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I don't hypocrisy is the right word. Actually, I don't think there is a word to describe this is the english language. To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: "Knight, Jonathan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: FW: Cheney & Saddam!! [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Date sent: Wed, 3 Jul 2002 07:58:15 +0100 Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK > --------------------------- > > > Bloody hypocrites!!!! > > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/06.22A.cheney.hussein.htm > > Cheney Calls for the Destruction of His Client, Hussein > > (*Editors Note | This page contains two stories. The first, yesterday's > Reuters news wire report of Dick Cheney's call for the overthrow of Saddam > Hussein. The second is an account his business dealings with the Iraqi > government. Cheney originally denied that Halliburton under his tenure as > CEO had in fact circumvented US law to do business with Hussein's Iraqi > government. He was later forced to retract his denials when presented with > evidence of Halliburton's dealings.) > > > Cheney Sees 'Gathering Danger' in Iraq > http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-iraq-usa-cheney.html > > By Reuters | New York Times > > Thursday, 20 June, 2002 > > DETROIT (Reuters) - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein represents a "gathering > danger'' to the United States, Vice President Dick Cheney said on Thursday, > while warning that Washington will act preemptively against threats of > terrorism. > > "We are greatly concerned about any possible linkup between terrorists and > regimes that have or seek weapons of mass destruction,'' said Cheney. "In > the case of Saddam Hussein, we've got a dictator who is clearly pursuing and > already possesses some of these weapons,'' he said. > > "A regime that hates America and everything we stand for must never be > permitted to threaten America with weapons of mass destruction,'' the vice > president added, referring to Saddam and the Iraqi forces he fought as > defense minister under President Bush's father during the Gulf War in 1991. > > Cheney, who spoke at a political fund-raiser here, stopped short of saying > there were any established ties between Baghdad and the al Qaeda network, or > the Sept. 11 attacks that took about 3,000 U.S. lives. > > But he said the possibility of such links was too great to ignore, > especially in light of Saddam's defiance of U.N. weapons inspection programs > and international oversight. > > "This gathering danger requires the most urgent, deliberate and decisive > response,'' he said. > > "It is very clear that our enemies are determined to do further significant > damage to the American people,'' Cheney said, citing recent intelligence > reports. > > "Wars are not won on the defensive,'' he added. "We must take the battle to > the enemy anywhere necessary, to preempt greater stress to our country,'' he > said. > > ======================================= > > Cheney Made Millions Off Oil Deals with Hussein > by Martin A. Lee > San Francisco Bay Guardian > > November 13, 2000 > > Here's a whopper of a story you may have missed amid the cacophony of > campaign ads and stump speeches in the run- up to the elections. > > During former defense secretary Richard Cheney's five-year tenure as chief > executive of Halliburton, Inc., his oil services firm raked in big bucks > from dubious commercial dealings with Iraq. Cheney left Halliburton with a > $34 million retirement package last July when he became the GOP's > vice-presidential candidate. > > Of course, U.S. firms aren't generally supposed to do business with Saddam > Hussein. But thanks to legal loopholes large enough to steer an oil tanker > through, Halliburton profited big-time from deals with the Iraqi > dictatorship. Conducted discreetly through several Halliburton subsidiaries > in Europe, these greasy transactions helped Saddam Hussein retain his grip > on power while lining the pockets of Cheney and company. > > According to the Financial Times of London, between September 1998 and last > winter, Cheney, as CEO of Halliburton, oversaw $23.8 million of business > contracts for the sale of oil-industry equipment and services to Iraq > through two of its subsidiaries, Dresser Rand and Ingersoll-Dresser Pump, > which helped rebuild Iraq's war-damaged petroleum-production infrastructure. > The combined value of these contracts exceeded those of any other U.S. > company doing business with Baghdad. > > Halliburton was among more than a dozen American firms that supplied Iraq's > petroleum industry with spare parts and retooled its oil rigs when U.N. > sanctions were eased in 1998. Cheney's company utilized subsidiaries in > France, Italy, Germany, and Austria so as not to draw undue attention to > controversial business arrangements that might embarrass Washington and > jeopardize lucrative ties to Iraq, which will pump $24 billion of petrol > under the U.N.-administered oil-for-food program this year. Assisted by > Halliburton, Hussein's government will earn another $1 billion by illegally > exporting oil through black-market channels. > > With Cheney at the helm since 1995, Halliburton quickly grew into America's > number-one oil-services company, the fifth-largest military contractor, and > the biggest nonunion employer in the nation. Although Cheney claimed that > the U.S. government "had absolutely nothing to do" with his firm's meteoric > financial success, State Department documents obtained by the Los Angeles > Times indicate that U.S. officials helped Halliburton secure major contracts > in Asia and Africa. Halliburton now does business in 130 countries and > employs more than 100,000 workers worldwide. > > Its 1999 income was a cool $15 billion. > > In addition to Iraq, Halliburton counts among its business partners several > brutal dictatorships that have committed egregious human rights abuses, > including the hated military regime in Burma (Myanmar). > > EarthRights, a Washington, D.C.