The Revolving Door of Corporate Corruption in New Orleans Reconstruction

[buzzsaw_23]

Who will be involved in the corporate feeding trough in New Orleans? Who is involved in the corrupt reconstruction scandals in Iraq? Follow the companies and get to know some of the principles and you'll see how it is all connected. Draw your own conclusions.




Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root has received more money from the U.S. involvement in Iraq than any other contractor.

Under the Army's previous order for logistics support, Halliburton was paid $6.3 billion for work during the first two years of the occupation, including $3.98 billion between the beginning of May 2004 and the end of May 2005. Under the new deal, Halliburton will receive $4.97 billion to support U.S. troops in Iraq until May 2006.

Both orders stem from a 10-year contract known as LOGCAP, which KBR won in a competitive bid in 2001. As of the beginning of June, the Army had obligated nearly $12 billion to the company under the logistic contract, the vast majority of it for work in Iraq.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/05/AR2005070501655.html

Bechtel's new Iraq job
Engineering giant adds on $1.8 billion U.S. contract

Bechtel has now landed nearly $3 billion in reconstruction contracts from the U.S. government in the nine turbulent months since Saddam Hussein's fall. The new contract will keep Bechtel in Iraq for another two years -- well past the anticipated transfer of power to a new Iraqi government.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/07/BUG8K44PPK1.DTL

Fluor venture lands $1.1B Iraq contract


A joint venture of Aliso Viejo-based engineering and construction management company Fluor Corp. and London-based AMEC plc will build, repair and manage water and sewerage systems in Iraq under two contracts worth $1.1 billion.

http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2004/03/22/daily29.html


The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SGR) today announced that it has opened an office in Baghdad to support its increasing activity in Iraq including anticipated U.S. government projects under the $1.5 billion U.S. Central Command award announced in January 2004. The facility will also support projects for the Iraqi ministries and other clients located throughout the Middle East....and was also awarded a separate $88.7 million construction deal, among other contracts...

The Baghdad office is currently supporting an approximately $47 million task order in Iraq for facility upgrades, installation of utilities and other infrastructure improvements.

http://ir.shawgrp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61066&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=497240&highlight

UK civil engineering firm Halcrow told BBC News Online it has won work on restoring Iraq's water supplies as part of the $28.5m deal landed by CH2M Hill and Parsons.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3500324.stm

In 2001, Bush appointed Robert G. Card, then a senior vice president at CH2M Hill, undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, a position he held until 2004. Today, Card is the president and group chief executive of the International Group at CH2M Hill.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=21843

Now, these same corporations are being loosed on the Southeastern United States on the same no-bid, cost-plus basis.

REBUILDING CONTRACTS

Fluor and Louisiana-based Shaw Group <SGR.N> said on Thursday they have received $100 million emergency contracts from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency for housing management and construction, part of a broad effort to house Katrina's evacuees while shattered cities like New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi, are cleaned up and rebuilt.

Shaw Group also got a $100 million order on Friday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help recovery and rebuilding jobs.

FEMA also awarded contracts to CH2M Hill, of Denver, Dewberry Technologies, of Fairfax, Virginia, and the Bechtel National Inc. unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp.

Halliburton Co.'s <HAL.N> Kellogg Brown & Root Services unit in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday received $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts for rebuilding jobs at Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi.

http://today.reuters.com/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2005-09-09T223341Z_01_N09375250_RTRIDST_0_KATRINA-FLUOR-CEO-UPDATE-1.XML

Allbaugh's other major client, Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group, has updated its Web site to say: "Hurricane Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"

Shaw said Thursday it has received a $100 million emergency FEMA contract for housing management and construction. Shaw also clinched a $100 million order on Friday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Jim Bernhard, chairman and CEO of Shaw Group, is also the chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3347464

Allbaugh seems to display in his recent biography just about every linkage that makes New Oraq what it is clearly becoming. He ran the Bush presidential campaign of 2000; and subsequently was installed as the director of FEMA

He made headlines in 2003 not for his lobby shop, but for co-founding New Bridge Strategies-"a unique company created specifically . . . take advantage of business opportunities in the Middle East," as its Web site puts it. Critics say Allbaugh is taking advantage of his close relationship with the administration. Allbaugh says it's a brouhaha over nothing.

