Iraq War Grief Daily Witness (photo) Day 181

11 Comments

1. 

   RubDMC on November 25, 2005 at 12:15 pm

   

   Click on the candle to copy the image into your own comment (you can leave it on my server), and/or rate this one – not for mojo, but to leave a small mark after taking this moment.

   ” I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.”
   from Dirge Without Music
   by Edna St. Vincent Millay

2. 

   DuctapeFatwa on November 25, 2005 at 12:33 pm

   If you really want to get a sense of what the Iraq `war’ is all about, you need only look at who in our government is a supporter of it – and what’s in their stock portfolios and campaign chests.

   There was a time, of course, when making a profit on a war where our young men and women were sacrificing their bodies and lives was considered dishonorable and immoral. But today, apparently, it’s just not a big deal. Making a profit – no matter at whose expense – has become the new American Way, unquestioned, indeed – expected.

   How else to explain the fact that Dick Cheney, for instance, the most vociferous, bloodthirsty cheerleader for the occupation, has seen the value of his Halliburton stock increase over 3000% in the last year, to the tune of $9 million and change – and our `mainstream media’ has remained very, very quiet. Whatever happened to the quaint notion of a `conflict of interest’? Dead – along with shame, the public good, and outrage.

   A number of firms are deeply enmeshed with elected officials — and many are making stupendous profits on taxpayer-paid, no-bid contracts in Iraq, some with shoddy or even nonexistent work to show for it. But their intricate web of connections guarantees no questions will be asked. Here’s just a sample:

   KBR [Halliburton] Contract total from 2002-mid 2004 – $11,431,000,000.00

   Last year, Henry Waxman (D-CA), announced that “a growing list of concerns about Halliburton’s performance” on contracts that total $11 billion have led to multiple criminal investigations into overcharging and kickbacks.

   In nine different reports, government auditors have found “widespread, systemic problems with almost every aspect of Halliburton’s work in Iraq, from cost estimation and billing systems to cost control and subcontract management.” Six former employees have come forward, corroborating the auditors’ concerns.

   A top contracting official responsible for ensuring that the Army Corps of Engineers follows competitive contracting rules accused top Pentagon officials of improperly favoring Halliburton in an early-contract before the occupation. Bunnatine Greenhouse says that when the Pentagon awarded the company a 5-year oil-related contract worth up to $7 billion, it pressured her to withdraw her objections, actions that she said were unprecedented in her experience.

   Northrup Grumman

   Lobbyists:
   *I Lewis Libby [Natiional Security Advisor] NG Consultant
   *Dov Zackheim [Undersecretary for Defense]: Paid advisory board
   *Doug Feith [former Undersectary of Defense] NG was client of Feith &Zell
   *Paul Wolfowitz, [former Deputy Secretary of Defense] NG Consultant

   Contributions to 2002 Congressional race:
   *$15,000 to Duncan Hunter [R-CA] Armed Services Commitee
   *$22,000 to John Warner [R-VA] Armed Services Committee
   *$20,000 to Trent Lott [R-MS]
   *$20,000 to Ted Stevens [R-AK] Appropriations Chairman]

   BearingPoint – $304,262,668.00

   Former consulting division of KPMG, received a $240 million contract in 2003 to help develop Iraq’s “competitive private sector”

   *Employees gave $117,000 to the 2000 and 2004 Bush election campaigns, more than any other Iraq contractor.

   Bechtel – $2,829,833,859

   *CEO Riley Bechtel is on the President’s Export Council, which advises the President on trade issues;
   *Bechtel senior counsel and board member, George Shultz, is chairman of the advisory board of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq
   *General (Ret.) Jack Sheehan, senior vice president at Bechtel, is a member of the influential Defense Policy Board.

   Bechtel profited enormously in Iraq before the invasion, working hand in hand with Saddam Hussein – even while he was using chemical bombs on the people of both Iraq and Iran – to build petrochemical plants, and lobbying to build an oil pipeline from Iraq to the Gulf of Aqaba in Jordan.

