Kellogg, Brown, and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, is
building and providing logistical support for the war in Iraq and
in other countries involved in the U.S. war on terrorism, including
Afghanistan, Djibouti, Georgia, Jordan, and Uzbekistan. It?s no
small secret that Dick Cheney served as the chief executive of
Halliburton or that he still receives a million dollar-a-year
compensation package from the company.
According to a CorpWatch report by Pratap Chatterjee,
KBR has secured an open-ended mandate and budget to build military
facilities and recreational amusement centers for military
personnel wherever the U.S. war on terror happens to take them. In
Kuwait they?ve built tented cities adorned with gravel terraces,
Burger King, Subway, and Baskin-Robbins to help the troops feel
more at home. In Turkey 1,500 civilians are working with the
company to build and sustain U.S. military posts. ?The reason that
the military goes to contracting is largely because it?s more cost
effective in certain areas,? says Major Toni Kemper, head of public
affairs at the base. ?We don?t have to pay for health care and all
of the other things for the employees, that?s up to their
employer.?
Halliburton was one of five U.S. corporations competing for
contracts to rebuild Baghdad and other Iraqi cities destroyed in
the current war, however, critics say such strong ties between
government and big business represent a conflict of interests. ?The
Bush-Cheney team has turned the United States into a family
business,? says Harvey Wasserman, author of The Last Energy
War. ?That?s why we haven?t seen Cheney?he?s cutting deals
with his old buddies who gave him a multimillion-dollar golden
handshake. Why don?t they just have Enron run America? Or have
Zapata Petroleum (George W. Bush?s failed oil-exploration venture)
build a pipeline across Afghanistan??
–Nick Garafola
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Halliburton
Makes a Killing on Iraq War