"I've known the president since 1988, and I've essentially been with him for nine years. It's been some of the best times, and some of the rockiest. I would never do anything to jeopardize that friendship..."

Allbaugh's FEMA experience "gave rise to relationships that now have the potential to be very valuable to him," says Richard Shelby, an executive vice president at the American Gas Association who met Allbaugh in 1972.

http://www.allbaughcompany.com/news/news.php?id=2


New Bridge Strategies, LLC is 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 U.S.-led war in Iraq. Its activities will seek to expedite the creation of free and fair markets and new economic growth in Iraq, consistent with the policies of the United States Government. The opportunities evolving in Iraq today are of such an unprecedented nature and scope that companies seeking to work in that environment must have the very best advice and guidance available. The New Bridge Strategies team has been carefully constructed to fill that need.


Although New Bridge Strategies is a new company, the principals of our company are seasoned veterans in dealing with foreign countries and commerce. A listing of people who make New Bridge Strategies your bridge to success in Iraq is below.

Joe M. Allbaugh, Chairman and Director
Joe M. Allbaugh is the CEO of The Allbaugh Company, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based corporate strategy and counsel firm. A native of Oklahoma, Joe served as the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under President George Bush until March 2003. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., he was Chief of Staff to then-Governor Bush of Texas and was the National Campaign Manager for the Bush-Cheney 2000 presidential campaign

Jamal Daniel, Advisory Board Member
Jamal Daniel is a Principal with Crest Investment Company, which invests in a wide-range of business ventures and is based in Houston. Prior to his work with Crest Investment, Jamal was a Director of the Uniteg Investment Company, Inc., providing U.S. and international investors with comprehensive real estate services ranging from acquisition and construction to financing and sales. Additionally, Jamal has extensive experience in structuring investing in energy and oil and gas projects throughout the U.S., Europe and the Middle East


http://www.newbridgestrategies.com/index.asp

BY KNUT ROYCE AND TOM BRUNE
WASHINGTON BUREAU

April 21, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Neil Bush, the president's controversial younger brother, six years ago joined the cardinal who this week became Pope Benedict XVI as a founding board member of a little known Swiss ecumenical foundation.

The charter members of the board were all well-known international religious figures, except for Bush and his close friend and business partner, Jamal Daniel, whose family has extensive holdings in the United States and Switzerland, public records show.

In his highly publicized divorce last year, Bush revealed he and Daniel are co-chairs of Texas-based Crest Investment Co., which pays him $60,000 a year for consulting. Recently, Crest Investment officials used Bush's name as a reference in cutting an exclusive deal with Texas officials on construction of a liquid natural gas storage facility that will guarantee Crest payments of at least $2 million a year, according to the Los Angeles Times.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-wochar214226829apr21,0,2177757.story

Joe M. Allbaugh, a close friend of President Bush's, the president's 2000 campaign manager and the FEMA director from 2001 to 2003, and James Lee Witt, an Arkansan close to former President Clinton and a former FEMA director, are now high-priced consultants, and they have been offering their services to companies seeking or holding federal contracts in the post-Katrina gold rush.

Allbaugh said that he was helping private companies, including his clients, cut through federal red tape to speed provision of services and supplies to the storm-wracked region. Two of his major clients, KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton, and The Shaw Group, already are at work on disaster response efforts. Cars with their logos were seen Friday at the Baton Rouge headquarters of FEMA.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3347464

In Baton Rouge, Allbaugh may run into another former FEMA director, James Lee Witt, who served in the Clinton administration and has been hired by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) as a consultant.

