Carving Up The New
Iraq
By Neil Mackay
The Sunday Herald (Scotland)
Tuesday 15 April 2003
IRAQ lies in ruins this
morning. Its cities are
bombed; its buildings
have been torched by teenage
arsonists; its shops,
hospitals, factories and
homes have been looted.
This is Year Zero for
Iraq. The old regime is
gone and the United States
is to rebuild this country
literally from the ground
up.
Since the beginning of
the year, America has
had its reconstruction
plan in place. Answering
directly to Centcom commander
General Tommy Franks,
retired Lt Gen Jay Garner
will be in command of
the reconstruction effort.
He will be aided by a
series of military hardmen,
diplomats and Republican
party place-men who will
help the United States
create "Free Iraq''
-- aided by exiles who
are returning to get their
share of the spoils.
This isn't a selfless
exercise. In a special
Sunday Herald investigation,
we have charted the network
of financial kickbacks,
political pay-backs, cronyism,
self-interest and ferocious
ideology that underpins
the entire reconstruction
scheme.
The US denies that men
like Jay Garner are in
effect the first wave
of a military occupation.
The Bush administration
insists that it wants
these men to work their
way out of a job as quickly
as possible. Some have
mentioned three months
as the possible length
of their tenure in Iraq
-- others, more realistically,
claim five years is a
more likely term, taking
the length of the US occupation
of post-war Japan as the
best comparison. America
will be entrenched in
this nation for decades
to come. The colonisation
process has begun already.
In this investigation
we have traced the roots
of the reconstruction
process back to the ideologues
-- the neo-conservatives
now in the ascendancy
in the US government --
who devised the scheme.
These men see the US military
as the "cavalry on
the new American frontier'',
they wanted Saddam "regime
changed'' long before
Bush took power and they
have long dreamt of a
permanent US satellite
in the Gulf. They have
also been brutally honest
about having a say over
Iraq's oil fields .
Ideology is ideology,
but in the US government
political theory goes
hand-in-hand with big
business. The end result
of the lofty musings of
Republican hawks fashioning
the concepts behind the
new world order is money-grubbing
for the yankee dollar.
The world isn't just watching
the spread of a political
philosophy in Iraq, it
is watching a conquest
by and for US big business
as well. The term "military-industrial''
complex brings to mind
crazy conspiracy theories
, but let's consider the
term again. Each and every
one of the companies in
the running or in posession
of contracts to reconstruct
Iraq are either major
Republican donors or have
government staff working
for them. The donations
to the Republican party
-- and also to George
W Bush himself -- run
into millions .
Is this payback time?
In the UK, connections
like this between big
business and politicians
would be front page news
for months. But not so
in America.
There is more to this
than just kickbacks. The
Americans call it "the
favour bank'', we call
it more simply cronyism.
The connections between
the reconstructors is
staggering. If these people
aren't in the same think-tank
together, then they work
for the same companies,
have the same friends
and interests.
Just look at one example
-- under our power-brokers
section you will find
Andrew Natsios. He's the
head of USAid, the government
department which hands
out Iraqi reconstruction
contracts. Would it surprise
you to find out that Natsios
has a connection to a
company called Bechtel
which is -- yes -- tipped
for a rather lucrative
contract? Then there's
IRG. It secured one of
the eight government contracts
up for grabs. Are you
shocked to learn IRG has
four vice-presidents and
24 other staff who at
one time worked for USAid?
There's also a subsidiary
of Halliburton, the oil
giant once run by Dick
Cheney (Bush's number
two), which stands to
make a cool $500 million
out of reconstruction.
With only a few exceptions,
there is a smoking gun
for all those behind the
reconstruction work. Whether
it's a seat on a board,
shares in a firm, a favour
owed here or there, these
question the impartiality
of seriously powerful
people and ask important
questions about the levels
of self-interest that
lie behind the rebuilding
of Iraq. While Iraq may
be free of Saddam, it
looks like it's going
to be the most lucrative
country on Earth for the
foreseeable future --
at least for US hawks
anyway.
