Halliburton An Irritant In Plan For Iraq

Atlanta Journal & Constitution ^ | 04/05/03 | Cynthia Tucker

[kcordell]

Halliburton an irritant in plan for Iraq

Perhaps President Bush has perfectly good reasons for allowing American companies with White House connections to get secret contracts for rebuilding Iraq. Perhaps the president has considered the ramifications of giving billions in business to companies such as Halliburton, where Vice President Dick Cheney was CEO.

Nevertheless, the president should reconsider the process for awarding bids for the reconstruction. It's bad enough that the insider deal-making feeds the conspiracy theories of loonies such as former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney -- who infamously suggested that Bush allowed the terrorist atrocities of Sept. 11 so that his defense industry friends could profit from an ensuing war.

But worse, far worse, is the way that the profiteering, which started before the first bombs fell, fuels the fear and resentment of skeptics around the world -- notably Muslims, who already believe the war is largely about American greed. With the difficulties facing an American occupation, the White House cannot afford to generate more ill will.

Though the war has proved more difficult than many hawks predicted, an American military victory is still assured. But a political victory -- winning the hearts and minds of Muslims throughout the Middle East -- is not. Indeed, so far, the United States is losing that battle.

The American-led invasion has fanned the flames of Muslim resentment, with Islamist clerics calling for volunteers for the "jihad" in Iraq.

Still, the Bush administration steamrolls forward with its plan for occupation; it is in the process of awarding bids for a total of about $1.5 billion, not only in secret but also excluding all but American companies. Even corporations from Great Britain, our staunch ally, have so far been excluded.

The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which quietly requested proposals for rebuilding Iraq in January (when the Bush administration supposedly had not yet decided to go to war), has defended the process, saying that the agency needed to act quickly and depended on firms that already had security clearances. That included Bechtel, which once employed several Reagan administration officials, and Fluor, which includes among its high-ranking officers a former Army secretary.

Writing recently in USA Today, USAID's Andrew Natsios said:

"Critics have implied that inviting only the big firms to compete . . . is a sign of cronyism or favoritism. This is far from the truth. If you need a surgeon, a lawn service, a real estate agent or a college, you seek out the names with the reputation for quality and the ability to get the job done."

That proved quite convenient for Halliburton, which was struggling with financial problems. While Halliburton declined to bid on the major $600 million contract to rebuild infrastructure such as bridges, it is still primed to become a subcontractor -- a pretty good position for hefty profits. Last month its Kellogg Brown & Root subsidiary was awarded a contract, for an undisclosed sum, to extinguish oil well fires in Iraq.

Of course, Halliburton's stock in trade is oil-related contracts. If it gets substantial work in rebuilding Iraq's oil fields, the conspiracy buffs will have a field day linking the war to oil. So will fundamentalist Muslim clerics.

Bush's bid to impose democracy in Iraq -- indeed, to sow democracy throughout the Middle East -- is an enterprise fraught with risks, more likely to fail than to succeed. Iraq, after all, has tribal conflicts, feuding religious factions and no history of strong democratic institutions.

But if the democracy-building effort is to have any chance for success, the United States must proceed with the greatest diplomatic sensitivity -- inviting an active U.N. presence, restarting negotiations for a Palestinian state and avoiding even the appearance of using an occupation to enrich well-connected American corporations.

So far, the White House effort looks more like old-fashioned colonialism.

[kcordell]

I guess The White House shouldn't have sent Cynthia their post-war plan for her approval.

[kcordell]

Sorry, I forgot the "Cynthia Barf Alert".

[Mr. Mojo]

The American-led invasion has fanned the flames of Muslim resentment, with Islamist clerics calling for volunteers for the "jihad" in Iraq.

Oooo, a "jihad." We've never heard that before.

[Mr. Mojo]

it [the Bush administration] is in the process of awarding bids for a total of about $1.5 billion, not only in secret but also excluding all but American companies.

What's the problem here?

[Fzob]

The brain power of this women is well not quite awesome.

She wants to deny major US firms that have ties to the Bush administration contracts to rebuild Iraq so the Islamics will like us better.

ROTFLMAO.

[Redleg Duke]

SS-DD

[dennisw]

Actually the Cheney connection is a negative for Haliburton. If it were up to me Haliburton would be in on any bidding it chooses.

TotalFinaELF is the company that needs to be excluded from Iraq. They were Saddam's partner in crime along with their Froggy masters.

[MEG33]

I read other than oil well fires and repair.. they aren't bidding.Halliburton

[jimtorr]

Bush's bid to impose democracy in Iraq.........

This line would tell me all I needed to know about Cynthia, if I didn't know it already.

Cynthia does not like democracy. She thinks that she and Bill and 'Friends Of Bill' should be allowed to rule the country, like Saddam and his thugs ruled Iraq.

[Fishing-guy]

It's the secret contracts that make people suspicious.

[Savage Rider]

It was widely reported several days ago that Halliburton is out of the bidding process for the major contractor portion. No reason given why. They may submit bids for subcontracting services.

[RippleFire]

Spinthia Tucker alert!

[maica]

We should have had a pool on who would print the first 'post-war' whine. Cynthia sure is a contendah.

[El Laton Caliente]

If people would look at Engineering Review Magazine’s ratings you would find that there are not very many companies world wide that can handle multi-billion dollar contracts. Betel, Flour-Daniel and Halliburton - Kellogg - Brown & Root are the three largest engineering-procurement-construction companies in the world.

Of these three Brown & Root has done more work on Middle East oil fields than the other two. They are the most qualified.

There are not but maybe half a dozen other companies worldwide that can even finance projects in the 2 to 4 billion dollars range. The three companies have done up to 20 plus billion dollars worth of contract in one year.

It is not just putting out the oil field fires; you also have to rebuild what was destroyed. Additionally, they have talked about upgrading the amount of oil Iraq is exporting from the 2 million barrels to as much as 8 million barrels. This would require a substantial upgrade project to the pipelines, pumping stations, dock facilities, metering facilities, and the four refineries. This would be an up to a FIVE BILLION DOLLAR ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION PROJECT.

And, BTW, all of these companies hire a lot of British ex-pats for mid-east work.

[kcordell]

Spinthia Tucker alert!

Great line. I wish I had thought of it.

[DoctorMichael]

Excuse me but you want to put knowledgeable professionals, who KNOW something about a subject, in charge.

Who the EFFIN hell DO they think we would put in charge of this?

Chelsea 'effin Clinton?

Terry 'effin McCauliffe?

Al 'effin Gore?

[DoctorMichael]

How about people with REAL business experience..........

Ben & 'effin Jerry?

[sausageseller]

Where is the "Leftist Loon BARF Alert!

[Nucluside]

I know a little but about the oil field, and the fact is that Haliburton is the best LARGE company to handle a job of this magnitiude, and to use one large company makes much better logistical sense than trying to manage numerous small ones.

The liberals lost their war; now they're just carping around the edges-sort of like a bunch of insignificant little yap dogs on the heels of a draft horse.

[meema]

I also read that Haliburton had withdrawn from the bidding due to unfavorable publicity.
Tell cinthia to go fly a kite.