I don't how many times I have heard the words, "It's for the money." The Halliburton employees know full well they may not be returning home. They expect the USA military to protect their interests. It's war, babe. If you are going to be a civilian in the middle of a war zone you are half crazy and the other half is desperate for a job Bush cannot supply at home.
The USA military does the same job as these truck drivers for far less salary. I can imagine the USA military thinking, they don't get paid that much, they aren't putting their lives on the line for people that actually belong at work back home.
Privatized Warfare: The Summer of Discontent
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2811/
But then again, in August, a federal jury in Raleigh, N.C., set a legal precedent by convicting CIA contractor David Passaro for his role in the death of a detainee under interrogation in Afghanistan, marking the first time an American civilian had been held criminally accountable for abuse in Afghanistan and Iraq. A couple of weeks later, Blackwater USA—the “professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations firm”—lost its attempt to dismiss the wrongful death lawsuit brought by the families of four employees brutally killed in Fallujah. In late July, the construction firm Bechtel couldn’t escape being audited, and lost a $50 million contract for mismanaging the long-delayed building of a Basra children’s hospital.
The jobs the Halliburton employees are doing belong to the Iraqis. We don't belong in Iraq, We never did.
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Michael Ware - "...US Forces are simply unpopular in this country (Iraq) ..." Thank you.
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I have no sympathy for the private contractors ANYWHERE in a war zone. It's occupation and not requested assistance. The people working in war zones need to insist on better jobs back home and pay scales to match it ! Stop being stupid asses !
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Ambramoff and Bush
House Suspends Hill Telecom License
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/27/AR2006092701859.html
Va. Firm's Award Linked to Abramoff
By James V. GrimaldiWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, September 28, 2006; Page D03
House leaders have suspended a multimillion-dollar wireless communications license that federal prosecutors say was corruptly awarded to a Dulles telecommunications firm by Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) in exchange for gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Even after conviction the corruption continues:
Abramoff Seeks Delay in Prison Term
http://www.forbes.com/business/services/feeds/ap/2006/09/28/ap3052973.html
A judge agreed Thursday to again put off prison for disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a former business partner, but the delays were shorter than what lawyers on both sides sought. Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers had jointly requested delays of 90 days beyond Monday's scheduled prison surrender date so Abramoff can continue to cooperate in a Washington corruption investigation, and Adam Kidan can provide more information about the gangland-style murder of former SunCruz Casinos owner Konstantinos Boulis. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck reluctantly agreed to let Abramoff remain free until Nov. 15, and Adam Kidan until Oct. 23.
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Projects under scrutiny
Inquiry looks at Halliburton work in Nigeria and elsewhere
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/4220311.html
By DAVID IVANOVICHCopyright 2006
Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Federal investigators, who have been looking into a possible bribery scheme involving Houston's Halliburton Co. and a Nigerian natural gas plant, are scrutinizing "multiple" projects both within and outside Nigeria, according to company filings.
Recently uncovered information suggests employees at Halliburton's M.W. Kellogg Co. — some time before 1998 — may have planned to funnel payments to government officials to land projects in countries outside Nigeria, Halliburton subsidiary KBR said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Republican Legislative Laziness
Dramatic new video shows Halliburton contractors under fire in Iraq
http://www.abc4.com/local_news/local_headlines/story.aspx?content_id=9798A429-1B79-4BF1-82E6-5224094EE7F5
See the Video: Halliburton truck drivers under fire in Iraq
A dramatic home video obtained by ABC News shows U.S. troops apparently abandoned a truck convoy after it came under insurgent attack in Iraq last year.
Three unarmed Halliburton truck drivers were executed at point-blank range once the troops left, according to a surviving driver, Preston Wheeler, of Mena, Ark., who taped the scene. "They was murdered. To me, they was murdered," Wheeler told ABC News in an exclusive interview broadcast Wednesday on World News and Nightline.
The tape shows an armored personnel carrier leading the trucks that Wheeler says was from the Virginia National Guard. Once insurgents opened fire and disabled four trucks, the personnel carrier can be seen racing ahead.
The corruption? Is neck deep.
US judge backs Halliburton on Iraq overtime claim
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-09-28T171439Z_01_N28271048_RTRIDST_0_ENERGY-HALLIBURTON.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna
NEW YORK, Sept 28 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas ruled this week that oil field services company Halliburton Co. (HAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) does not have to pay millions of dollars in overtime wages claimed by U.S. employees working in Iraq.
The five plaintiffs had filed the lawsuit filed last year charging Halliburton's KBR engineering and construction unit violated the terms of its LOGCAP III contract with the Pentagon by failing to pay them 1-and-1/2 times their base pay for hours worked over 40 hours per week.
Many of Halliburton's employees often worked as much as 100 hours per week under dangerous and difficult conditions, according to the complaint, but were paid not paid at the higher rate.
The five, who had sought class action status to include an estimated 20,000 and 40,000 employees who worked for KBR in Kuwait and Iraq, also argued the company had paid them too little by miscalculating their wages.
Vengence against Hugo
I don't think he is feeling it.
It’s time petroleum prices are lowered
http://www.timesnews.co.ke/29sep06/editorials/edtorial1.html
Petroleum dealers in Kenya meet Energy Permanent Secretary today to discuss the escalating fuel prices. There is no gainsaying that petroleum is a key factor of production in the country and that is why President Kibaki’s concern about rising costs of the commodity should be approached with the seriousness and thirst that it deserves. If these high prices are not curbed, the Kenyan economy could easily lose the gains made in view of the recently published 5.8 percent economic growth. ...
In doing so, the government can use what Foreign Affairs minister, Raphael Tuju referred to as economic diplomacy to secure cheap oil for Kenyans. In this time of economic constraints, Kenya cannot afford to continue with this trend where high fuel prices are killing the local manufacturing industry because of high production cost precipitated by runaway fuel prices. A way must be sought to procure cheaper sources of fuel. All that is needed is for our economic planners to be more adventurous in negotiating for better deals in the international market.
At a recent meeting of African heads of state and government under the auspices of the African Peer Review Mechanism in Banjul, the Gambia, Venezuelan and Iranian leaders, Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejaad respectively, advised African leaders to seek cheaper and clean oil from the two countries. The two heads asked African leaders not to be intimidated by Western threats that they should not do business with the two oil producing countries. As the two leaders observed then, governments are formed in order to promote the welfare of their people.
The two presidents said they were saddened to see many African consumers of petroleum products suffer under crippling trade relations with unscrupulous dealers yet their countries offer oil at substantially affordable prices. In view of this the Ministry of Energy should start expanding its policy options concerning procurement of petroleum. With a free market economy in place, the country is in a better position to procure cheaper oil than ever before. If the country is presently seeking alternative bilateral partners like China, it can surely seek alternative sources of oil.
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Kenya: Nairobi to Host Climate Change Meeting
http://allafrica.com/stories/200609270994.html
The East African Standard (Nairobi)
September 28, 2006Posted to the web September 27, 2006
Samuel OtienoNairobi
Preparation for the first international conference on environment to be held in the country is under way.
Environment and Natural Resources minister, Prof Kivutha Kibwana, said the United Nations meeting to discuss climate change would take place from November 6 to 17.
Between 6,000 and 10,000 representatives of governments, non-governmental organisations, private sector and academia are expected.
Kibwana said about 130 ministers would also attend the conference expected to cost about Sh803 million.
Briefing the Press at his office on Wednesday, Kibwana said the Government had so far spent Sh193 million on the preparation for the 12th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
COP is the supreme body responsible for keeping international efforts to address climate change on track.
"It also reviews the implementation of the convention and examines the commitment of parties in light of the convention objectives," said Kibwana.
Among the issues to be discussed at the conference, which will be the second meeting of the Kyoto Protocol parties, are new scientific findings and experiences in implementing climate change policies.
Kenya is a signatory to UNFCCC and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Kibwana said the country was developing projects under the Clean Development Mechanism, which was created under the Kyoto Protocol to help developing countries attain sustainable development.
He said Kenya was chosen because it is vulnerable to climate change. The minister said the country has suffered droughts, famine and flooding due to the effects of climate change.
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News secretary
The troops are in better hands with NATO. I am hopeful this is a sign that Rumsfeld is getting ready to resign. That also means the troops are actually fighting a war for the country rather than acting as Halliburton Private Security Transport Firm.
1100
Rally in Charlotte NC to Impeach Bush and Cheney Saturday, Sept 30th at 1 PM
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=13996
Gregg Jocoy
September 26, 2006
Freedom Park in Charlotte, NC will buzz with speeches and music this Saturday starting at 1 PM. The goal of all the music and speeches is nothing less than the permanent removal of George Bush and Dick Cheney.
Offering speakers from across the Carolinas and the nation, the rally will call for the impeachment of the President and Vice President based in part on the lies told the Congress and the American people by them in the lead up to the war on Iraq.
Musical acts cover the gamut from individual performers, like Michael Sharpe and Peter Moore to groups like Bellyfull and Hardcore Lounge. Sponsors of the event include the NC, Charlotte and York County (SC) chapters of the Green Party, local branches of Code Pink and NOW, and local activist groups like the Action Center for Justice and the Charlotte Coalition for Peace and Justice.
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