More on Iraq

[Guest M. McRae]

Another illusion shattered!

Iraq Windfall

Corporations Benefit From Costs of Iraq Reconstruction

By Jake Tapper

W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 6 — Paul Bremer, the U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, has said the reconstruction there would require "several tens of billions of dollars" in just the next year.

Americans may think this cash is all going to U.S. soldiers or the Iraqi people.

Guess again.

"Much of it is going to big companies like Halliburton and Bechtel, which are doing extremely well in terms of their own profitability," Chellie Pingree, president of the citizens' activist group Common Cause, told ABCNEWS. "Much of that money is just coming back to their stockholders in the company and their CEO."

More Lucrative Than Thought

Apparently, it is an ever-increasing amount.

Army documents show Halliburton will make more than previously thought — $1.7 billion for contracts ranging from hot meals to hunting for weapons of mass destruction, with much of the money generated by an exclusive, no-bid contract.

Bechtel's contract to rebuild Iraqi infrastructure such as airports and schools had been capped at $680 million. But now it may exceed $1 billion.

The Pentagon argues that the military is stretched thin and needs the help.

"We're trying to get some rules changed the way the Department of Homeland Security did and the way some other departments have some flexibility so that people can make rational decisions," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Aug. 20 during a trip to Honduras.

The degree to which private contractors are being used in Iraq is unprecedented. But there are questions about employee safety, cost savings and favoritism in bidding.

"From England to other countries around the world, you have nations who say, 'Why weren't we allowed to participate in this process?' " Pingree said. "Perhaps if [they] were, [they would] also be sending in troops to support the effort. It doesn't seem like it's cost-effective and doesn't seem like it's good policy."

Army of Halliburton, Bechtel?

Some question the entire policy of privatization.

"At the end of the day you're turning over national security and soldiers' lives to private companies that you can't always depend on, because they're only responsible to the marketplace," said P.W. Singer, author of the book Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry.

But already pending are $2 billion worth of new contracts — more potential cash for a small number of well-connected American companies.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/World/iraq_reconstruction030906.html

[Guest JakeYYZ]

Meacher sparks fury over claims on September 11 and Iraq war

Michael Meacher, who served as a minister for six years until

three months ago, today goes further than any other mainstream

British politician in blaming the Iraq war on a US desire for

domination of the Gulf and the world.

Link: http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/comment/0,12956,1036687,00.html

Whatever you think of it, the fact that a British ex-MP is now publicly

denouncing the neocon agenda is pretty strong stuff.

[Guest The Gapper]

Why do you think Germany and France told the Us to shove the "UN security force" propsition by the US up their A$$. They want other countries to sacrifice the soldiers while the US remains in control and US companies get the contracts to rebuild Iraq. Mr. Bush u can't have it both ways, as far as I'm concerned the US ground forces are NOW martyr's for US big business. I wonder who decides what the dollar value of a US soldier's life is worth

Just my opinion

[deicer]

Here are the official plans for rebuilding Irag.....

http://www.whitehouse.org/news/2003/031303.asp

[DEFCON]

Interesting observations by a Federal Judge and how he came to support the

American activities in Iraq.

What follows is a summary of a lecture by Judge Don Walters, a federal

judge who was asked to serve as part of a 12 man team in Iraq to evaluate

their justice system. His comments are most interesting, and afterwards, a

friend asked if he had a book or a recording of any of his lectures.

Since he did not, he was generous enough to share his notes from the evening.

For those of you interested, I will give you a slightly abridged version of

those notes which I found difficult to cut down due to the wealth of

information they contained...

THE LECTURE:

I really am not into public speaking as I am sure you are about to find

out. But my adventures in Iraq taught me something that I would very much

like to share with you. I have been fortunate over the past 5 or 6 years

to get to such exotic places as Bosnia, Jakarta, Indonesia, and Morocco.

But, Iraq is my swan song. First, I am too old for such adventures, and

second, Charlotte (my wife) won't let me. In mid-April, I got a call from

DoJ asking if I would be willing to go to Iraq for up to 3 months to

evaluate the justice system and make recommendations. When I went home,

Charlotte said without a pause, "how could I possibly tell you, no?"

Let me begin with a disclaimer, I was in Iraq for fewer than 40 days, I was

in Baghdad for a little over three weeks and in the three provinces of the

far south for two weeks. I am limited in what I saw and heard. Needless

to say, the opinions are my own. I want to make it clear that, initially,

I vehemently opposed the war.

The team of 12 that went to Iraq was to access the judiciary and to make

recommendations for the future. We were sent too soon and without

sufficient planning and forethought. Accordingly we were forced to play

our part by ear. Ultimately, we were successful. No thanks to the civil

authorities in Washington or Iraq.

We were divided into 4 teams. We were the southern team: Mike Farhang, an

AUSA from Los Angeles, Harvard Summa Undergraduate, Harvard Law Review,

Linguist, 5 languages including Arabic; Rich Coughlin, Federal Public

Defender from New Jersey, who abandoned his wife and 23 month old daughter

to volunteer for this; and me. We were accompanied by an interpreter and

protected by what I called our "minders," four Iraqis well-armed with 9mm

hand guns and AK47's.

