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On Tue, 04 Nov 2003 11:06:58 -0500, DSK wrote:

Donal wrote:

Are you stark raving mad?? No president has screwed up foreign
policy as much as Bush.

No, wait. Nixon came pretty close. Only U.S. President to lose a major
war. He also inspired more fear & loathing abroad than GWB, but it's a
close call. Also, Nixon actively took steps to send the economy down
the tubes whereas GWB has merely failed to stir up any kind of
economic recovery (other than funneling billions into his buddies
pockets).

But then, to many people, facts are irrelevant.

DSK

From:
http://msnbc.com/news/966470.asp

NBC NEWS: MEET THE PRESS
Sunday, September 14, 2003
GUEST: Dick Cheney, vice president
Tim Russert, moderator

excerpt:
- -------------

MR. RUSSERT: Democrats have written you letters and are suggesting
profiteering by your former company Halliburton and this is how it was
reported: "Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President
Cheney, has won contrast worth more than $1.7 billion under Operation
Iraqi Freedom and stands to make hundreds of millions more dollars
under a no-bid contract awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
according to newly available documents. The size and scope of the
government contracts awarded to Halliburton in connection with the war
in Iraq are significantly greater than was previously disclosed and
demonstrate the U.S. military's increasing reliance on for-profit
corporations to run its logistical operations." Were you involved in
any way in the awarding of those contracts?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Of course not, Tim. Tim, when I was secretary of
Defense, I was not involved in awarding contracts. That's done at a far
lower level. Secondly, when I ran Halliburton for five years and they
were doing work for the Defense Department, which frankly they've been
doing for 60 or 70 years, I never went near the Defense Department. I
never lobbied the Defense Department on behalf of Halliburton. The only
time I went back to the department during those eight years was to have
my portrait hung which is a traditional service rendered for former
secretaries of Defense. And since I left Halliburton to become George
Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company,
gotten rid of all my financial interests. I have no financial interest
in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had now for over three years.
And as vice president, I have absolutely no influence of, involvement
of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts led by the
Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the federal government, so...

MR. RUSSERT: Why is there no bidding?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I have no idea. Go ask the Corps of Engineers. One
of the things to keep in mind is that Halliburton is a unique kind of
company. There are very few companies out there that have the
combination of the very large engineering construction capability and
significant oil field services, the first- or second-largest oil field
service company in the world, and they've traditionally done a lot of
work for the U.S. government and the U.S. military. That expertise has
stood the military in good stead over the years, but it's a great
company. There are fine people working for it.
I also have a lot of confidence in the people in the Department
of Defense. Nobody has produced one single shred of evidence that
there's anything wrong or inappropriate here, nothing but innuendo,
and-basically they're political cheap shots is the way I would describe
it. I don't know any of the details of the contract because I
deliberately stayed away from any information on that, but Halliburton
is a fine company. And as I say-and I have no reason to believe that
anybody's done anything wrong or inappropriate here.

- --------------------

I think I'd take Cheney's word on it over the Bush-haters. He doesn't
have any financial connection to Halliburton anymore, and he's already
made plenty of money as the CEO. He took a big pay cut to go back into
government. The "profiteering" nonsense is just politics, and most
people understand that. Halliburton is the only (American) company with
the experience to do the jobs in Iraq, while being shot at. It costs a
little more when they're shooting at you, for some reason. The job
applications from engineers are a little harder to come by.


two wheels


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