In 2001, Witt founded James Lee Witt Associates, a crisis- and emergency-management consulting firm in Washington. Its clients include Nextel Communications, Whelen Engineering Co. Inc., and the Harris Corp.

"Being able to arrange an audience with influential decision makers at the highest levels is the stock in trade in Washington and a privilege James Lee Witt and his team are proud to have and one not taken for granted," the Witt firm boasts on its Web site.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/07/AR2005090702385.html

Governor Frank Keating said of Allbaugh, "Joe... knows how elected officials and appointed officials like me think and work, and that culture is a fraternity."

[Turbineguy]

1. If you know

something about construction, better sign up with the Republican party.

I guess it was the same situation in the Soviet Union. Unless you belonged to the party, your opportunities were limited.

[Beam Me Up]

2. alright buzzsaw_23! nominated!

been keep'n an eye out for this all day

Thanks!

:hi:

[buzzsaw_23]

4. This bit was particularly intriguing

Note the small Swiss ecumenical foundation that this ex-cardinal helped found. Note that Neil Bush was appointed to the board of this foundation . Note that Jamal Daniel a principal w/Crest Investment Co. which is garnering some mighty contracts, is also on the board of said foundation. Now what exactly do small Swiss ecumenical foundations do? And that ex-cardinal, he is now the Pope. And Jamal Daniel has mucho investments in Switzerland.

Just odd is all.

[Beam Me Up]

6. I don't think "odd" is exactly the word you're looking for. SUSPISCIOUS

is what it is.

I recall when this story came to our attention here on DU at the time Ratzinger was made Pope; many of us were wondering WTF!?

[KittyWampus]

3. didn't war profiteering used to be illegal? nominated with a sigh

[buzzsaw_23]

5. It definitely should be

But who will pursue this. It's all out in the open but most everybody has got their hands in the till. look at the cross section of people involved and this is the tip of the iceberg.
Here's More:


A few months after Allbaugh was hired by Halliburton, the company retained another high-level Bush appointee, Kirk Van Tine.

Van Tine registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton six months after resigning as deputy transportation secretary, a position he held from December 2003 to December 2004.

On Friday, Kellogg Brown & Root received $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts to begin rebuilding Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi. Norcross said the work was covered under a contract that the company negotiated before Allbaugh was hired.

Halliburton continues to be a source of income for Cheney, who served as its chief executive officer from 1995 until 2000 when he joined the Republican ticket for the White House. According to tax filings released in April, Cheney's income included $194,852 in deferred pay from the company, which has also won billion-dollar government contracts in Iraq.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9282533

[Beam Me Up]

7. Democrats vs Republicans has always been a RUSE: Privledged vs

Underprivileged -- or Wealth vs the Working Class -- has always been the real issue.

[seemslikeadream]

9. But govemment them is a monckery

The people live in misery
Govemment a work
But govemment them is a monckery
Respect to the youths
Whether in front and all dem a back a me
Why don't you treat them the way you should
And I know all the things you hide
Even though it's a good disguise
And we see all the things you do
And what you do will comeback on you
You think we can't fight what the eyes can't see
Because we are blinded by poverty

The people live in misery
Govemment a work
But govemment them is a monckery
Respect to the youths
Whether in front and all dem a back a me
Why don't you treat them the way you should

The people live in misery
Govemment a work
But govemment them is a monckery
Respect to the youths
Whether in front and all dem a back a me
Why don't you treat them the way you should

It's like the people you want them to rebel
And fire gunshots and burn buildings to hell
And after that you a go want treat me well
It's like you have the people under a spell
Talking to the people in a congress
A we vote you in, so you must put out your best
After all we no in a contest
It's the state of the union address

The people live in misery
Govemment a work
But govemment them is a monckery
Respect to the youths
Whether in front and all dem a back a me
Why don't you treat them the way you should