During the first two weeks, we talked to a few hundred Iraqis and

interviewed about 60 judges. Our help came from our Danish colleagues and

the First Armored Division (UK), not from the civil authorities - OPCA,

Office of the Provisional Coalition Authority, (formerly ORHA), Ambassador

Brenner's group.

Despite my initial opposition to the war, I am now convinced, whether we

find any weapons of mass destruction or prove Saddam sheltered and

financed terrorists, absolutely, we should have overthrown the Baathists, indeed,

we should have done it sooner.

What changed my mind?

When we left mid June, 57 mass graves had been found, one with the bodies

of 1200 children. There have been credible reports of murder, brutality

and torture of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Iraqi citizens. There is

poverty on a monumental scale and fear on a larger one. That fear is

still palpable.

I have seen the machines and places of torture. I will tell you one story

told to me by the Chief of Pediatrics at the Medical College in Basra. It

was one of the most shocking to me, but I heard worse.

One of Saddam's security agents was sent to question a Shiite in his home.

The interrogation took place in the living room in the presence of the

man's wife, who held their three month old child. A question was asked

and the thug did not like the answer; he asked it again, same answer. He

grabbed the baby from its mother and plucked its eye out. And then

repeated his question. Worse things happened with the knowledge, indeed

with the participation, of Saddam, his family and the Baathist regime.

Thousands suffered while we were messing about with France and Russia and

Germany and the UN. Every one of them knew what was going on there, but

France and the UN were making millions administering the food for oil program.

We cannot, I know, remake the world, nor do I believe we should. We cannot

stamp out evil, I know. But this time we were morally right and our

economic and strategic interests were involved. I submit that just because

we can't do everything doesn't mean that we should do nothing.

We must have the moral courage to see this through, to do whatever it takes

to secure responsible government for the Iraqi people. Having decided to

topple Saddam, we cannot abandon those who trust us. I fear we will quit

as the horrors of war come into our living rooms. Look at the stories you

are getting from the media today. The steady drip, drip, drip of bad news

may destroy our will to fulfill the obligations we have assumed. WE ARE

NOT GETTING THE WHOLE TRUTH FROM THE NEWS MEDIA.

The news you watch, listen to and read is highly selective. Good news doesn't sell.

90% of the damage you see on tv was caused by Iraqis, not by US. All the damage

you see to schools, hospitals, power generation facilities, refineries,

pipelines and water supplies, as well as shops, museums, and semi-public

buildings (like hotels) was caused either by the Iraqi army in its death

throes or Iraqi civilians looting and rioting.

The day after the war was over, there was nearly 0 power being generated in

Iraq. 45 days later, 1/3 of the total national potential of 8000 MW is up

and running. Downed power lines are being repaired and were about 70%

complete when I left. There is water purification where little or none

existed before...this time to everyone.

Oil is 95% of the Iraqi GNP. In order for Iraq to survive, it must sell

oil. All the damage to the oil fields was done by the Iraqi army or

looters. The 14 story office building of the Southern Iraq Oil Company in

Basra was torched by Baathist, destroying all of the books, records and

computers of the company. Today, the refinery at Bayji is at 75% of

capacity. The crude pipeline between Kirkuk and Bayji has been repaired,

though the Baathist keep trying to disrupt it.

If we are doing all this for the people, why are they shooting us?

The general population isn't. By my sample, 90% are glad we came and the

majority doesn't want us to leave for some time to come, but there are

still plenty of bad guys, the Baathists who lived well under Saddam. The

thugs of the old regime still hope to return to power, and there are plenty

of them, mostly located in Sunni areas. Then too, Saddam, in the Ramadan

amnesty, let every murderer, butcher, rapist and violent criminal loose on

his own people. There are interests, including organized crime, with a

desire for anarchy and profit. There are disruptive forces from Saudi

Arabia, Iran and Syria.

We saw poverty on a scale that I have never witnessed except in pictures of

Haiti. I saw one little girl: she was slender, very pretty, about 5 or 6

years old, in a tattered dress with a broad red hem, part of which was torn

and dragging in the dirt. She would touch her heart and make hungry

gestures. She was duplicated a thousand times during the journey.

The poverty in Iraq is a sharp contrast to the lives of Saddam and his

sons. Saddam alone, not counting Ouday and Qusay and the leading

Baathists, had 43 palaces. We are using several for civilian government.

The one where OPCA is located is the main republican palace occupying over

2000 acres. It is a monument to narcissism, four 25 foot tall heads of

Saddam decorate the front of the palace, and his portraits and statues are

everywhere.

We went to a second palace by the airport. It is surrounded by a lake

which was created by diverting the Euphrates water which limited

agricultural irrigation downstream. His palace in Basra was used by him

only once I am told.

