STEVE,

Thanks for clearing up the confusion, I didn't realize that there was any.

Of course I didn't mean that the soldiers believed that's what they were doing. I agree that that our guys in the military are there fighting and dying because they believe they are protecting America. I also give thanks.


I meant that the reasons that we are being given for this war are far from the real reasons why it is being fought.

From Reuters; Is that mainstream enough for you?


War Could Be Big Business for Halliburton
Sun March 23, 2003 12:04 PM ET
By Carolyn Koo
NEW YORK (Reuters) - When it comes to making money from a war in Iraq, few can match the firepower of the company once headed by Vice President #^&#^&#^&#^& Cheney.

Houston-based Halliburton Co. HAL.N can build roads and bridges and camps for American forces. It can transport personnel and provide other logistics. It can fight any fires Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein might set. And after the war, assuming a U.S. victory, it can help restore Iraq's infrastructure and oil production.

While questions remain over how much the work will boost the company's stock price, Halliburton's KBR engineering and construction division "is basically the 'corps of engineers' to the U.S. military," said Jim Wicklund, an analyst at Banc of America Securities. "It is expected that the occupying army's infrastructure could in large part be supplied by KBR."

At the same time, the company's oilfield services business, which is second only to Schlumberger Ltd. SLB.N , is likely to supply most of the heavy equipment to fight fires that Iraqi forces could set to oil wells and oil fields, as they did in Kuwait during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

And should the U.S. emerge victorious, Halliburton -- which develops oil fields and drills for oil all over the world -- has the connections and businesses to play a major role in rebuilding Iraq and ramping the nation's oil production capacity back up to pre-1991 Persian Gulf War levels.

"They have the businesses. They have the government relationship already well-established, and, as we all know, Cheney was the CEO, so it makes logical sense," said Denis Walsh, an equity analyst who covers the energy sector for State Street Research and Management.

NO COMMENT ON CONTRACTS

A Halliburton spokeswoman declined to speculate on "what may or may not happen with regards to Iraq."

She referred all queries to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which both said that contracts for fighting fires and rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure have yet to be awarded. Neither agency would disclose whether Halliburton had submitted any bids.

Other companies that could bid for firefighting contracts include Boots & Coots International Well Control Inc. WEL.A , Canada's Safety Boss Inc., RPC Inc.'s RES.N Cudd Pressure Control and Superior Energy Services Inc.'s SPN.N Wild Well Control Inc.

Reports earlier this month said that Halliburton won a contract to oversee firefighting in Iraq's oilfields but that has not been confirmed by either the company or the DOD.

"It is our information that a contract framework has already been signed," said Wicklund, who rates Halliburton a "buy" and does not own any of its shares.

This wouldn't be the first time Halliburton has played an important role in a U.S. war. Years before Cheney's stint at the helm, a predecessor company built the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station and several warships during World War II. It also helped build the Phan Rang Air Base in Vietnam in 1965.

More recently, after the Persian Gulf War, Halliburton helped put out oil well fires and repaired damaged buildings in Kuwait. It also provided food, laundry, transportation and other services to U.S. peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, Croatia and Hungary during the Balkans conflict in the 1990s.

Estimates of how much Halliburton and other companies could reap from the infrastructure and restoration work vary, but analyst Michael Urban of Deutsche Bank said it could be as much as a total of $3 billion.

DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB

How much Halliburton would get is difficult to gauge, though any contracts it wins would certainly generate revenue, cash flow and earnings.

The potential contracts come at a time when Halliburton is contending with its liability for asbestos-related personal injury lawsuits, though the company made progress last December with a $4 billion settlement deal.

"The stock price would reflect that they have had investor concern over the ultimate (asbestos) liability," said Pierre Conner, an analyst with Hibernia Southcoast Capital who rates Halliburton a "buy" and does not own any of its shares.

The contracts also may not do much for the company's stock price, since the firefighting business is not a recurring one and the profit margins of the construction business are not typically high.

