Halliburton Handed No-Bid Iraqi Oil Firefighting Contract

Lerk, if you actually read my post, you'd know that was exactly my point.

Congrats. You know what I mean -- some folks will never let go of the cronyism charges, no matter what you bring in the way of facts.

Pentagon finds that Halliburton reamed them.

Let's see, there's that, and that thread a while ago that discussed how an American company charged millions for what an Iraqi engineer estimated it would take far less to do (tens or hundreds of thousands, IIRC).

Then, when you add in the fact that Dick Cheyney still has a monetary stake in Halliburton, you end up with a lot of evidence.

Means, motive, and opportunity are all in place, and there's some pretty damning circumstantial evidence to add to that.

This, ladies and germs, is a substantiated conspiracy theory.

BlackGriffen

Pentagon Finds Halliburton Overcharged on Iraq Contracts

So Dick can wrangle contracts for Halliburton, but can't censor things like this... wow, that's selective conspiracy...



I didn't see that thread. But could there have been reasons for the discrepancy? Quality issues? Labor costs issues?



I believe that the VP still has some stock options (~500,000) in Halliburton. That does represent a financial interest. (This are options, not actual stock.)

However, he was also blasted for SELLING his shares before the 2000 election. So it's damned if you do, damned if you don't.




Means, motive, opportunity, but what you lack is any evidence that the VP made any phone calls, pulled any strings or had anything to do with the negotiations.

Provide that and it won't be a theory. Until then, it's nothing but politicial opponents waving their arms.

That's the problem with conspiracies - you eventually get a traitor who can bring the whole thing down. Read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein, it outlines some of the problems conspiracies face and how they're dealt with.


Here's the thread. If there were labor cost issues, they should have gone with the Iraqis. Their economy is in the $hitter after all, and stuff like this would help them a lot. I seriously doubt that quality is a genuine issue of concern here. I can understand not wanting to leave behind a crappy infrastructure, but I think that local contractors should receive preference whenever possible. Especially if the price disparity is that large.


Like I said, circumstantial evidence abounds. If a man's wife has a ton of life insurance, and the otherwise healthy woman dies with no other suspects in sight, then only a fool doesn't suspect the husband.

BlackGriffen

Tell me that if Halliburton had hired Iraqis at low wages that people wouldn't have made THAT into a conspiracy. "Dick Cheney's old company is paying slave wages to poor Iraqis!!"




Yet, the woman may have just died in a car accident and the husband may be totally innocent. Hence, we have trials and the husband is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Already happening - when cheaper sub-contractors from south Asia are not available, of course.
BTW, the conspiracy theory stuff is getting really tiring.

I understand why *I* make the points against Halliburton, Bechtel, and etc.
I don't understand why others automatically defend them. I also don't understand why anyone would defend exclusive bids being awarded in this manner.
All things being equal, I wouldn't think profiteering would be a good practice, nor even a defensible one. All things being equal, I wouldn't think cronyism would be a good practice, nor a defensible one.

In the long run, it means less can be accomplished with the same amount of billions being sent over there...in other words, it actually hampers whatever efforts are being made....everyone should be against that, regardless of party.

Since when is quid pro quo a "conspiracy"? I thought everyone had figured out that is how Congress often works. Not to mention the Pentagon.

People pointing out cronyism and good old fashioned Pork aren't spouting conspiracy theories. They are pointing out the obvious corruption inherent to our system.

Its high time that taxpayers of all parties put aside their partisanship and started showing some solidarity on punishing this kind of thing.