-based human rights watchdog, condemned > Halliburton for two energy-pipeline projects in Burma that led to the forced > relocation of villages, rape, murder, indentured labor, and other crimes > against humanity. > > A full report (this is a 45 page pdf file - there is also a brief summary) > on the Burma connection, "Halliburton's Destructive Engagement," can be > accessed on EarthRights' Web site > > Human rights activists have also criticized Cheney's company for its > questionable role in Algeria, Angola, Bosnia, Croatia, Haiti, Rwanda, > Somalia, Indonesia, and other volatile trouble spots. In Russia, > Halliburton's partner, Tyumen Oil, has been accused of committing massive > fraud to gain control of a Siberian oil field. > > And in oil-rich Nigeria, Halliburton worked with Shell and Chevron, which > were implicated in gross human rights violations and environmental > calamities in that country. Indeed, Cheney's firm increased its involvement > in the Niger Delta after the military government executed several ecology > activists and crushed popular protests against the oil industry. > > Halliburton also had business dealings in Iran and Libya, which remain on > the State Department's list of terrorist states. Brown and Root, a > Halliburton subsidiary, was fined $3.8 million for reexporting U.S. goods to > Libya in violation of U.S. sanctions. > > But in terms of sheer hypocrisy, Halliburton's relationship with Saddam > Hussein is hard to top. What's more, Cheney lied about his company's > activities in Iraq when journalists fleetingly raised the issue during the > campaign. > > Questioned by Sam Donaldson on ABC's This Week program in August, Cheney > bluntly asserted that Halliburton had no dealings with the Iraqi regime > while he was on board. > > Donaldson: I'm told, and correct me if I'm wrong, that Halliburton, through > subsidiaries, was actually trying to do business in Iraq? > > Cheney: No. No. I had a firm policy that I wouldn't do anything in Iraq even > arrangements that were supposedly legal. > > And that was it! ABC News and the other U.S. networks dropped the issue like > a hot potato. As damning information about Halliburton surfaced in the > European press, American reporters stuck to old routines and took their cues > on how to cover the campaign from the two main political parties, both of > which had very little to say about official U.S. support for abusive > corporate policies at home and abroad. > > But why, in this instance, didn't the Democrats stomp and scream about > Cheney's Iraq connection? The Gore campaign undoubtedly knew of > Halliburton's smarmy business dealings from the get-go. > > Gore and Lieberman could have made hay about how the wannabe GOP veep had > been in cahoots with Saddam. Such explosive revelations may well have swayed > voters and boosted Gore's chances in what was shaping up to be a close > electoral contest. > > The Democratic standard-bearers dropped the ball in part because > Halliburton's conduct was generally in accordance with the foreign policy of > the Clinton administration. Cheney is certainly not the only Washington > mover and shaker to have been affiliated with a company trading in Iraq. > Former CIA Director John Deutsch, who served in a Democratic administration, > is a member of the board of directors of Schlumberger, the second-largest > U.S. oil-services company, which also does business through subsidiaries in > Iraq. > > Despite occasional rhetorical skirmishes, a bipartisan foreign-policy > consensus prevails on Capital Hill, where the commitment to human rights, > with a few notable exceptions, is about as deep as an oil slick. > > Truth be told, trading with the enemy is a time-honored American corporate > practice or perhaps "malpractice" would be a more appropriate description of > big-business ties to repressive regimes. > > Given that Saddam Hussein, the pariah du jour, has often been compared to > Hitler, it's worth pointing out that several blue-chip U.S. firms profited > from extensive commercial dealings with Nazi Germany. > > Shockingly, some American companies =96 including Standard Oil, Ford, ITT, > GM, and General Electric secretly kept trading with the Nazi enemy while > American soldiers fought and died during World War II. > > Today General Electric is among the companies that are back in business with > Saddam Hussein, even as American jets and battleships attack Iraq on a > weekly basis using weapons made by G.E. But the United Nations sanctions > committee, dominated by U.S. officials, has routinely blocked medicines and > other essential items from being delivered to Iraq through the oil-for-food > program, claiming they have a potential military "dual use." These sanctions > have taken a terrible toll on ordinary Iraqis, and on children in > particular, while the likes of Halliburton and G.E. continue to lubricate > their coffers. > > � : t r u t h o u t 2002 > > --------------------------- > ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST > > --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