THE NEO-CONSERVATIVES
Paul Wolfowitz
The deputy defence secretary
is the arch-ideologue
of the Bush administration
and the key architect
in the Pentagon of the
post-war reconstruction
of Iraq.
Like many of the reconstructors
Wolfowitz of Arabia, as
he is known, is a ranking
member of the leading
neo-conservative think-tank
the Project for the New
American Century (PNAC),
which advocated regime
change in Iraq even before
George W Bush took office.
He is also, like many
of the reconstruction
team, a key member of
the ultra-right-wing Jewish
Institute for National
Security Affairs (Jinsa)
-- a think-tank that puts
Israel and its security
at the heart of US foreign
policy. Many of the reconstuctors
-- known as Wolfie's People
or the True Believers
-- are hand-picked place-men
chosen by the defence
deputy. Wolfowitz is the
ideological link in Team
Bush's grand scheme. His
thinking is and was central
to the war and its aftermath.
Lewis Libby
Vice-President Dick Cheney's
chief of staff is a long-standing
face at the Pentagon,
having served in the defence
department during George
Bush Snr's presidency.
He is also friend, confidant
and a neo-con fellow-traveller
with Wolfowitz, and a
founding member of the
PNAC.
He sits on the board
of the Rand Corporation,
a research and development
corporation which has
a huge number of contracts
with the Pentagon. Zalmay
Khalilzad (see the Arabs),
Bush's special envoy to
the the Iraq opposition,
was an employee of Rand
Corp.
Libby owns shares in
armament companies and
has various oil interests.
He is a consultant to
Northrop Grumman, the
defence contractor, which
has an influential voice
on the Defence Policy
Board (DPB), the so-called
brains of the Pentagon.
Rand Corp, which won $83m
in Pentagon contracts,
is linked to the DPB.
Donald Rumsfeld
A founding member of
the PNAC, the Pentagon
supremo is probably one
of the best-connected
men in American politics.
It was Rumsfeld who personally
designed the Iraqi invasion
plan.
Every detail of the post-war
reconstruction has to
be cleared by the defence
secretary. Each and every
neo-con in the Pentagon
owes their position to
him. One fact he doesn't
want reminded about is
his former glad-handing
with Saddam as Reagan's
special envoy to Iraq
in the early 1980s. While
Saddam was blitzing the
Ayatollah's armies with
chemical weapons in the
Iran-Iraq war, Rumsfeld
spent most of his time
talking to the Ba'ath
Party about the building
of an oil pipeline on
behalf of the construction
company Bechtel. Bechtel's
former vice-chairman is
George Shultz, Reagan's
secretary of state. Bechtel
is one of the front-runners
in the bid to secure US
government contracts to
rebuild Iraq.
Douglas J Feith
Under-secretary for policy
at the Pentagon, he picks
and selects members of
the DPB and is on the
board of advisers of Jinsa.
As a lawyer, Feith represented
Northrop Grumman (see
defence box). He was a
Pentagon place-man when
Perle was assistant defence
secretary in the 1980s
and hired Michael Mobbs
(see power- brokers) to
work at his law firm Feith
and Zell. Zealously pro-Israeli,
Feith is a keen fan of
Chalabi (see Arabs) as
are Perle and Rumsfeld.
Other Iraqis who'll be
keen to get his ear include:
Jalal Talebani (Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan); Maj
General Tawfiq al-Yassiri
(Iraqi National Coalition);
Massoud Barzani (Kurdish
Democratic Party); Ayadh
Allawi (Iraqi National
Accord); Shaif Ali Bin
Hussein (Constitutional
Monarchy Party); Abdelaziz
al-Hakim (brother of Muhammed
Bakr al-Hakim the leader
of the Supreme Council
for Islamic Revolution
in Iraq) and Major General
Saad Obeidi (former head
of Iraqi psychological
warfare).
Richard Perle
The Pentagon's Prince
of Darkness is a key member
of Jinsa and a prominent
member of the American
Enterprise Institute (described
by Ronnie Reagan as one
of the most influential
right-wing US think-tanks)
along with Dick Cheney's
wife Lynne. He also sits
on the Foundation for
the Defence of Democracies,
another right-wing think-tank,
along with James Woolsey,
tipped to become the information
minister in the post-war
Iraqi interim government.