   Currently, Bechtel has a huge contract to repair much of Iraq’s infrastructure, a job that was critical to winning hearts and minds after the war – and has largely been a failure.

   BKSH -$3,754,964,295

   Chairman Charlie Black is an old Bush family friend and prominent Republican lobbyist and key player in the Bush/Cheney 2000 campaign–who together with his wife raised $100,000.

   BKSH clients with contracts in Iraq include Fluor International (whose ex-chair Phillip Carroll was tapped to head Iraq’s oil ministry after the war, and whose board includes the wife of James Woolsey, the ex-CIA chief who was sent by Paul Wolfowitz before the war to convince European leaders of Saddam Hussein’s ties to al Qaeda). Fluor has won joint contracts worth more than $3 billion.

   Most prominent among BKSH’s former clients is the Iraqi National Congress, whose leader was, of course, one Ahmed Chalabi [accused Iranian spy and close associate of VP Dick Cheney and SecDef Donald Rumsfeld]. Until July 2003, the company was paid $25,000 per month by the U.S. State Department [and US taxpayers] to support the INC.

   CACI and Titan – $66,221,143 and $402,000,000

   :Lobbyists:
   *Former representatives Vin Weber [R-MN] and Vic Fazio (R-CA),
   *Edward Kutler aide to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
   *Former House Speaker Bob Livingston ([R-LA].
   *Michael Herson and Van Hipp, who once worked at the Pentagon under then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney.

   Although members of the military police face certain prosecution for the horrific treatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison, so far the corporate contractors have avoided any charges.

   Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba reported in an internal Army report that two CACI employees “were either directly or indirectly responsible” for abuses at the prison, including the use of dogs to threaten detainees and forced sexual abuse and other threats of violence.

   And, according to Joseph A. Neurauter, a GSA suspension and debarment official, CACI’s role in designing its own Abu Ghraib contract “continues to be an open issue and a potential conflict of interest.”

   Yet, in August of 2004 the Army gave CACI another $15 million no-bid contract to continue providing interrogation services for intelligence gathering in Iraq.

   Lockheed Martin

   Lobbyists:
   *Lynne Cheney, [wife of Dick] Board of Directors
   *Stephen Hadley [National Security Advisor] former counsel
   *Gordon England [Navy Secretary]: former president

   Contributions to 2002 Congressional race:
   *$21, 500 to John Warner
   *$17,500 to Wayne Allard
   *$21,000 to Ted Stevens

   Lockheed Martin remains the king among war profiteers, raking in $21.9 billion in Pentagon contracts in 2003 alone. With satellites and planes, missiles and IT systems, the company has profited from just about every phase of the war except for the reconstruction. The company’s stock has tripled since 2000 to just over $60 [as of 2004].

   Lockheed is also helping Donald Rumsfeld develop a new tech-heavy integrated global warfare system that the company promises will `transform the nature of war.’

   Lockheed is not only represented on various Pentagon advisory boards, it is also tied to various influential think tanks. For example, Lockheed VP Bruce Jackson (who helped draft the Republican foreign policy platform in 2000) is a key player at the neo-conservative planning bastion known as the Project for a New American Century.

   ThIs war is simply the manifestation of plans drawn up in 1997 by the neo-cons of the PNAC – Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld, among others – and certain defense contractors, now profiting quite handsomely. It may appear outwardly that the war is going badly, but the important thing to them is that it’s going. As long as it continues, the fat contracts and profits will keep coming.

   When you hear our officials flogging enthusiasm for the war, pay close attention to the loudest supporters. You will generally find that their level of support is directly related to how much they, and their corporate bedfellows, are making on it.

   As long as the taxpayers meekly allowed themselves to be fleeced – and the profits continue to pour in, our officials have no incentive to bring the troops home. Because these officials are men who are quite willing to wage permanent war in pursuit of capital gains.