"While both would be positives to Halliburton, they aren't in our opinion overriding reasons to buy the stock," Wicklund said.

"I would think if you got any jump in the stock, it would be short-lived and somewhat muted by history. It's like winning a $3 lottery ticket. It beats not winning, but you can't quit your day job."

Halliburton shares were up 54 cents or about 2.6 percent to $20.36 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The stock is up 11.7 percent this year through Tuesday's close, outperforming Schlumberger, which is down 6.2 percent, as well as the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Oil Service Index .OSX , which is down less than 1 percent, both in same period.

Icing on the cake.



JULY 30:

According to papers filed with the IRS on July 15, nearly $14 million magically poured into the Bush/Cheney Florida recount effort - four times the amount raised by the Gore/Lieberman camp.

The money flowed in so fast, and in such enormous chunks, that Bush campaign officials - unaccustomed to Bush's perennial good fortune - were dumbfounded. "I think we were a little bit stunned by the amount we received," Benjamin Ginsberg, a Bush attorney for the recount, told USA Today.

According to IRS documents, the Bush campaign took in $13.8 million, most in large contributions. Listed among those large contributors were Bush and Cheney's two most reliable genies - Enron and Halliburton.

While the Gore/Lieberman campaign filed its IRS disclosures of their Florida recount expenditures months ago, the Bush's recount fund filed the required forms at the very last moment allowed by law. July 15 was the final day of an IRS amnesty program for groups that hadn't already complied with the law.

"They obviously begrudgingly disclosed, and did it way after the fact," said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. "It's better than nothing, but it would have been better to have disclosed it when the money was coming in."

The filings show that as soon as a recount was announced, Bush forces moved quickly. Money was no object. They dispatched over 100 lawyers to Florida and Texas, booking hundreds of plane tickets, rental cars and hotel rooms.

Among the expenditures listed was a payment of $13,000 to Enron Corp. and $2,400 to Halliburton Co. for the use of their corporate jets and other unspecified services.

"Eighteen months after the election, we find that the (Bush) administration literally flew into office on the Enron corporate jet," said Jennifer Palmieri, press secretary for the Democratic National Committee. "The administration's close ties with unscrupulous corporations like Enron and Halliburton prevent it from showing real leadership on corporate reform."

Former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and his wife also donated $5,000 apiece, according to the filings.

Wow,
Thanks FC you've cleared up all the confusion, America thanks you, now post something about fishing, or are you just fishing for an arguement? If so you can give Montey Pythons skit a run for its money. You've made your point now move on to something that we can all use, like a good close to shore fishing report.
Hold on a second, I've got a call .................................................. .......... It's Michael Moore on the line, he said you should come home now.

Unfortunately I have no fish to report. It will be couple of weeks yet. In the meantime this seems slightly important.

No one ever said that there weren't other potential, lesser "motives" for this war as you and Mr. Alive state.....all I am saying is that those other "motives" that Mr. Alive points to are DEFINATELY subordinate to the true motives of protecting the citizenry of the US, and freeing the world of a great threat. It is funny how the liberals says this is about oil. What personal oil interest did Clinton have when he and his administartion bombed Iraq in 1998 for the same reasons we are doing it now? Seems to me if Iraq REALLY wanted the world to hate the US they would have complied with all the UN resolutions, and not given the US any reason to try to remove their regime.

For me, the foundamental flaw in your agrument seems to be that, in your opinion, the US would have invaded Iraq even if Heussein had adhered to ALL the UN resolutions and destroyed all his illegal weapons. Again, as I have said before, the US buys a relative small amount of oil from Iraq. Go to http://www.ott.doe.gov/facts/archives/fotw246.shtml to see for yourself. If this war was about oil solely, we'd be bombing downtown Montreal right now.