Perle acted as an advisor
to the lobbying firm run
by Douglas J Feith --
the Pentagon's under-secretary
of defence. Perle was
also chair of the DPB
until he resigned following
a scandal over a conflict
of interests relating
to his business connections.
However, he still sits
on the board of the DPB.
Perle is seeking permission
from the Committee on
Foreign Investment, on
which the defence secretary
Donald Rumsfeld sits,
to run telecommunications
businesses in Asia. He
is also a member of neo-con
think-tanks such as the
American Enterprise Institute,
and worked as an aide
to ultra-right-wing former
Israeli premier, Benyamin
Netanyahu.
Dick Cheney
Capitol Hill's resident
hawk-in-chief, is a PNAC
founding member and a
was on Jinsa's board of
advisors. The Vice-President
was defence secretary
under Bush Snr and has
been calling for Saddam's
head for over a decade.
He was chairman and CEO
of oil company Halliburton,
the corporate behemoth.
Halliburton's subsidiary
Kellogg Brown and Root
has secured contracts
worth up to $7 billion
from the US army's Corp
of Engineers to put out
oil well fires in Iraq.
He is a trustee of the
American Enterprise Institute
and has had numerous oil
interests. He has links
to Chevron, for whom he
negotiated the building
of an oil pipeline from
the Caspian Sea. Condoleeza
Rice, the national security
advisor, was the director
of Chevron until 2001
-- and even had an oil
tanker named after her.
During Condi's tenure,
Chevron's CEO Kenneth
Derr once said: "Iraq
possesses huge reserves
of oil and gas -- reserves
I'd love Chevron to have
access to.'' Dick Cheney's
wife Lynne sat on the
board of Lockheed Martin,
which manufactures Cruise
missiles and now has a
$800 million military
satellite which will help
troops in Iraq.
Michael Joyce
The former president
of the Bradley Foundation,
one of the largest and
most influential right-wing
organisations in America.
It set up the PNAC led
by William Kristol. Kristol's
Weekly Standard is viewed
in Washington as the in-house
paper for Team Bush. The
Standard is bankrolled
by Rupert Murdoch. Joyce
once said that Bush's
key people such as Cheney,
Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz
"were clearly influenced
by Bradley Foundation
thinking''.
There are rumours that
Joyce's "best buddy''
William Bennett, Reagan's
education secretary and
Bush Snr's drug czar,
will have some involvement
with Iraq's post-war education
system.
Joyce has phoned Bennett
with the words: "This
is coach Joyce and this
is what I want you to
do.'' Neil Bush, Dubya's
brother, has also been
spoken of in connection
with rebuilding the education
system in Iraqi.
Joyce is a self-styled
moral guardian of American
family values who, along
with James Woolsey, is
an adviser to Americans
for Victory over Terrorism,
a group that wants to
stifle criticism of American
military muscle.
James Woolsey
A long-time supporter
of war on Iraq and PNAC
and Jinsa member, the
former director of the
CIA has been named as
the likely minister of
information in the new
Iraq. His business interests
have included: the arms
company British Aerospace;
the Titan Corporation,
which provides military
interpreters and DynCorp,
which provides bodyguards
for Hamid Karzai, the
Afghani president and
has installed a police
force monitoring service
in Bosnia. DynCorp is
being sued for human rights
violations in Bosnia,
environmental health disasters
in Ecuador and fraud in
America. He was a partner
in the law firm, Shea
and Gardner, which acts
as foreign agents for
the Iraqi National Congress,
led by Chalabi. He is
vice-president of Booz
Allen Hamilton, a corporate
consultant firm, which
won a contract to develop
a computer model of post-war
Iraqi society after the
first Gulf war I. Booz
Allen is also closely
linked to the DPB. He
said that "only fear
will re-establish [Arab]
respect for us ... we
need a little bit of Machiavelli''.
