Dick Cheney's just another

[AUman43 5]

Dick Cheney: Soldier of Fortune

by Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch

May 2nd, 2002

Vice-president Dick Cheney has brought new meaning to the term "revolving door" says Bill Hartung, senior research fellow at the World Policy Institute in New York. His easy transition from the army to private industry and then to the White House has earned him millions, Dallas-based Halliburton billions.

Cheney made a fortune in the oil industry when he took over as chief executive of Halliburton , the world's largest oil services company in 1995. In 1998 he took home $4.4 million in salary and benefits and in 1999 he was paid $1.92 million, according to the company's own financial reports. In May 2000 he cashed in 100,000 Halliburton shares to net another $5.1 million and then sold the rest of his shares in August 2000 for $18.5 million, adding up to a total of almost $30 million in just two years, a fortune for a man with no previous experience in running a company, let alone an oil multinational.

Well, Cheney comes with even better qualifications; he was Secretary of Defense during the Gulf War and worked in the Washington scene for 25 years before he took the job with Halliburton . He brought with him a trusty Rolodex and his former chief of staff, David Gribbin, whom he appointed as chief lobbyist. In the last two years the pair of them notched up $1.5 billion dollars in federal loans and insurance subsidies compared to the paltry $100 million that the company received in the five years prior to Cheney's arrival.

The federal subsidies supported Halliburton 's oil services contracts in Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh and Russia. In addition the company garnered $2.3 billion in U.S. government contracts in that time, or almost double the $1.2 billion it earned from the government in the five years before he arrived.

Most of the contracts have been with the U.S. Army for engineering work in a variety of hot spots, including Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and Haiti. Not surprisingly all this work stems from a new scheme to privatize operations of the U.S. military that were drawn up by Halliburton itself under contract to Cheney in 1992.

Today the company is working on major contracts to build oil infrastructure in Brazil and Nigeria for companies like Chevron, Petrobras and Shell. And Cheney also oversaw the company's merger with Dresser Industries, one of the companies that helped Saddam Hussein rebuild Iraq's oil infrastructure after the Gulf war despite the fact that Cheney was one of the architects of the economic sanctions against Iraq. Under his leadership, Halliburton used two foreign subsidiaries to do $23 million worth of business with Iraq, more than any other U.S. company.

Meanwhile Gribbin left Halliburton with Cheney to become director of Congressional Relations for the Bush-Cheney transition team, where he managed the confirmation process for newly nominated cabinet secretaries and "worked with members of Congress and state governors on issues critical to the establishment of the new administration," before leaving to head up the Prosperity Project, a political advocacy group for big business.

But Gribbin left behind an equally worthy successor who is now Halliburton 's chief Washington lobbyist: Admiral Joe Lopez, recently retired from the U.S. Navy and former commander-in-chief of the Southern Forces Europe, also a close confidante of Dick Cheney. Lopez's first job at Halliburton , when he joined in 1999, was a $100 million contract to upgrade 150 United States embassy and consulate buildings around the world, to secure them against "terrorist" attacks. In March 2002 Lopez was appointed to the bi-partisan Commission on Post-Conflict Reconstruction, set up by the Center for Strategic and International Studies to develop specific proposals to enhance U.S. participation in international reconstruction efforts in war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Kosovo. Other members of the commission include seven senators and representatives from the U.S. Congress, no doubt useful friends when it comes to cashing in on the reconstruction proposals.

Angola is just one example of the United States government support that Cheney was able to help engineer for Halliburton . The company has a $200 million contract with Chevron and its partners in the enclave of Cabinda (a province of Angola geographically distinct from the rest of the country.) There Halliburton services over 330 wells in 30 fields, located between one and 40 miles offshore which provide eight percent of U.S. oil imports, more than even Kuwait. This concession is the source of 80% of the Angolan government's revenue. Visitors report that the beach sands of Cabinda have turned black from the pollution and the smell of petroleum hangs everywhere.

Then Secretary of State Madeline Albright personally flew out to Chevron's Takula Oil Drilling Platform in Cabinda on December 12, 1997 to announce that the Export-Import Bank of the United States was "finalizing an innovative loan of nearly $90 million to develop new oil fields here, and it is discussing with SONANGOL (the state oil company) and Chevron a further $350 million package to support purchases of American equipment."

A follow-up cable from the U.S. embassy in Angola to Albright in 1998 explains the help it gave Cheney's company: "Our commercial officer literally camped out at the offices of the national oil company, petroleum ministry and central bank, unraveling snag after snag to obtain the transfer of funds. The bottom line: thousands of American jobs and a foot in the door for Halliburton to win even bigger contracts." That memo detailed how the embassy helped Halliburton "in tough competition with foreign firms" by allaying the Export-Import Bank's concerns and removing "barriers" to the $68 million loan package.