Remember, Mr. Alive claimed that the US was a far greater threat to world peace then Iraq. Of course, I can see this if he means the US will engage in more wars then Iraq will -- probably true as the US beleives (sometimes, not always -- which is unfortunate IMO) it is our duty to help the oppressed throughout the world. Seems to me that the liberal thinking on this matter favors that each country act as isolationists, and "minds our own business". If that is the case, go tell the millions of Jews that Hitler killed to take care of him themselves; go tell the millions of Kurds, Kuwaitis, and Shiate Muslims that Heussein has killed to take care of him themselves; go tell the millions of people in France, Russia and Poland to all speak German because we libertaed them all from Hitler. And the list goes on and on.

The US is not perfect, but it is far better then any other country or governmental structure in this world. It has "good intnetions" at it's core, unlike regimes and dictatorships who care little for their people and only themselves. Remember, our rulers need to do the right thing, or else the get kicked out after 4 years. When was the last time Saddam was kicked out becuase his people said so?

Moralistically, for me, the liberal way of thinking is not steeped in much religious or moralistic attitudes. The liberals have short memories -- aren't they usually quite vocal with environmental issues?? (Greenpeace, etc.). If so, how could they EVER favor the regime of Saddam Heussein staying in power with what he has done for the environment? At least George W. has to go before Congress to try to get the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge Drillijng Act passed......and that isd why the US is so great......the Congress said "NO".

So please, don't give me "personal" motives for this war......

Where did you fish last year?
What do you fish for and how?
Did you make it to the show, or were you tied up with protests against the US this weekend?

BTW - I read the Reuters report a few days ago as well......it doesn't say that this war is about oil or contracts for Halliburton.....al it said is that they share to gain in the rebuilding process......what do you expect from our government? To not have a plan before going into something like this?

Please -- to say this war is about making #^&#^&#^&#^& Cheney wealthy is a joke....he already is wealthy.....and besides, Clinton invaded Iraq in 1998 (a democrat), and he couldn't even spell Cheney......

LOL.....:D

See my other thread.......

We need an "ignore" feature on this site.

ah-ha..unsubscribe...

STEVE,

I will assume that the Bush administration is not stupid and understands the truths in the article that you posted.

Why then, are they so in favor of the war?

FCAlive, I agree that these things are disturbing and that these should be bigger stories on a domestic political level. Election reform is a separate issue and needs to be addressed. And if we can spend a year and 40 million dollars to investigate Bill Clinton's sex life, I'd be very interested in VP Cheney's involvement in Enron... clearly a bigger issue than groping some chubby intern.

There will always be a conflict of interest when someone who is supposed to serve the public, gets millions from a few big corps for their campaign.

We aren't debating the Enron scandal and big corps are in bed with politics on both sides of the fence.

It pisses me off and that's a big part of my beef with our gov't, but...

You're really losing me with suggesting that Bush and Cheney started a war for personal finances. It takes more than a few people to start a war and the senate and congress who approved the action, along with the 40-some odd countries who support the war I doubt have stock in these companies.

This is pretty far out there and you are the one who wants intelligent debate. Do you really believe that a few guys got together for a beer and decided to start a war with Iraq to make some cash?

LOL........:D

Really made me laugh the way you phrased that......his decision to "grope a chubby intern" only called into question his decision making capabilities....I'll leave it to you to decide wether his fault in his decision making was the groping part or the chubby intern part.......;)

This isn't a Democrat vs. Republican issue.

Clinton being wrong doesn't (in the slightest) make Bush right.

FC-

Why don't you go grope a chubby male intern?

Come on FC, EVEN YOU had to chuckle at that one.........

Fishweewee,

If the television news told you to swallow a foot long crap you'ld gobble it down smiling. You've swallowed everything else they're feeding you.



Great, you've taken your shots, I took a shot. I am posting here in order to change people's minds about the war and trading insults is a waste of everybody's time. Can we stick to the issues please.

FC,

I can only spit as hard as you suck.

-WW

Since when did I say this was a Republican versus Democrat issue, you paranoid pinhead!

This is simply an issue of intelligent people refuting the dribble of an ultra-left wing liberal pinhead.....YOU!

OK - this is unraveling to useless drivel... If ya want to go for round three, please do so sans goo gobling sewer mouths please :laughs: