Something Fishy about 'No-Bid' Contracts for Iraq Reconstruction?

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/oneworld/20031010/wl_oneworld/4536701541065788844&cid=655&ncid=1480

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 10 (CSM) - Critics on Capitol Hill are taking a hard look at several lucrative U.S. contracts to rebuild war-damaged Iraq. snip

Yet some key Iraq contracts already were bid secretly, or on a sole-source basis, to companies with strong ties to the Bush administration. These included a $1.39 billion contract to a subsidiary of Halliburton, an energy giant formerly chaired by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Another $680 million contract for Iraq's power grid, water system, and airport facilities went to Bechtel Group Inc., after a secret bidding process. Together, the six companies invited to bid on the Bechtel contract contributed $3.6 million to federal election campaigns, two-thirds to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

"These suspect contracts with Halliburton and other companies raise questions about the awarding of contracts to friends of the administration," says Sen. Richard Durbin (D) of Illinois. "Wasn't there someone in the room who said, 'This just doesn't look right.'?"

more

[realFedUp]

1. ahhhhhh,,,,,,yeeeeaaahhhhh

feels like a time warp in this country...
replaying thoughts months ago.

Ask why the USAID signed contracts on this
stuff last October.

[chiburb]

3. Yep. Doesn't it seem like...

The "media" is 3-4 months (or longer) behind what we know? Sometimes I think our rants about the whores, while accurate, reflect our impatience with getting the truth out... as opposed to their blatant disregard of anything negative on Bushco.
Lately I've been seeing a lot of posts saying TraitorGate was being ignored or swept uder the rug by the media. I suspect that when there's something new to report (Executive Privelege, Redactions for Security Reasons, etc.)we'll see the story, once again, at the top of the hour.

[Javneh]

11. What was the quote by Napoleon?

Something to the effect it is not necessary to suppress bad news, just delay it

[AntiCoup2K4]

2. Isn't the mayor of Philadelphia under federal investigation right now

for something very similar (no bid contracts given to friends).

Maybe Asscrotch needs to do something about this hypocrisy?

(yeah I know, if you believe that will happen, there's a beach condo in Tucson for sale....)

[ninkasi]

4. They're just now wondering

about these contracts? Either we've got a bunch of really, really stupid politicians, or we at DU are really, really smart. Of course, it could be a combination of the two. Having a lazy press doesn't help much, either.

[hedda_foil]

5. Oooooh!! It's on Yahoo with that headline! RATE IT!!!!

Get over to that page and give it a "5" (at the bottom of the page). Then report back here with the rating. This needs to be all the way at the TOP of the "highest rated" page at Yahoo. Let's get it there!

[dixiechiken]

6. Did it ...

Its current average rating is 4.83 with 18 votes. It's already off the front page so here's a link:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/oneworld/20031010/wl_oneworld/4536701541065788844

:)

[Fridays Child]

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[hang a left]

17. It is now down to 3.92 with 193 voting.....go rate it it please!!!!!

[leftchick]

8. from the end of the article....

and please rate it a 5!...

<snip> The impression of favoritism could be tough to blot out. Recently, a new lobby shop touted its ties to the Bush administration as an asset in helping clients get business in Iraq. New Bridge Strategies, with offices in Washington and Houston, describes itself as "a unique company that was created specifically with the aim of assisting clients to evaluate and take advantage of business opportunities in the Middle East following the conclusion of the US-led war in Iraq." Its principals include Joe Allbaugh, campaign manager for Bush presidential race in 2000.

"This kind of thing is tawdry and will reinforce the conviction in some quarters that this is all about making bucks and paying off corporate pals," says Andrew Bacevich, director of the Center for International Relations at Boston University.



Tawdry is way to timid a term for the way this bunch of sleazebags operate....

[cosmicdot]

9. this is coming out of the gates as fast as enron did in 2001

that Senate Gov't Affairs Committee ... they need some Geritol ... imo, its member are all in bed ...

Halliburton was awarded a contract in December 2001

Kellogg, Brown & Root will take charge of support services including base camp maintenance, laundry services, food services, airfield services, and supply operations, among others. Gale L. Smith, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Operations Support Command in Alexandria, Virginia refuses to confirm or deny whether Kellogg, Brown & Root would be working on similar bases in Manas, Kyrgyzstan or other sites in Afghanistan and Pakistan to support Operation Enduring Freedom. The new job is one of the first examples of a lucrative, new ten-year contract that Kellogg, Brown & Root won from the Pentagon on December 14, 2001 titled Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP). The contract is what the Pentagon calls a "cost-plus-award-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity service," which basically means that the federal government has an open-ended mandate and budget to send Kellogg, Brown & Root anywhere in the world to run humanitarian or military operations for profit.

http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=2471

many of us write WTF ... figuratively speaking ... to our elected officials years ago ... but, no one shows any interest

someone better ask for projects and milestone schedules to see all what's going on and start micro-managing ... or the jobs will be done and money off shore ...

ya'd think some folks never worked for the government and aren't familiar with government contracting

weren't the Federal Acquisition Regulations 'modified' during the Newt Contract on America era?

the stage, ploys, schemes and scams have been a work-in-progress long before yesterday

[loudnclear]

10. It's not 'fishy.' It's 'skim-scam'

Large American Corps are making huge profits from the so-called 'rebuilding of Iraq.' They charge the American taxpayer huge sums, skim off the top and pay Iraqi's poverty wages to do the work. The Iraqis built their country in the first place, WITHOUT, the US. Why can't they re-build it. We owe them the resources to do, but we don't have to be the ones in charge. Give them the money and resources and get the hell out of their country!

[idontwantaname]

13. american foreign policy is like a good virus...

the key is not to suck the host dry.

[Wickerman]

16. I'd rather we have loaned the the money

but for some stupid reason we give money away to countries with oil and we take money away from kids in head start and such here at home.

If only our kids were huge resvoirs of oil....

[bobthedrummer]

12. The Iraqi side is controlled by Chalabi's nephew Salem Chalabi

and his neo-con dominated local crew.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1048205,00.html

[Dhalgren]

14. Read and rated

But I think it's getting "Freeped".


You have given the news article Something Fishy about 'No-Bid' Contracts for Iraq Reconstruction? a rating of 5.
Its current average rating is 3.82 with 182 vote(s).

[Unknown Known]

15. War is a Racket!

The bush family has been involved with war profiteering since World War I. An entire century of the BFEE:puke:

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. Too late on this point:

"She wants Washington to avoid even the appearance of cronyism or war profiteering in these deals"

I think cronyism is not just a far gone conclusion, but probably the main reason why this Administration sacrified our boys in Iraq.

[Fridays Child]

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