Gribbin, then vice president of government affairs for Halliburton , told the Associated Press that the helpful diplomat in Angola was "a guy who was enthusiastically doing his job. God bless him. I'm sure probably a lot of our folks, when they are working in these countries, will get to know the commercial attaché and vice versa. You can call any company that is a global business, and they will tell you this."

[AFTiger 282]

Just a man doing his job and doing it well.

Did he recieve money for granting pardons as did Clinton? How much money is Clinton making for speaking engagements because of his contacts? Millions. Clinton defines cronyism!!!!!

Oh yeah, let me add the news today about Senator Diane Fiensteins abuse of her position on the Senate sub-committee on Military Construction. She steered contracts to her husband's construction company. He made more than Cheney did.

The crap about Cheney and Haliburton has been debunked and is only fodder for nut root liberals who just simply hate Bush.

[AURaptor 1,128]

Good for him for using his contacts. Anyone else would be an idiot had he NOT done the same.

Classic liberalism. Hate on the guy who does good.

[Captain Liger 0]

Classic liberalism. Hate on the guy who does good.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go home and put some water in AUman43's momma's dish. Good evenin'.

[Tigermike 3,063]

Hey Shug, got a link for that?

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Damn him for being a capitalist! How dare he.

Shug, you're quickly sinking into Bottomfeeder's level of moonbattery.

[Tigermike 3,063]

Since Shug will not provide a link, here is a little info on the World Policy Institute in New York and The New School.

Since joining New School University in 1991, the World Policy Institute has sought to adapt its traditional mission of policy research and advocacy on critical world problems to the New School's tradition of creative adult education. It has done so at a time when the traditional subject of international diplomacy and world politics itself is being transformed by dramatic world changes from the end of the Cold War to the increasing blurring of the line between domestic and international concerns. Accordingly, the Institute has both redefined its agenda and broadened its mission. In particular, it has established for itself a threefold mission at the New School:

First, the Institute seeks to offer innovative policy proposals for public debate with the goal of developing an internationalist consensus on the measures needed for the management of a world market economy, the development of a workable system of collective security, and the creation of an active transnational civil society.

Second, it seeks to promote greater public understanding of the relationship between domestic and international policy and to train journalists, policymakers, business and civic leaders to be capable of understanding emerging world problems and of reconciling the often competing demands of globalization and national policy.

Finally, it seeks to nurture a new generation of writers and public intellectuals committed to internationalist thinking and to provide students in the New School community with an opportunity to gain practical experience in policy research and advocacy on global issues.

The bi-annual newsletter of the World Policy Institue provides information on new research projects, events, and covers recent media activity by Senior Fellows, Program Fellows and staff members.

http://www.worldpolicy.org/wpi/index.html

The mission of The New School for Social Research—which derives from American progressive thinkers, the legacy of the University in Exile, and the critical theorists of Europe—is grounded in the core social sciences and broadened with a commitment to philosophical and historical inquiry. In an intellectual setting where disciplinary boundaries are easily crossed, students learn to practice creative democracy—the concepts, techniques, and commitments that will be required if the world’s people, with their multiple and conflicting interests, are to live together peacefully and justly.

http://www.newschool.edu/gf/about/index.htm

About New School

The New School is a legendary, progressive university comprising eight schools bound by a common, unusual intent: to prepare and inspire its 9,300 undergraduate and graduate students to bring actual, positive change to the world. From its Greenwich Village campus, The New School launches economists and actors, fashion designers and urban planners, dancers and anthropologists, orchestra conductors, filmmakers, political scientists, organizational experts, jazz musicians, scholars, psychologists, historians, journalists, and above all, world citizens-individuals whose ideas and innovations forge new paths of progress in the arts, design, humanities, public policy, and the social sciences. In addition to its 70 graduate and undergraduate degree-granting programs, the university offers certificate programs and more than 1,000 continuing education courses to 25,000 adult learners every year.

http://www.newschool.edu/about.html#

[Tiger in Spain 0]

From its Greenwich Village campus

Tells me everything I need to know right there.

[rexbo 104]

NO BLOOD FOR OIL!!! (Wait, unless I want to fill up my 3 ton SUV at less than $3 a gallon...)

[AUman43 5]

Geez, you guys should change this part of the site to "lets promote Republicans and the Republican Philosophy." Some of you forget that democrats have contributed greatly to this Country's history and led us though some tough times. Repubics didn't hang the moon nor did they invent a unique style of government..............Just trying to keep some kind of balance here where there appears to be none!

[AFTiger 282]

Geez, you guys should change this part of the site to "lets promote Republicans and the Republican Philosophy." Some of you forget that democrats have contributed greatly to this Country's history and led us though some tough times. Repubics didn't hang the moon nor did they invent a unique style of government..............Just trying to keep some kind of balance here where there appears to be none!