The people live in misery
Govemment a work
But govemment them is a monckery
Respect to the youths
Whether in front and all dem a back a me
Why don't you treat them the way you should

Broadcasting lies on the television sreen
Trying to get us hooked on your american dream
We up on your games if you know wha me mean
When you cheated on your wife with your money and your schemes
People rule and a that you if follow
We and nuh no call me no nigga
Do a good term and you deserve another
Signed musically yours, the general sleepywonder

The people live in misery
Govemment a work
But govemment them is a monckery
Respect to the youths
Whether in front and all dem a back a me
Why don't you treat them the way you should

The people live in misery
Govemment a work
But govemment them is a monckery
Respect to the youths
Whether in front and all dem a back a me
Why don't you treat them the way you should

Thievery Corporation




:hi:

[Beam Me Up]

10. Thanks for that Seems!

:thumbsup:

I can hear the rhythm and the beat.

[acmejack]

15. Only during Democratic administrations.

And then only some of the time. Profiteering on the blood and misery of others is a fine old capitalist tradition.

[kentuck]

8. Absolutely....and if Bush can get $200 billion more....

that will simply be a continuation of his plan to transfer wealth to the very top, while enslaving large numbers of workers at the bottom...especially since he does not ask any sacrifice from the wealthy, as you may notice.

[Karenina]

11. Kick!

:kick:

[Nothing Without Hope]

12. Excellent compilation - Recommended and bookmarked

Thanks for this effort!

:kick:

[Nothing Without Hope]

13. War & Piece links to sites monitoring Katrina contracts:

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/002622.html

[buzzsaw_23]

14. excellent link

Another Board Member of New Bridges:

Ed Rogers, Vice Chairman and Director
Ed Rogers is Vice Chairman of Barbour Griffith & Rogers, Inc., the firm he founded with Haley Barbour in 1991. From January of 1989 until August of 1991, Ed served as the Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States and Executive Assistant to the White House Chief of Staff. Additionally, Ed was the Senior Deputy to Bush-Quayle Campaign Manager Lee Atwater, from February of 1987, through the general election in 1988. Ed also worked in the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Reagan Administration


And this:
One of those competitors, Intelsat, a global satellite services provider, already has established new contracts with the Defense Department and FEMA, said spokesman Tony Trujillo. He said he did not know of the value or exactly how they were awarded. The contracts were developed some time last week after agencies called Intelsat "because of the long-standing relationship" the company has with the government, Trujillo said.

The need for speedy contracting arrangements has lead agencies to bypass the normal contracting processes, as is usually the case during emergencies. Agencies can skip the full and open competition requirement and can rely more on oral communications than written ones. For example, the House passed a bill Thursday that would increase the amount agencies are allowed to spend on government-issued credit cards for Hurricane Katrina-related relief to $250,000 from $15,000. Credit cards can purchase goods and services without competitive bidding.

"It's just like at the outbreak of the Iraqi war. When disaster strikes, the government uses its guidelines for fair and legal contracting, but when the government needs to, it justifies doing sole source contracts - and one of the justifications is, 'I need to do it tomorrow,' " said Farrell.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=32199&dcn=todaysnews

[Nothing Without Hope]

28. I'm glad you posted on the "Disaster Profiteering Bill" report at POGO -

saved me the effort. It's really a great site. For those wondering what I am talking about, it's this page on this extremely corrupt bill intended to make corruption of post-Katrina "reconstruction" contracts much more convenient. Absolutely shameless, and "rumor has it" that the GOP will try to slip it into an aid package.

Watch for it - HR3766 - what POGO calls the "Disaster Profiteering Act."

http://www.pogo.org/p/contracts/ca-050903-katrinacontracts.html

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. So KBR & Hallilburtong got a 10 year contract in 2001 for 12

Billion dollars? And we declared war on Iraq, when?

Does anybody else have trouble with this timetable?

[Beam Me Up]

17. No. No trouble. They knew. They PLANNED it.

And they don't care that we know that they did. In fact, that just makes them seem all the more invincible, doesn't it?

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. Who's going to stop them?

There's really no one that will take them on.

[Beam Me Up]

21. Perhaps "who" isn't exactly the right question. "What" and "how" may

be more to the point.

The "who" may follow from the "what" and the "how".

Sorry, don't mean to be cryptic -- more philosophical. The more we know, the better armed we are, and ultimately it will be up to us.

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. I feel like I'm reading Lewis Carroll.

[Beam Me Up]

24. Lewis Carroll meets John le Carré and Tom Clancy or something

like that.

It looks like we are down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass only because we were educated to see everything in a way that it hasn't really been for a long time and perhaps never was to begin with.

We are becoming disillusioned in the positive sense of the word. Painful but ultimately good if it doesn't kill us all (and there is no guarantee of that).

A quote to ponder:

But at present we are concerned only with possibilities. As I have already mentioned, each moment contains a definite number of possibilities. I may actualize one of the existing possibilities, that is, I may do something. I may do nothing. But whatever I do, that is, whichever of the possibilities contained in the given moment is actualized, the actualisation of this possibility will determine the following moment of time, the following now. This second moment of time will again contain a certain number of possibilities, and the actualisation of one of these possibilities will determine the following moment of time, the following now, and so on.

P. D. Ouspinsky, "A New Model of the Universe", Chapter X, pp 376. (original emphasis)

[NYC]

30. The defense contractors decide when we go to war.

Read The Politics of Innocent Fraud by John Kenneth Galbraith.

[snot]

18. Could you pls reply with all the same info in "plain text" format so

it can easily be copied without getting truncated links? Thanks!

[Beam Me Up]

22. Here, slightly elaborated from the OP:

Halliburton's Higher Bill

....Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root has
received more money from the U.S. involvement in Iraq than any
other contractor.

Under the Army's previous order for logistics support,
Halliburton was paid $6.3 billion for work during the first
two years of the occupation, including $3.98 billion between
the beginning of May 2004 and the end of May 2005. Under the
new deal, Halliburton will receive $4.97 billion to support
U.S. troops in Iraq until May 2006.

Both orders stem from a 10-year contract known as LOGCAP,
which KBR won in a competitive bid in 2001. As of the
beginning of June, the Army had obligated nearly $12 billion
to the company under the logistic contract, the vast majority
of it for work in Iraq.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/05/AR2005070501655.html

Bechtel's new Iraq job
Engineering giant adds on $1.8 billion U.S. contract

Bechtel has now landed nearly $3 billion in reconstruction
contracts from the U.S. government in the nine turbulent
months since Saddam Hussein's fall. The new contract will keep
Bechtel in Iraq for another two years -- well past the
anticipated transfer of power to a new Iraqi government.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/07/BUG8K44PPK1.DTL

Fluor venture lands $1.1B Iraq contract

A joint venture of Aliso Viejo-based engineering and
construction management company Fluor Corp. and London-based
AMEC plc will build, repair and manage water and sewerage
systems in Iraq under two contracts worth $1.1 billion.

http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2004/03/22/daily29.html

The Shaw Group Opens Baghdad Office to Support Iraqi
Initiatives

BATON ROUGE, LA. The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SGR) today
announced that it has opened an office in Baghdad to support
its increasing activity in Iraq including anticipated U.S.
government projects under the $1.5 billion U.S. Central
Command award announced in January 2004. The facility will
also support projects for the Iraqi ministries and other
clients located throughout the Middle East....and was also
awarded a separate $88.7 million construction deal, among
other contracts...

The Baghdad office is currently supporting an approximately
$47 million task order in Iraq for facility upgrades,
installation of utilities and other infrastructure
improvements.

http://ir.shawgrp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61066&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=497240&highlight

US firms win more Iraq contracts

The US Defense Department has awarded seven Iraq
reconstruction contracts worth a total of about $130m (£72.3m)
to consortia of US firms.

