indictment fever gripped the Washington press corps, the president's spin doctor was incapacitated. An ailing Karl Rove
could not help the Republican search for a media cure. With temperature rising, the political physician was in no position to
cure himself or anyone else. Now, a media siege is underway at the White House. A dramatic convergence of legal proceedings and presidential politics has
forced the Bush administration into a fundamentally defensive crouch. A year ago, when President Bush hailed him as the political strategist who made a second term possible, Rove was the toast of
Washington. Now -- even though he hasn't been indicted -- it seems he's toast. In Washington, where nothing succeeds like political success, an election victory is widely seen as proof of justification.
Strip away the razzle-dazzle, and you're left with a rather simple precept: Whatever works. And, for almost five years, the Rove media operation worked. From maximal exploitation of 9/11 for political gain to the
"Swift Boating" of John Kerry, the presidential spin machinery wrapped George W. Bush in the flag and threw plenty of mud at
opponents.

http://www.coastalpost.com/05/11/24.html



Bechtel Jacobs: demolition to begin mid-January Cleanup of facility nears

By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com November 26, 2005
OAK RIDGE - Federal contractors are trying to put a nightmare to bed. A year and a half after work was suspended because of a nuclear mishap, Bechtel Jacobs Co. is trying to finish the cleanup at
an old waste operation near Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
"Everything should be done by mid-March," said Dennis Hill, a spokesman for Bechtel Jacobs, the U.S. Department of Energy's
environmental manager in Oak Ridge.
Work at the New Hydrofracture Facility, a site once used to inject liquid nuclear wastes into underground rock formations,
was halted in May 2004. That's when a truck hauling a waste-mixing tank to a burial ground leaked droplets of radioactive
strontium-90 on four local roads.

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_4267756,00.html



Bechtel wins USAF contractBechtel Corp. won a contingency support contract from the United States Air Force as one of six companies that will sell

engineering, construction and support services to the military around the world. The contract is part of the Air Force Contract Augmentation Program, according to a release on Bechtel's web site. The San
Francisco company did not disclose the value of the deal, but the entire contract lasts 10 years and is worth $10 billion.
In order that a war or crisis requiring rapid response might not overwhelm a single company, six firms were awarded the
contract. The deal requires the companies to respond to urgent jobs in the continental United States within 48 hours and to
overseas crises within 72 hours.
Bechtel and the other companies -- Washington Group International, CH2M Global Services, URS/Berger JV, DynCorp International
and Readiness Management Support -- were chosen by competitive bidding.

http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2005/11/21/daily38.html?jst=b_ln_hl



New Orleans bank finds little room for optimism

NEW ORLEANS At one bank branch, vandals whacked futilely at a vault with what must have been a crowbar. At another, looters
worked over an outdoor cash machine, stripping its plastic molding and exposing the metal and wire innards but never reaching
the stack of bills inside. After smashing through a glass door, the intruders took a sledgehammer to the cinder block wall
housing the bank vault. They bashed a hole large enough to crawl through - if not for the thick steel plate on the other side

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/25/business/bank.php



New Orleans Residents Give Thanks, Making Do With What's on HandMany are just glad to be home for the holiday in the post-Katrina city. They find few supplies but plenty to be thankful for.

From Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — With her apron on, Nelle Hill looked the part of the Thanksgiving Day cook, but with no power, no refrigerator
and few ingredients, all she could come up with were grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon.
Sandwich in hand, she stood on the front porch of her home with her husband, Charlie, and brother Rus Moore, who helped the
retired couple get back to their home on a debris-lined street that had been flooded by Hurricane Katrina.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-katrina25nov25,1,2391819.story?coll=la-headlines-nation



New Orleans network aids storm-stricken businesses

By Oren Dorell, USA TODAYLoans from the Small Business Administration following Hurricane Katrina have been so slow to materialize that New Orleans
business groups are raising private funds to help companies survive.The Idea Village, a non-profit business development organization based in New Orleans, has given $90,000 in privately raised
grants to 31 businesses that it hopes can be saved with a little help.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-24-gulf-network_x.htm