He has also said: "We
really don't need the
Europeans. Anyways, they
will be the first in line
patting us on the back
following our success
and saying they were with
us all along.''
THE MILITARY
Lt Gen Jay Garner
Nicknamed variously the
Sheriff of Baghdad, Iraq's
king, pro-consul, or president.
Garner fought in the first
Gulf war and in January
was coaxed out of retirement
to be the director of
the Office of Reconstruction
and Humanitarian Assistance
for Iraq. A fan of Jinsa
(the Jewish Institute
for National security
Affairs), he has praised
the Israeli defence force
for its "remarkable
restraint in the face
of lethal violence orchestrated
by the leadership of the
Palestinian Authority''.
After one Jinsa junket
he also said: "A
strong Israel is an asset
that American military
planners and political
leaders can rely on.''
He is president of SY
Coleman, the defence firm
that specialises in Patriot
missiles and which was
awarded over a billion-dollar
contract this year to
provide logistics support
to US special forces.
SY Coleman is a subsidiary
of L-3 Communications,
the ninth-largest contributor
to US political parties
from the defence electronics
sector.
He is a Pentagon place
man who is directly answerable
to General Tommy Franks,
head of US CentCom. This
has been jumped on by
many as proof that the
reconstruction work is
at best a Pentagon operation
and at worst a military
occupation. A Vietnam
veteran and former assistant
Chief of Staff, Garner
is no stranger to Iraq,
having headed the Kurdish
relief programme after
the first Gulf war. He
is a close friend of Cheney
and Rumsfeld, who co-opted
him to work on the extension
of missile defence in
space.
Lt Gen Ron Adams
Former commander of the
Bosnia Stabilisation Force,
in the first Gulf war
he was assistant divisional
commander of the 101st
Airborne . He has held
the office of Deputy Chief
of Staff for Operations
and Plans and was hand-picked
by Lt Gen Jay Garner to
be his deputy on the civil
reconstruction committee.
Lt Gen John Abizaid
Tommy Franks's second
in command at Central
Command in Qatar, Abizaid
is the most senior military
officer of Arab descent
in the US Army and is
currently the director
of the Joint Staff. He
served in the first Gulf
war as well as in Bosnia.
He will have a significant
voice in post-war Iraq.
Maj Gen Bruce Moore
and Gen Buck Walters
Moore and Walters, both
retired US Army officers,
have been hand-picked
by the Pentagon to run
the north and south of
Iraq respectively. Walters,
a recently retired businessman,
originates from President
George W Bush's home state
of Texas.
Cap Frederick Skip'
Burkle
Burkle is a medical doctor
and the Iraqi team's resident
polymath. He has worked
for the World Health Organisation
and USAid. This highly
decorated Vietnam and
Gulf war veteran will
play a key role in the
Iraqi health ministry.
Gen Jerry Bates
General Bates will lead
the logistical and administrative
support operations for
General Garner. He took
part in the military intervention
in Haiti . He is senior
vice-president of the
National Group, an arm
of the MPRI (Military
Professionals Resources
Inc), which has been condemned
for being a Pentagon-funded
mercenary outfit.
Col George Oliver
A former head of the
Army War College's Peacekeeping
Institute and a Pentagon
insider, Oliver has trained
Israeli military staff
and was a delegate to
the United Nations' military
staff committee. He also
served as a military adviser
to the US Permanent Representative
to the UN.
Col Richard Naab
Naab was the commander
of allied forces during
Operation Provide Comfort
in the Kurdish areas in
northern Iraq following
the first Gulf war and,
like Garner, is seen as
a friend by the Kurds.
He is also an adviser
to the Iraqi Institute
for Democracy.
THE POWER-BROKERS
Robert Reilly
Former director of Voice
of America, the pro-US
radio service, Reilly
has been entrusted with
overhauling Iraqi radio,
television and newspapers.
The Bush administration
has already given Reilly
the green light to operate
Radio Free Iraq. This
will involve using transmitters
that have been sent to
the Middle East for the
military's psychological
operations.
Reilly is closely involved
with an American administration
plan to establish a media
network in the Middle
East. A $62m (£40m)
satellite TV station is
scheduled to begin at
the end of the year.
He is a very close friend
and business partner of
Ahmed Chalabi.
Michael Mobbs
Pentagon lawyer and overall
civilian co-ordinator
who will be in charge
of 11 of the ministries.
Mobbs wants US citizens
imprisoned indefinitely
without charge for terrorist
offences. A notorious
hawk and close friend
of Richard Perle, Mobbs
also worked for Douglas
Feith's law firm.
Currently a Pentagon
consultant, he created
the legal framework for
the indefinite detention
of al-Qaeda suspects at
Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo
Bay, which was built by
Bechtel (see The businesses)
for $16m (£10m).
Also a former member of
the US arms control agency
under former president
Ronald Reagan.
William Eagleton
Like George Shultz, a
contemporary of George
Bush Snr. and revered
by the right as one the
grand old men of republican
foreign policy.
The pair went to Yale
together and both served
in the Far East during
the second world war.
A career diplomat, Eagleton
was based in Iraq between
1980-1984 as Chief of
US Interests Section in
Baghdad.
His tenure there came
at a time when Iraqi use
of chemical weapons against
Iran was being studiously
ignored by Washington.
He is tipped to be the
"Mayor of Kirkuk'',
the oil-rich city in northern
Iraq, or Kurdistan.
Andrew Natsios
The head of USAid, United
States Agency for International
Development, Natsios is
the man who hands out
the post-war reconstruction
contracts. Only US companies
can bid for these lucrative
deals.
One of the most controversial
episodes of his career
saw him, as CEO of the
Massachusetts Turnpike
Authority, oversee the
Big Dig construction project,
a three-mile underground
highway in Boston, undertaken
by Bechtel. The budget
spiralled out of control
costing up to $10bn (£6.3bn)
more than it should have,
with the largest budget
rises under Natsios's
tenure.
A former Massachusetts
House of Representatives
congressman, he is the
author of a book called
US Foreign Policy And
The Four Horsemen Of The
Apocalypse and a retired
lieutenant colonel from
the first Gulf war. He
was also the chairman
of the Massachusetts Republican
Party for most of the
1980s.
Natsios will be assisted
by Michael Marx, the head
of USAid Disaster Assistance
Response Team (Dart) and
a former US army officer.
Marx previously headed
the Dart team after the
conflict in Afghanistan.
Lewis Lucke, another
USAid senior staffer,
will oversee the Iraqi
reconstruction process.
He headed the USAid mission
team in Haiti alongside
Timothy Carney (see grey
suits), one of the former
US ambassadors who is
now involved in administering
Free Iraq. Attempts at
establishing democracy
in Haiti have so far failed,
with elections collapsing
amid allegations of electoral
manipulation and fraud.
George Shultz and
Clint Williamson
A Republican heavyweight
and former secretary of
state under Nixon, Shultz
was Bush Jnr's presidential
campaign adviser. He is
also one of the administration's
key thinkers on running
post-war Iraq, and on
the board of directors
at Bechtel, which is in
the running for contracts
after regime change. Like
Perle, he has lucrative
financial relationships,
which bring his impartiality
into question. Shultz
is the chairman of the
International Council
of JP Morgan Chase, the
banking syndicate in which
Lewis Libby (see neo-cons)
has heavy investments.
Morgan Chase lent Saddam's
regime $500m (£320m)
in 1983. Shultz is a member
of the Committee for the
Liberation of Iraq and
a patron of the American
Enterprise Institute.
Perle advised clients
of Goldman Sachs, the
investment house, on post-war
investment opportunities
in Iraq. Perle is also
a director of the software
company Autonomy Corp,
which has clients including
the Pentagon. Autonomy
says it expects its profits
to increase dramatically
after the war in Iraq
ends.
Clint Williamson, who
is expected to head the
Iraqi ministry of justice,
appears to be one of the
good guys. A former prosecutor
at the Hague's International
War Crimes Tribunal, he
helped compile evidence
against Slobodan Milosevic.