The contracts cover management projects in six sectors ranging
from oil to electricity and are part of a package worth $5bn.

Payment will come out of the $18.6bn in funds for Iraq set
aside by the US.

Companies from nations that opposed the war in Iraq were not
allowed to bid for these contracts.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3500324.stm

... In recent weeks, news has been seeping out of Iraq that
the "reconstruction" of that country is petering
out, because the money is largely gone. According to American
officials, reported T. Christian Miller of the Los Angeles
Times last week, "The U.S. will halt construction work on
some water and power plants in Iraq because it is running out
of money for projects." A variety of such reconstruction
projects crucial to the everyday lives of Iraqis, the British
Guardian informs us, are now "grinding to a halt" as
"plans to overhaul the country's infrastructure have been
downsized, postponed or abandoned because the $24bn budget
approved by Congress has been dwarfed by the scale of the
task."

...In 2001, Bush appointed Robert G. Card, then a senior vice
president at CH2M Hill, undersecretary at the U.S. Department
of Energy, a position he held until 2004. Today, Card is the
president and group chief executive of the International Group
at CH2M Hill.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=21843

Now, these same corporations are being loosed on the
Southeastern United States on the same no-bid, cost-plus
basis.

Fluor's Slowed Iraq Work Frees it for Gulf Coast

REBUILDING CONTRACTS

Fluor and Louisiana-based Shaw Group <SGR.N> said on
Thursday they have received $100 million emergency contracts
from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency for housing
management and construction, part of a broad effort to house
Katrina's evacuees while shattered cities like New Orleans and
Biloxi, Mississippi, are cleaned up and rebuilt.

Shaw Group also got a $100 million order on Friday from the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help recovery and rebuilding
jobs.

FEMA also awarded contracts to CH2M Hill, of Denver, Dewberry
Technologies, of Fairfax, Virginia, and the Bechtel National
Inc. unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp.

Halliburton Co.'s <HAL.N> Kellogg Brown & Root
Services unit in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday received $29.8
million in Pentagon contracts for rebuilding jobs at Navy
bases in Louisiana and Mississippi.

http://today.reuters.com/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2005-09-09T223341Z_01_N09375250_RTRIDST_0_KATRINA-FLUOR-CEO-UPDATE-1.XML

Private Sector Poised to Reap Windfall

...Allbaugh's other major client, Baton Rouge-based Shaw
Group, has updated its Web site to say: "Hurricane
Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"

Shaw said Thursday it has received a $100 million emergency
FEMA contract for housing management and construction. Shaw
also clinched a $100 million order on Friday from the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers. Jim Bernhard, chairman and CEO of
Shaw Group, is also the chairman of the Louisiana Democratic
Party.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3347464

Allbaugh made headlines in 2003 not for his lobby shop, but
for co-founding New Bridge Strategies-"a unique company
created specifically . . . take advantage of business
opportunities in the Middle East," as its Web site puts
it. Critics say Allbaugh is taking advantage of his close
relationship with the administration. Allbaugh says it's a
brouhaha over nothing.

"I've known the president since 1988, and I've
essentially been with him for nine years. It's been some of
the best times, and some of the rockiest. I would never do
anything to jeopardize that friendship..."

Allbaugh's FEMA experience "gave rise to relationships
that now have the potential to be very valuable to him,"
says Richard Shelby, an executive vice president at the
American Gas Association who met Allbaugh in 1972.

http://www.allbaughcompany.com/news/news.php?id=2

New Bridge Strategies, LLC is 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 U.S.-led war in
Iraq. Its activities will seek to expedite the creation of
free and fair markets and new economic growth in Iraq,
consistent with the policies of the United States Government.
The opportunities evolving in Iraq today are of such an
unprecedented nature and scope that companies seeking to work
in that environment must have the very best advice and
guidance available. The New Bridge Strategies team has been
carefully constructed to fill that need.