Cheney and the Elimination of History

Jihad el Khazen Al-Hayat - 25/11/05//
While President George Bush complains that the Democrats are trying to "re-write" history, his Vice-president, Dick Cheney,
is trying to eliminate history, specifically the disputed history of the run-up and preparation for the war against Iraq.
Today I will choose Cheney as an exemplar of the furious debate between Republicans and Democrats over the war.During this period, the White House used two lies in preparation for the coming war against Iraq - that it had weapons of
mass destruction and a nuclear program, and its ties to al-Qaida.Dick Cheney appeared on television more than once on 24 March 2004, to repeat the lie about Iraq in various interviews. He
put forward false details about a nuclear program to scare the American people and make them believe that Saddam Hussein
could threaten them within their own country. Time and time again, he said that Saddam Hussein had a nuclear program that
threatened America. At the beginning of 2004, he was still lying, insisting on Iraq's connection to al-Qaida.All of these items are on tape, and Cheney's role in them is fundamental.

http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/OPED/11-2005/Article-20051125-c8175a54-c0a8-10ed-0092-eb76763731bb/story.html



Dick Cheney’s shadow play

Sidney Blumenthal 25 - 11 - 2005
The United States vice-president’s march through the institutions of state is a career-long service to power.
In 1976, the new CIA director was prompted to authorise an alternative unit outside the CIA to challenge the agency's
intelligence on Soviet intentions. George HW Bush was more compliant in the political winds than his predecessor. Consisting
of a host of conservatives, the unit was called Team B. A young aide from the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Paul
Wolfowitz, selected to represent the interest of secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld's, served as co-author of Team B's
report. The report was single-minded in its conclusion about the Soviet build-up and cleansed of contrary intelligence. It
was fundamentally a political tool in the struggle for control of the Republican Party, intended to destroy detente and aimed
particularly at Kissinger.
Both Ford and Kissinger took pains to dismiss Team B and its effort. (Later, Team B's report was revealed to be wildly off
the mark about the scope and capability of the Soviet military.) With Ford's defeat in 1976, Team B became the kernel of the
Committee on the Present Danger, a conservative group that attacked President Carter for weakness on the Soviet threat. The
growing strength of the right thwarted ratification of SALT II, setting the stage for Reagan's nomination and election in
1980. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1978, Dick Cheney became the Republican leader on the House Intelligence
Committee, where he consistently fought congressional oversight and limits on presidential authority. When Congress
investigated the Iran-Contra scandal (the creation of an illegal, privately funded, offshore US foreign policy) in 1986,
Cheney was the crucial administration defender. At every turn, he blocked the Democrats and prevented them from questioning
vice-president Bush.
Under Cheney’s leadership, not a single House Republican signed the special investigating committee's final report charging
"secrecy, deception and disdain for law." Instead, the Republicans issued their own report claiming there had been no major
wrongdoing.
... Dick Cheney sees in George W Bush his last chance. Nixon self-destructed, Ford was fatally compromised by his moderation,
Reagan was not what was hoped for, the elder Bush ended up a disappointment. In every case, the Republican presidents had
been checked or gone soft. Finally, President Bush provided the instrument, 11 September 2001 the opportunity. This time the
failures of the past provided the guideposts for getting it right. The administration's heedlessness was simply the wisdom of
Cheney's experience.

http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-institutions_government/cheney_3064.jsp


Halliburton -- Poster Child For War

Profiteering by Evelyn J. Pringle
www.dissidentvoice.org
January 24, 2005
Of course, by now everybody has at least heard of Halliburton, the all-time poster child for war profiteering. But I'll bet
most people don't understand exactly how this company has gone the full financial circle in Iraq. Some background info may
be helpful.
First of all it helps to know that between 1999 and 2002, Halliburton gave more than $700,000 in political contributions,
almost always to Republicans. In 2000, it donated $17,677 to Bush. In fact, the 70 or so companies that were awarded
contracts in Iraq have contributed more money to Bush than they have to any other candidate over the past 12 years.
But overall, Halliburton owes most of its good fortune to Vice President Dick Cheney. While he was Bush Sr.'s secretary of
defense, Cheney directed millions of tax dollars in government business to Halliburton.

