US companies reap
rewards of invasion
20/04/03 00:00
By Tina Marie O'Neill
The
Sunday Business Post
(Ireland)
As United States Marines
in Iraq were last week
admonished by their commanders
for looting piles of Saddam
memorabilia, the real
spoils of war were being
divided up by US companies.
Nearly all of them have
ties to US President George
Bush's administration.
US Marines collecting
Iraqi guns, uniforms and
pictures of Saddam Hussein
were ordered to dump their
loot or face losing their
rank. "You did not
conquer this country.
Get off your high horse,"
they were told by Lieutenant
Colonel Michael Belcher.
"You took some thugs
and ran them out.There
will be no `I won this
country back. I can take
what I can get',"
he barked.
The Bush administration
is doing exactly the opposite.
The cost of reconstructing
Iraq is estimated at about
$100 billion and it is
expected to take several
years. The usual process
of putting contracts out
to tender has been brushed
aside as large corporations
such as Halliburton, Bechtel
and Louis Berger Group
received exclusive invitations
to bid for lucrative work.
Bush signed a bill last
Wednesday providing $2.48
billion for an Iraq relief
and reconstruction fund.
Congress gave the Pentagon
a role in rebuilding Iraq,
but limited White House
spending. Some ask what
difference it will make,
since the White House
wants Iraqi oil sales
to pay for the reconstruction
process anyway.
The US agency for international
development (USAid) is
awarding eight of the
contracts,with a combined
value of about $1.7 billion.
It argued that the usual
tender process was not
used because the projects
in Iraq were simply too
large and ambitious for
non-profit or non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) to
handle, particularly within
the one-year specified
period.
NGO officials say their
approach is more effective
in the long-run and USAid's
one-year timeline was
only set in order to have
everything wrapped up
before the next election
cycle. Companies that
have already won contracts
in Iraq say non-profit
organisations may be `loving
and caring' in relief
work, but that's not appropriate
for nation-building.
Already, Halliburton
subsidiary Kellogg Brown
& Root has been awarded
a $7 billion contract
to fight oil well fires.
Oil and gas corporation
Halliburton was formerly
run by US Vice-President
Dick Cheney. He received
a $33 million golden handshake
in 2000 before stepping
down to run for office.
He still receives an annual
income of $180,000 from
the Dallasbased company.
Bechtel is a San Francisco
company that has worked
on the Channel Tunnel
and Hoover Dam as well
as cleaning up Chernobyl.
George Shultz, former
secretary of state, sits
on its board. Louis Berger
Group is a privately-owned
business that has a $300
million contract for the
postwar construction of
Afghanistan. Former secretary
of the US army Kenneth
Oscar is vice-president
of the largest publicly-quoted
construction company,
Fluor. He oversaw the
Pentagon's $35 billion
procurement budget. All
have been invited to bid
for reconstruction contracts.
There were no surprises
when USAid announced that
Creative Associates International
had won a $62 million
contract to improve primary
and secondary education
in Iraq. Creative Associates
is doing the same thing
in Afghanistan.
TheResearch TriangleInstitute
in North Carolina, better
known for its scientific
research into Aids prevention
and conducting research
surveys for government
agencies, has received
a $7.9 million contract
to help restore local
government in Iraq. As
a subcontractor to Creative
Associates, it will also
help form educational
policy within the Iraqi
Ministry of Education.
International Resources
Group in Washington won
a $7 million contract
to help plan for emergency
relief. Stevedoring Services
was awarded a $4.8 million
contract to manage and
repair Iraqi ports, including
Umm Qasr.The first 15
company employees arrived
in Iraq last week.
The White House has come
under fire at home and
abroad for its clandestine
approach to awarding contracts
and for limiting them
to US companies. Pressure
from British Prime Minister
Tony Blair produced a
slight compromise when
the Bush administration
agreed to allow non- US
companies to tender for
subcontracting work, but
even that has been limited.
Last week, the Pentagon
said it was drawing up
a blacklist of non-US
companies investing in
Iran's energy sector.
The Pentagon said many
of them would be barred
from US-awarded reconstruction
contracts in Iraq.
Since Britain's Shell
is one,the question is
now being asked whetherAmerica's
ally will be barred.
Italy, also a part of
the `coalition of the
willing', will be concerned
whether Eni's investment
in Iran will also exclude
it from Iraqi contracts.
If Eni is allowed to
tender for contracts,
what of France, whose
TotalFinaElf is among
those investing in Iran?
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