   The private sector – the military contractors, CEOs and stockholders, are growing fat . But our military is being systematically starved. Squeezed for resources, there is a lack of funding at every level – for basic supplies, housing, medical treatment and body armor. Facing combat pay cuts and benefits cuts, plus stop-loss orders, call-ups and redeployment after redeployment, recruitment is down. Way down.

   You have to ask yourself, is there really such a thing as a War on Terror? Or only a War on Taxpayers
   and the Military?

   Compiled from material by the Centers for Corporate Policy and Public Interest

   nerdified link

   • 

     supersoling on November 25, 2005 at 3:14 pm

     DuctapeFatwa,
     you irritate the hell out of me most days.

     On this day I want to thank you for continuing to irritate the hell out of me most days.

     • 

       DuctapeFatwa on November 25, 2005 at 3:27 pm

       I will do my best to maintain the high standard of irritation incitement 😀

       • 

         supersoling on November 25, 2005 at 4:45 pm

         I would expect nothing less than a complete effort on your part ;o)

         I don’t know about tomorrow. I’ll deal with that when it gets here.

         Peace

3. 

   jimstaro on November 25, 2005 at 12:41 pm

   
   Light A Candle For
   Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
   and For Innocence Lost!

   THIS IS HOW BUSH BRINGS THE TROOPS HOME:
   BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW!

   

   [Thanks to John Gingerich, Veterans For Peace] (mindprod.com)

   Iraqis Miss Oil Fortune: Report

   Up to $194 billion in Iraqi oil revenues are going to multinational oil companies under long-term contracts, and not to the Iraqi people, a social and environmental group said.

   Ray McGovern | Will the US Seize the Opening for Troop Withdrawal?

   Ray McGovern analyzes the surprising degree of consensus reached by the main Iraqi factions at the Arab League-orchestrated Reconciliation Conference in Cairo last weekend, which sharply undercuts the unilateral, guns-and-puppets approach of the Bush administration to the deteriorating situation in Iraq.

   Norman Solomon | Thanksgiving and More Taking

   Norman Solomon raises the irony of America’s current Thanksgiving as a contradiction of being thankful against the backdrop of a media frenzy that encourages wanting more. “In its unadorned state, the idea of being thankful is on a collision course with “Thanksgiving” the commercialized media phenomenon,” says Solomon.

   The Price Of Oil

   [A song by Billy Bragg-
   Click Link To Listen & Read The Lyrics}

   The Seven Deadly Social Sins Poster
   

   I’ve Declared Non-Violent ‘War’ On ChickenHawks,Freeper/Sheep,Talking Heads and No Support For Pols Who Refuse To Investigate This Administration and End This Illegal Conflict!
   Veterans: Wether Conflict or Peace Time Vets, Signature Everything you sign, post, send, whatever! Let Them Know WHO WE ARE!!!

   James Starowicz
   USN ’67-’71
   ’67-’68: Meridian Mississippi/Naval Air Station
   ’68-’70: GMG3, Panama Canal Zone/Rodman Naval Base
   ’70-’71: GMG3, Coronado Calif, CounterInsurgency/S.E.R.E. School, Vietnam in-Country COMNAVFORV

4. 

   Oui on November 25, 2005 at 1:36 pm

   .

   Gaza Link to Egypt – Rafah Crossing Point Opened Today

   RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) – Palestinians formally opened a border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt that will allow Gazans to travel abroad freely for the first time since Israel occupied the coastal territory in 1967.

   “I think every Palestinian now has his passport ready in his pocket. Let them come to cross at this terminal whenever they want,” said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

   
   Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, left, helps Egyptian Intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, center left, to cut a ribbon during a ceremony marking the opening of the the Rafah border crossing terminal between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Center right is European Union representative, Marc Otte.  AP Photo/Suhaib Salem, Pool

   EU: Israel’s E. Jerusalem policy endangers final-status talks

   TEL AVIV Haaretz Nov. 25 — The European Union’s diplomatic representatives have sharply criticized Israel’s policies in East Jerusalem, saying it is using settlements and the West Bank separation fence to create a “de facto annexation of Palestinian land”. The unpublished report warns that the Israeli measures “are reducing the possibility of reaching a final-status agreement on Jerusalem that any Palestinian could accept,” The New York Times reported.

   According to the Times, the report recommends that European officials take a more aggressive stance toward Israeli policies in East Jerusalem, such as holding political meetings with Palestinian ministers in East Jerusalem instead of the West Bank and asking Israel to “halt discriminatory treatment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, especially concerning working permits, building permits, house demolitions, taxation and expenditure.”

   “This de facto annexation of Palestinian land will be irreversible without very large-scale forced evacuations of settlers and the re-routing of the barrier,” the document said.

   
   IDF soldiers facing rioting Palestinians
in East Jerusalem earlier this month. Reuters

   ≈ Cross-posted from my diary ::
   Secret EU Report Accuses Israel on Jerusalem ¶ Rafah Border to Egypt Open ≈

    
   IT’S TIME TO CLEAN-UP CONGRESS IN 2006!

     «« click on pic to enlarge

   LEAVE Iraq to the Iraqis

   “Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
   For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”

   ▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY

   • 

     Oui on November 25, 2005 at 4:42 pm

     .

     As Agreed in the White House – 2002

     Although partly theoretical, Mr Arad’s formulation will also be seen as being in tune with continued expansion of settlements and the routing of sections of the separation barrier inside the occupied West Bank, ahead of any negotiations with the Palestinians.

     

     BREAKING NEWS
     Sharon Readies Plan for Total West Bank Pullout by ’08

     TEL AVIV Breaking News — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has drafted a plan for Israel’s withdrawal from virtually all of the West Bank by 2008.

     Political sources said Sharon has begun briefing senior U.S. officials of his intention to withdraw unilaterally from more than 95 percent of the West Bank. They said Sharon, who quit the ruling Likud Party on Nov. 21, would seek a U.S. and international security presence in the area as well as a commitment for the dismantling of Palestinian insurgency groups.

     Haim Ramon, a Cabinet minister who joined Sharon’s new party, said the prime minister plans to withdraw unilaterally to what would constitute Israel’s final borders, Middle East Newsline reported. Ramon said Sharon does not plan to discuss this before the parliamentary elections, scheduled for March 28.

     ≈ Cross-posted from my diary ::
     Secret EU Report Accuses Israel on Jerusalem ¶ Rafah Border to Egypt Open ≈

      
     IT’S TIME TO CLEAN-UP CONGRESS IN 2006!

     

     LEAVE Iraq to the Iraqis

     “Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
     For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”

     ▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY

5. 

   jimstaro on November 25, 2005 at 2:16 pm

   
   Light A Candle For
   Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
   and For Innocence Lost!

   RiverBend – Baghdad Burning

   … I’ll meet you ’round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and souls can mend…

   Friday, November 25, 2005

   Assassinations…

   We woke up yesterday morning to this news: Sunni tribal leader and his sons shot dead.
   SNIP

   The Seven Deadly Social Sins Poster

   

   James Starowicz
   USN ’67-’71
   ’67-’68: Meridian Mississippi/Naval Air Station
   ’68-’70: GMG3, Panama Canal Zone/Rodman Naval Base
   ’70-’71: GMG3, Coronado Calif, CounterInsurgency/S.E.R.E. School, Vietnam in-Country COMNAVFORV
   Member: Veterans For Peace
   

6. 

   ask on November 25, 2005 at 4:37 pm

   
   Sunnis Protest Slaying of Tribal Leader

7. 

   bughouse canuck on November 26, 2005 at 3:14 am

   

   I look at the faces of these dead boys, and I see Wilfred Owen’s “children ardent for some desperate glory” — dying to swell the profits of Haliburton and Lockheed Martin.