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan05/Pringle0124.htm


New York Comptroller Pressures Halliburton on Iran

By ELI LAKE - Staff Reporter of the SunJanuary 24, 2005
A D V E R T I S E M E N T A D V E R T I S E M E N T WASHINGTON - New York City's comptroller has begun to enlist other large institutional investors in Halliburton to pressure
the company to end its business with Iran.
William Thompson controls $42 million invested in the company's stock for the pension funds of the New York City fire and
police departments. He said last week that he had contacted the treasurer of North Carolina and the California state
employees pension fund to gain support for his plan to introduce a resolution at Halliburton's annual shareholder meeting in
May demanding a full accounting of the company's business dealings with Iran. Vice President Cheney ran Halliburton between
1995 and 2000.
In an interview last week, Mr. Thompson said the deal Halliburton forged to help develop the South Pars oil and gas field was
"outrageous."
"It is astonishing. The federal government is pushing European companies to divest in Iran, meanwhile an American-based
company is acquiring new and additional contracts," Mr. Thompson said.
On January 11, Iranian state television announced that Halliburton Products & Services Limited, along with the Oriental Kish
Company, had won a $310 million contract to develop sectors 9 and 10 of the South Pars oil and gas field. Oriental Kish
Company is partially owned by the family of Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former Iranian president who in the past has threatened
to incinerate Israel with nuclear weapons.
Oriental Kish's main shareholder is Cyrus Nasseri, who according to the Iranian Student News Agency is also a consultant to
the Iranian nuclear program, which the White House has said is geared toward developing nuclear weapons.
Since 2002, Mr. Thompson has urged other major investors in Halliburton to support a shareholder resolution demanding a full
and public accounting of the company's business dealings in Iran, a country the State Department has long determined was the
world's leading sponsor of international terrorism. Last year, the company finally released a report on their Iranian
business, but Mr. Thompson's office told the Sun last week that the report failed to address the risk to American investors
from Halliburton's dealings in the Islamic Republic.
The resolution Mr. Thompson plans to offer in May requests that the company's board of directors "establish a committee of
the Board to review Halliburton's operations in Iran with a particular reference to potential financial and reputational
risks incurred by the company by such operations."
The supporting statement says, "We believe that Halliburton's use of its Cayman Island subsidiary to establish operations in
Tehran violates the spirit, if not the letter of the law. It also exposes the company to the prospect of negative publicity,
public protests, and a loss of consumer confidence, all of which can have a negative impact on shareholder value."
Last Thursday, Mr. Cheney said on the Don Imus radio program that Israel may decide to launch a military strike against
Iran's nuclear facilities if it felt the regime posed a grave enough threat.
"If, in fact, the Israelis became convinced the Iranians had a significant nuclear capability, given the fact that Iran has a
stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the
rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards," the vice president said.
Iranian officials responded over the weekend. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, said yesterday the remarks from
Mr. Cheney proved "the Zionist lobby is strong in the United States."
Mr. Thompson said the new deal to develop the South Pars oil and gas field for Halliburton was not only a blow to American
foreign policy, but also a risk to the shareholders of the company. "With Halliburton under investigation by the U.S.
attorney in Houston, I just think this is outrageous," he said. "When there is an investigation into Halliburton into these
practices, to use these legislative loop holes, they have not even tried to disguise this practice."
Mr. Thompson made headlines in 2004 when he helped a CBS "60 Minutes" investigation into Halliburton Products & Services
Limited that reported the company maintained offices in Tehran. "When you look at the situation with Halliburton, it was not
even well disguised. The offshore site was merely a mail drop, their subsidiaries in Dubai share offices with Halliburton.
This is another example of Halliburton ignoring the law," he said.
A spokeswoman for Halliburton, Beverly Scippa, said in response to the allegations: "Halliburton's business is clearly
permissible under applicable U.S. laws and regulations. If Congress decides to change the laws and provisions, Halliburton
will, of course, comply. Also, we are in the service business not the foreign policy business. We have followed and will
continue to follow applicable laws."