Although New Bridge Strategies is a new company, the
principals of our company are seasoned veterans in dealing
with foreign countries and commerce. A listing of people who
make New Bridge Strategies your bridge to success in Iraq is
below.

Joe M. Allbaugh, Chairman and Director

Joe M. Allbaugh is the CEO of The Allbaugh Company, LLC, a
Washington, D.C.-based corporate strategy and counsel firm. A
native of Oklahoma, Joe served as the Director of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under President George Bush
until March 2003. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., he was
Chief of Staff to then-Governor Bush of Texas and was the
National Campaign Manager for the Bush-Cheney 2000
presidential campaign

Jamal Daniel, Advisory Board Member

Jamal Daniel is a Principal with Crest Investment Company,
which invests in a wide-range of business ventures and is
based in Houston. Prior to his work with Crest Investment,
Jamal was a Director of the Uniteg Investment Company, Inc.,
providing U.S. and international investors with comprehensive
real estate services ranging from acquisition and construction
to financing and sales. Additionally, Jamal has extensive
experience in structuring investing in energy and oil and gas
projects throughout the U.S., Europe and the Middle East

http://www.newbridgestrategies.com/index.asp

Neil Bush, Ratzinger co-founders
President's younger brother served with then-cardinal on board
of relatively unknown ecumenical foundation

BY KNUT ROYCE AND TOM BRUNE
WASHINGTON BUREAU

April 21, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Neil Bush, the president's controversial younger
brother, six years ago joined the cardinal who this week
became Pope Benedict XVI as a founding board member of a
little known Swiss ecumenical foundation.

The charter members of the board were all well-known
international religious figures, except for Bush and his close
friend and business partner, Jamal Daniel, whose family has
extensive holdings in the United States and Switzerland,
public records show.

In his highly publicized divorce last year, Bush revealed he
and Daniel are co-chairs of Texas-based Crest Investment Co.,
which pays him $60,000 a year for consulting. Recently, Crest
Investment officials used Bush's name as a reference in
cutting an exclusive deal with Texas officials on construction
of a liquid natural gas storage facility that will guarantee
Crest payments of at least $2 million a year, according to the
Los Angeles Times.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-wochar214226829apr21,0,2177757.story

Joe M. Allbaugh, a close friend of President Bush's, the
president's 2000 campaign manager and the FEMA director from
2001 to 2003, and James Lee Witt, an Arkansan close to former
President Clinton and a former FEMA director, are now
high-priced consultants, and they have been offering their
services to companies seeking or holding federal contracts in
the post-Katrina gold rush.

Allbaugh said that he was helping private companies, including
his clients, cut through federal red tape to speed provision
of services and supplies to the storm-wracked region. Two of
his major clients, KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton, and The
Shaw Group, already are at work on disaster response efforts.
Cars with their logos were seen Friday at the Baton Rouge
headquarters of FEMA.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3347464

In Baton Rouge, Allbaugh may run into another former FEMA
director, James Lee Witt, who served in the Clinton
administration and has been hired by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen
Babineaux Blanco (D) as a consultant.

In 2001, Witt founded James Lee Witt Associates, a crisis- and
emergency-management consulting firm in Washington. Its
clients include Nextel Communications, Whelen Engineering Co.
Inc., and the Harris Corp.

"Being able to arrange an audience with influential
decision makers at the highest levels is the stock in trade in
Washington and a privilege James Lee Witt and his team are
proud to have and one not taken for granted," the Witt
firm boasts on its Web site.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/07/AR2005090702385.html

[KittyWampus]

20. kickity kick

[buzzsaw_23]

25. here's some vulgar orwellian opportunism for disaster profiteering

“Disaster Profiteering Act” Makes Its Debut Seeks to
Waive Taxpayer Protections & Competition on
Government Contracts

For Immediate Release
Contact: Beth Daley [e-mail] 202-347-1122

Big federal contractors have scored a major victory with yesterday’s news that House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA) and Representative Kenny Marchant (R-TX) introduced legislation that will waive meaningful taxpayer protections and competition in contracting whenever Congress or the President declares a national emergency or there is a disaster. It is rumored that the legislation will be included in a manager’s amendment to the next Katrina relief bill. Project On Government Oversight (POGO) has dubbed the legislation (H.R. 3766) the “Disaster Profiteering Act.”

The Davis legislation would allow agency heads across the federal government to treat all purchases related to national emergencies as “commercial items,” meaning that contracts can be made under a no-bid process and that the government would not have the authority to audit purchases after they have been made. A second, unrelated provision deals with Katrina volunteers.

The President has at least a dozen current national emergencies according to annual filings made in the Federal Register including the national emergency which he renewed last week in response to terrorist attacks. Presumably, this would apply to all homeland security-related spending and broad swaths of national security spending.


Of greatest concern is the prospect that homeland security and defense contractors engaged in billions of dollars in contracts on major systems designed to address the war on terror or some other declared national emergency abroad will avoid competition and auditing. These taxpayer protection provisions were established after the notorious era of defense contracting scandals in the 1980s. Government-wide, 84% of all contracting dollars are spent on a non-commercial basis, according to the Federal Procurement Data Center .

http://www.pogo.org/p/contracts/ca-050903-katrinacontracts.html

[KittyWampus]

26. thump, thump, is this mike on?

[TroubleMan]

27. Great post...but we can actually take this all the way back to Gulf War I

Cheney was Sec of Defense when we bombed the hell out of Iraq in the first Gulf War. Halliburton, using KB&R, was one of the companies that rebuilt it.

Cheney destroys a large portion of Iraq as Sec of Defense, then becomes CEO of Halliburton who makes millions rebuilding it. Cheney gets back in as office as VP, when destroy Iraq again. Halliburton, who is still paying Cheney "backpay," gets millions in rebuilding contracts again.

In fact this goes all the way back to Reagan with Bechtel:

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff04092003.html

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/12/24/1524247

Like Smedley Butler (one of the most decorated Marines ever) said, "War is a racket."

http://www.anti-sheep.com/articles/smedley_butler.php

[WiseButAngrySara]

29. "Post-Katrina Gold Rush" That says it all. NOLA, the New Iraq...

Kicked and tried to recommend, but the time has run out. Excellent post. Thanks Buzzsaw!

[I_Make_Mistakes]

31. kicking for my posts tomorrow

[buzzsaw_23]

32. Hurricane Recovery Projects-Apply Here! Multi-tentacles octopus

Allbaugh's other major client, Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group, has updated its Web site to say: "Hurricane Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"

Shaw said Thursday it has received a $100 million emergency FEMA contract for housing management and construction. Shaw also clinched a $100 million order on Friday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Jim Bernhard, chairman and CEO of Shaw Group, is also the chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3347464


So let's just change the company name to the whole multi-tentacles octopus and take that one paragraph sales pitch and cross out all the Iraqs and substitute New Orleans and see how it makes us feel:

The Allbaugh Company-New Bridge Strategies, LLC-Blackwell Fairbanks is 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 American Southeast following the conclusion of the U.S.-led war in Iraq Hurricane Katrina. Its activities will seek to expedite the creation of free and fair markets and new economic growth in Iraq New Orleans, consistent with the policies of the Bush Administration. The opportunities evolving in Iraq New Orleans today are of such an unprecedented nature and scope that no other existing firm has the necessary skills and experience to be effective both in Washington, D.C. and on the ground in Iraq New Orleans.

http://www.kathryncramer.com/kathryn_cramer/2005/09/private_contrac.html

[WiseButAngrySara]

33. Kick, kick, kicking for DUers who haven't read or bookmarked!...n/t