I get it. We are not supposed to engage you when you post unfounded nutroot bilge here. You must be a comedian in the E J Dion sense.

Democrats did contribute to this country's history but nothing positive lately.

[AUman43 5]

Well AFTiger, I can tell you one thing! It's people with attitudes like yours that makes people want to be democrats. Arrogant, defiant, judgmental, convinced they are right and the rest of the world is wrong, etc. I would venture to guess that you haven't seen more than 25 or 30 seasons much less undergone tremendous financial problems like the depression!

[AFTiger 282]

Well AFTiger, I can tell you one thing! It's people with attitudes like yours that makes people want to be democrats. Arrogant, defiant, judgmental, convinced they are right and the rest of the world is wrong, etc. I would venture to guess that you haven't seen more than 25 or 30 seasons much less undergone tremendous financial problems like the depression!

You would venture to guess wrong. I doubt that you even kwow the cause of the Great Depression. What you call arrogant is confidence, defiant is independence and judgemental is knowing right from wrong.

What truly saddens me is that uninformed people like you are what destroyed the Democrat party.

[AUman43 5]

Well, you would be wrong. BTW, I am NOT uninformed or stupid. I have a masters degree from Auburn University and work toward a doctorate at Georgia Tech. I am 63 years old and read the papers and web daily. I have never pretended to be right on everything nor do I believe (as you seem to) that my party and their philosophy is the only way. I can remember many, many years when the republicans couldn't manage to gain the presidency or the majority in congress. Must have been a good reason besides EVERYBODY's stupidity. I'm not going to get into a wordfest with you and I WILL maintain my objectivity and speak my mind when the opportunity affords itself.

[AFTiger 282]

Your original post of a five year old bloody shirt sure fooled me.

Geez, you guys should change this part of the site to "lets promote Republicans and the Republican Philosophy." Some of you forget that democrats have contributed greatly to this Country's history and led us though some tough times. Repubics didn't hang the moon nor did they invent a unique style of government..............Just trying to keep some kind of balance here where there appears to be none!

I'm not going to get into a wordfest with you and I WILL maintain my objectivity and speak my mind when the opportunity affords itself.

Please allow me the same courtesy.

BTW I am 62 with two masters and 22 years fighting for this country.

Oh Yeah.....ex-Democrat

[Tigermike 3,063]

Let’s step back and look at this again. AUman43/ starts a thread titled “Dick Cheney's just another, corrupt Bush crony keeping us in this War. Guess Why?”, and failed to provide a link for where it came from. But then low and behold it comes from a “progressive” socialists think tank/school.

There were several replies (none which agreed with the progressive thinkers like AUman43 thinks we should ) then Auman43 goes on a rant:

Geez, you guys should change this part of the site to "lets promote Republicans and the Republican Philosophy." Some of you forget that democrats have contributed greatly to this Country's history and led us though some tough times. Repubics didn't hang the moon nor did they invent a unique style of government..............Just trying to keep some kind of balance here where there appears to be none!

No one said deomoncrats have never contributed to the history of the country. We just don’t accept your self-serving socialists propaganda with open mouths.

Well AFTiger, I can tell you one thing! It's people with attitudes like yours that makes people want to be democrats. Arrogant, defiant, judgmental, convinced they are right and the rest of the world is wrong, etc. I would venture to guess that you haven't seen more than 25 or 30 seasons much less undergone tremendous financial problems like the depression!

Damn it sounds like you are talking about the loony left.

Hey Shug there was nothing arrogant, defiant, judgmental, absolutely convinced you are right and everyone else is wrong in your statement is there?

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Geez, you guys should change this part of the site to "lets promote Republicans and the Republican Philosophy." Some of you forget that democrats have contributed greatly to this Country's history and led us though some tough times. Repubics didn't hang the moon nor did they invent a unique style of government..............Just trying to keep some kind of balance here where there appears to be none!

What have you done for me lately? Democrats, especially this new breed of liberalism, have not done anything beneficial of note in over 60 years. Like labor unions, the party has appeared to lose its usefulness of late. Until the party leaders steer its focus away from socialism, no one outside of the looney fringe is going to buy into their way of thinking.

Well AFTiger, I can tell you one thing! It's people with attitudes like yours that makes people want to be democrats. Arrogant, defiant, judgmental, convinced they are right and the rest of the world is wrong, etc. I would venture to guess that you haven't seen more than 25 or 30 seasons much less undergone tremendous financial problems like the depression!

Most Americans don't agree with the mindset of "it takes a village." Americans are generous to a fault, but after a while, they get tired of supporting those that absolutely refuse to act responsibily and take control of their own lives.

[CCTAU 3,351]

A geriatric slug-fest! I'm gonna go make some popcorn and watch the rest of this.