Williamson now works at
Condoleezza Rice's National
Security Agency. Williamson
appears ideally placed
to deal with the unfolding
chaos gripping the nation
of Iraq, and is skilled
and seasoned in preparing
indictments against war
criminals.
John Bolton
A prime architect of
Bush's Iraq policy, Bolton
served Bush Snr and Reagan
in the state department,
justice department and
USAid and is now under-secretary
for arms control and international
security in Bush Jnr's
state department. His
appointment was intended
to counter the dove-ish
Colin Powell.
Bolton now leads Rumsfeld's
charge to destabilise
Powell's multilateralism.
Bolton is part of the
Jewish Institute for National
Security Affairs, the
Project for the New American
Century and is a vice-president
at the American Enterprise
Institute. He was also
one of Bush's chad-counters
during the Florida count.
Bolton has long advocated
Taiwan getting a UN seat
-- he's been on the payroll
of the Taiwanese government.
The US unilateralist
is a regular contributor
to William Kristol's right-wing
Weekly Standard and has
vilified UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan. Bolton
was an opponent of the
Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty and a cheerleader
for the Star Wars Defence
System. He has hinted
at targeting Cuba in the
war on terror. His financial
interests include oil
and arms firms and JP
Morgan Chase, like Shultz.
It is said that Bolton
believes in the inevitability
of Armageddon.
Like Woolsey, Bolton
is said to believe we
are in the midst of world
war four which he estimates
could take 40 years to
finish. Despite evidence
to the contrary they believe
Iraq was involved in September
11. With Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz,
Khalilzad, Bennet, Woolsey,
Perle and Kristol, Bolton
co-signed a letter in
1998 urging President
Bill Clinton to take military
action in Iraq .
THE THINK-TANKS
These are the right-wing
foundations and intellectual
powerhouses stuffed with
Republican Party hacks
which have successfully
influenced Bush's Iraq
policy since he took power.
The Jewish Institute
for National Security
Affairs.
With its aims of informing
Americans of the continued
importance of American
security, and of the need
for an Israeli "victory''
in the Middle East, Jinsa
places itself firmly on
the extreme right wing.
It has repeatedly praised
Israel for what it views
as "remarkable restraint''
in the face of a centrally-orchestrated
campaign of terror from
the Palestinian authorities,
and its ranks include
most of Bush's neo-cons.
It also supports both
Garner and Chalabi.
The Project for a
New American Century.
Founded by the likes
of Rumsfeld and Cheney
in 1997 to counter what
it viewed as Clinton's
drifting foreign and defence
policy, this think-tank
would come to form the
nucleus of Team Bush.
It has always lobbied
for regime change in Iraq
and for America to play
a more permanent role
in the Middle East. It
also believes American
foreign policy to be by
definition, inherently
"right''. Many see
it as the brains behind
a US-controlled "new
world order''.
The American Enterprise
Institute.
One of America's biggest
and most-established think-tanks,
the American Enterprise
Institute has been pushing
its conservative agendas
for over 50 years in both
foreign and domestic policy.
With 14 of its members
in Bush's administration,
it claims to be better
represented than any other
think tank in the current
administration.
The Bradley Foundation.
During the 15-year tenure
of Michael Joyce heading
up this charitable body,
the century-old foundation
increased its profile
dramatically and can now
claim to be cash-rich
and very powerful. It
even provided the money
needed to set up the Project
for a New American Century.
The Republicans love it
and some even call it
the patron saint of hawkish
causes, thanks to the
considerable amounts of
money it doles out to
neo-con causes.
THE BUSINESSES
Steve Doring Services
Of America
This world-leading Seattle
port company won the first
USAid contract for Iraqi
reconstruction -- a $4.8m
(£3m) deal to manage
Iraq's strategic port,
Umm Qasr. Known for its
union-busting activities,
it turns over around $1bn
(£634m) a year and
its president, John Hemingway,
has made personal donations
to Republican Party candidates.
SSA's contract has angered
the British government
and army, and Trade Secretary
Patricia Hewitt unsuccessfully
called on Washington to
intervene. The British
shipping giant P&O
is also angered about
missing out and about
not being told why they
lost. EU commissioner
Chris Patten called the
US-exclusive bidding "exceptionally
maladroit''.
Bechtel
Almost certain to win
$900m (£573m) in
contracts. The total amount
of business from Iraqi
reconstruction could total
$100bn (£634m).
Bechtel has donated $1.3m
(£820,000) to political
campaign funds since 1999,
with the majority going
to the republican Party.
George Shultz (see power-brokers)
is Bechtel's former CEO
and is still on the board
of directors. Other Republicans
linked to the company
include former Reagan
defence secretary Caspar
Weinberger. General Jack
Sheehan, retired Marine
corp general, is its senior
vice president, he also
sits on the Pentagon's
influential Defence Policy
Board. In the 1980s Bechtel
proposed building an oil
pipeline through Iraq
with Rumsfeld as a intermediary
for the company to Saddam.
International Resources
Group
The Washington-based
company has won a $70m
(£44m) contract
to establish the humanitarian
aid programme in Iraq.
Obviously this involves
an exceptionally close
working relationship with
USAid, which awards the
contracts. Four of IRG's
vice-presidents have all
held senior posts with
USAid, and 24 of the firm's
48 technical staff have
worked for USAid. Other
players tipped to win
contracts include Washington
Group International, bidding
for the capital construction
job, which gave $438,700
(£270,000) to the
Republicans -- along with
a donation to Bush, and
the Louis Berger Group
which gave $26,300 to
the republicans and is
implementing the USAid
Croatia development programme.
Halliburton
This was Dick Cheney's
old oil company until
he joined Team Bush, walking
out the door with a pay-off
worth around $30m (£19m).
There have been deferred
payments of $180,000 (£120,000)
a year.
Halliburton's subsidiary,
Kellogg Brown & Root,
was the first company
to be awarded an Iraqi
reconstruction contract
by the Pentagon to cap
burning oil wells, the
deal is reportedly worth
$500m (£320m). The
contract was awarded by
the Army Corps of Engineers
without any open competitive
bidding process thanks
to federal laws allowing
the negotiations to take
place in secret in the
interests of national
security. KBR has won
a string of lucrative
contracts despite failing
to control the cost of
work in the Balkans and
being fined $2m (£1.3m)
following claims of fraud
at a military base. KBR
is also one of two contractors
chosen by the Defence
Threat Reduction Agency
to undertake the disposal
of weapons of mass destruction
-- if they are ever found.
Since 1999, Halliburton
has given 95%, or just
under $700,000, (£448,000)
of its political donations
to the Republican party.
It also gave George Bush
nearly $18,000 (£12,000).
KBR has subcontracted
some of the work to two
Houston firms -- Wild
Wells, and Boots and Coots,
which is close to bankruptcy.
Boots and Coots have a
capital deficit of $17m
(£11m).
They were recently given
a $1m (£634,000)
loan from a Panama-registered
investment company, Checkpoint,
run by Texas oilmen. It
claims Boots and Coots
defaulted and wants it
to file for bankruptcy.
Best of the rest
Fluor Corp, which donated
$275,000 (£175,000)
to the Republicans and
$3500 (£2200) personally
to George Bush, has ties
to a number of intelligence
and defence procurement
officials. These include
Kenneth J Oscar, former
acting assistant secretary
of the army and Bobby
R Inman a retired admiral,
former NSA director and
CIA deputy director.
Also in the running is
Parsons Corp, which donated
$152,000 (£96,000)
to the Republican party
and £2000 (£1800)
to Bush. It has helped
reconstruct Kosovo and
Bosnia and built the Saudi
"military city''
of Yanbu. Bush's labour
secretary Elaine Chao
served on its board before
joining the cabinet. It
has got a chance of $900m
(£570m) of reconstruction
contracts and works closely
with Halliburton. Chao's
husband, assistant majority
leader and majority whip
Mitch McConnell has links
to defence contractor
Northrop Grumman. He has
also received donations
from, among others, Halliburton
and arms firm Lockheed
Martin .