http://www.nysun.com/article/8108



Evelyn Pringle: Bush Crony Full-Employment Act of 2003

By: Evelyn PringlePublished: January 24, 2005 at 07:20
Josh Marshall writes a column for The Hill, a Congressional newspaper. Josh says that every big new piece of legislation
needs a catchy title to set it apart, and he came up with a good title for the $87 billion allocated for rebuilding Iraq.
“The Bush Crony Full-Employment Act of 2003.” I like that, its very fitting.
Who is Joe Allbaugh?
Anybody remember Joe Allbaugh? He was part of the inner circle in Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, along with Karl Rove and
Karen Hughes. In January 2001, when Bush took over the White House, he put Allbaugh in charge of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), which dispenses disaster money and loans after hurricanes, floods and fires.
New Bridge Strategies
I think Joe missed his calling. He should be a fortune teller, because somehow he knew a couple of weeks before Bush declared
war on Iraq, that he should quit his government job and go into the business of helping wealthy clients secure Iraqi
reconstruction contracts.

http://www.yubanet.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/13/17391


Army secretary praises Halliburton's work
By TONY CAPACCIO
Bloomberg News
Halliburton Co., the largest contractor in Iraq, has demonstrated "very competent performance," Army Secretary Francis Harvey said Tuesday.
Harvey said he based his assessment on feedback from troops he's visited in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan and bonuses the company was awarded this year by Army evaluation boards.
"Overall, I think Halliburton, as exemplified by the award fees and the remarks of soldiers, is doing a very competent job," Harvey said at a meeting with reporters in Washington. "From the soldier's perspective, I get very good feedback. The soldiers like" Halliburton's food services."In the Army, chow's a big thing."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3448280


THE OUTRAGEOUS SILENCE OF DUMB AND DUMBER!
BUSH AND CHENEY PLAY MUTE
A TvNewsLIES Analysis - November, 2005
November 9, 2005
Let’s get our terms straight here. We’re not talking "Dumb" as in lacking intellectual acuity or understanding. We’re talking "Dumb" as in lacking the power or ability of speech. We’re talking about a stunt in which the President and Vice President have turned themselves into non communicative mutes. We’re talking about George Bush and Dick Cheney, the silent duo who will not answer to the people of this nation. We’re talking about two men who scoff at any attempt to hold them accountable for their crimes.
We’re talking about an untenable and unacceptable moment in our history, when silence has become a blight on the presidency and a slap in the face to the nation.
We’re talking about a nefarious President and his cohort who have chosen to play Dumb and Dumber in a very dangerous game.
It is absolutely astounding that, despite all the scandals and failures that surround their administration, the two men at the top simply refuse to utter a word of explanation. No matter who asks the questions, they refuse to answer. Our nation is bleeding from the wounds that these men consciously conspired to inflict, but they have nothing at all to say to us. At this crucial moment when the country is in free fall, George Bush and Dick Cheney have conveniently lost their tongues. The leaders of the free world are playing mute, and it is high time to call their bluff.

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m17616&date=09-nov-2005_17:16_ECT


Nigeria Lifts Ban on Halliburton Subsidiary

Nigeria said a Halliburton subsidiary could now bid on contracts after stolen radioactive materials were returned, local authorities said Monday.
In 2003, Nigeria banned Halliburton Energy Services Nigeria Ltd. from bidding for government contracts after it lost radioactive materials. Nigerian officials said the Halliburton subsidiary was negligent and had refused to cooperate to retrieve the materials.
The government also barred Halliburton Energy Services Nigeria from handling atomic sources, which are used in the oil industry.
'The president has decided to pardon Halliburton,' Shamsudeen Elegba, head of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, said.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/article_1060987.php/Energy_Watch