California congressman,
Darrell Issa, wants firms
such as Lucent Technologies
and Qualcomm to rebuild
Iraq's decrepit telecoms
system -- a deal worth
around $1bn (£634m).
Pentagon under-secretary,
Douglas Feith, has up
to $500,000 (£317,000)
invested in Lucent; and
Dick Cheney's chief of
staff, Lewis Libby, has
shares in Qualcomm.
Raytheon Corp alongside
KBR is another company
apparently chosen by the
Defence Threat Reduction
Agency to deal with WMD.
Libby also has shares
in this company.
THE DEFENCE PLAYERS
The business players
inextricably tied to the
reconstructors:
SY Coleman
It is a key company connected
to the US Patriot missile
system. The fact that
the company is headed
by Lt Gen Jay Garner,
the so-called Sheriff
of Baghdad, has caused
consternation among both
aid agencies and the UN.
Northrop Grumman
One of the biggest winners
under Bush's increases
in defence spending, they
won $8.5 billion in contracts
last year. It has links
with Jinsa and the AEI
and key Bush administration
hawks. The company planned
a merger with Lockheed
Martin, another defence
giant who had Dick Cheney's
wife Lynne on the board.
DynCorp
Linked to former CIA
director James Woolsey.
It provides security in
world trouble spots where
America has had to act
as the policeman. Woolsey's
DynCorp links tally with
his intellectual inclinations
-- both he and Richard
Perle sit on the Foundation
for the Defence of Democracy,
a pro-military think-tank
The Defence Policy
Board
This is the massively
influential Pentagon advisory
group, headed by Richard
Perle until forced to
resign over a conflict
of interests. Currying
favour with the DPB is
the key to getting a Pentagon
contract. Eight other
DPB members have links
to firms that have won
defence contracts including
Northrop Grumman, Bechtel
and Rand Corp, which is
linked to Lewis Libby
and Zalmay Khalilzad.
DPB members include General
Jack Sheehan, who is connected
to Bechtel, the CIA's
James Woolsey and former
Republican secretary of
defence James Schlesinger.
THE ARABS
Ahmed Chalabi
Leader of the London-based
Iraqi National Congress
(INC), Chalabi's supporters
include Paul Wolfowitz
and Donald Rumsfeld, who
are pushing for him to
be the interim leader
of the post-war Iraq.
He is backed by the think-tank
Jinsa and linked to the
American Enterprise Institute.
Convicted in absentia
in Jordan for his part
in an massive embezzlement
scandal, Chalabi received
up to $12 million from
Washington after the first
Gulf war.
He will be working with
Reilly (see power-brokers)
on broadcasting and communications
in the new Iraq. Often
referred to as "Cheney's
protégé'',
he is unpopular in Iraq
and loathed by Colin Powell's
state department. He has
also fallen out of favour
with the CIA, which in
the early 1990s funded
the INC to the tune of
$325,000 a month. However,
in a recent trip to Israel,
organised by Jinsa, he
tried to warm up relations
regarding Iraq's post-regime
change. Other Iraqis involved
in a future government
-- at the behest of Wolfowitz
-- include INC members
Salem Chalabi (Chalabi's
nephew) and Aras Habib.
Habib's cousin, Dr Ali
Yassin Karim, a former
medic with the CIA, was
nearly kicked out of the
agency but was saved by
the CIA's James Woolsey.
Wolfowitz also wants jobs
to go to Chalabi's friends
Tamara Daghestani and
Goran Talebani.
Zalmay Khalilzad
Afghanistan-born Khalilzad
is Bush's special envoy
to Afghanistan and Iraq
and has a wide variety
of oil interests. He co-wrote
an article on Saddam,
entitled Overthrow Him,
with Wolfowitz, his former
boss. A consultant with
the oil company Unocal,
he was pushing for a natural
gas pipeline in Afghanistan
during the Taliban regime,
and worked under Condoleezza
Rice when she served as
director of Chevron. He
is also a close associate
of George Shultz, and
encouraged Schultz to
use Iran to help topple
Saddam. He is a former
Rand Corp employee and
a charter member of the
PNAC.
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