Basra functions fairly well except for the power. There are 6 lines into

the city, but it does not have a standard power grid. Saddam used power

and other essentials as a method of punishing a city of 3 million! He

would cut power for days to punish them. When I tell you the temperatures

there, you will understand how bad that was. I am told that in high

summer, it will hit 155 degrees, even 160! He has made no investments in

this area which is overwhelmingly Shiite. He has few friends there.

Consequently, it is easier for the Brits to govern, unlike Baghdad. And

they are doing a good job of it. They are doing it at the moment by using

pre-war personnel, perhaps contrary to Brenner's de-Baathification order.

The problem with Brenner's policy is that it removes almost all of the

people who ran the country. The Brits have been pragmatic: they have

largely left the judges and police in place and are removing them as they

see the need and they are able to train and replace the bad ones. That was

our problem in Haiti, we trained a police force but did not put the

judiciary in place so that the jails just filled up and then overcrowding

forced criminals out. And the Haitian police have largely quit. (Ouday

had a solution to overcrowding, when he received a complaint of

overcrowding, he went to the prison and personally shot every 3rd

prisoner.)

We want to keep Iraq a secular state, and that will present some

difficulties as there is no real concept of separation of church and state

in Islam. Attaturk was a true revolutionary where this was concerned. The

tribal and sahria (religious) courts are functioning, and if we don't get

a move on, they will replace the civil and criminal courts.

I find it difficult to explain how differently they think. I remember

telling Mike, "I don't think we are on the same page with this fellow."

Mike said, "Don, I am not sure we are in the same library." For a large

percentage of the Iraqi people, and they are most adamant, family and

tribe are everything, religion and state are one and the same. That they don't

understand us is our biggest problem in the middle east. They perceive

our way of life as a threat to theirs,...and it is. They fear the modern

world is about to run over them, destroying family life as they know it,

educating and freeing their women, forbidding honor killing...coca colas,

jeans, lack of parental respect and respect for the old ways and religion.

And to defend their way of life and their religion, they will die with the

same fervor with which the Christians marched to the lions. In their fear

of western life, some will fight and kill us; but I remain convinced that

the majority want a secular society and the best that the west has to

offer. We are not hated by everyone. Of the hundreds I talked to, the

overwhelming majority thanked us for being there. Hundreds of adults and

children on the roads waved and smiled as we passed by.

We went to the law school with about 300 students, about ten of whom were

female. There we were, three Americans and they wanted us to fix their

school and they thought we could. They thought Americans could do

anything. They were like children expecting the genie from the bottle to

immediately gratify their needs.

The law students were the finest example of hope that I encountered. They

told me that the future was theirs and that they needed and wanted our

help. I believe we should be paying more attention and giving greater

effort to restoring higher education. These law students are the

immediate future. When we met with them a week later, they had formed a protective

association, a bus for transportation, found a disused grammar school for

classes, and got their assistant dean to round up some professors who were

teaching them. Still they need help and I am trying to get some help for

them from our law schools. LSU has refused, Seton Hall and Rutgers have

promised to help; I have not contacted Tulane, Loyola or Southern yet.

Upon returning to Baghdad, I went to the Ministry of Justice to review the

situation in the south. I took advantage of the situation and said the

following: "I have read a little of your history. I know you are a proud

people who have risen from the ashes in the past, so I must tell you that

I am saddened and disappointed. I have talked to hundreds of you over the

past five weeks, almost everyone educated and privileged. What I have

heard is what you want from us, how the Americans have to fix this and

give you money and equipment, protect you from you own. The only adults

planning on the future were those law students in Basra who had lost

everything - their books, their desks, their records, their school. And

they were doing something about it on their own. You need to do some of

these things for yourselves. If you are depending on us to do everything,

you are going to be sadly disappointed."

I got a few nods from the judges, but the translator said to me: "Thank

you. I have been waiting for someone to tell them that."

Our soldiers, God love them and keep them; they smiled every time I got a

chance to talk to them. They want to come home, but I did not hear one

word of complaint nor a question as to why they were there. This is boring,

HOT, dirty, and dangerous work. They stand in 120 plus degrees in full body

armor. They are amazing. Their entertainment was largely self-generated;

boredom doesn't stop when they stand down. Write a letter, send a note or

email; send a book, cd, tape, or magazine; do something.

Thank you.

[UpperDeck]

Interesting, Defcon. Where did you get this "report" if I might ask? I undertook a Google search and could find no reference to a "Mr. Justice Donald Walters". Is there an error in your post or have I been failed by "Google"?

[Guest Nobias]

You must not have have looked very hard. I found it on Google. Here is a link.

[Guest blizzard]

Curious that portions of the text you quoted exactly match a letter in circulation on the internet from an Army Engineer.

Are you sure someone hasn't fabricated this tale you are passing on?

Read about the original letter on the Urban Legends website:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/rydbom.asp

[Guest JakeYYZ]

Better still..take a look at the site map (link: http://globalspecops.com/sitemap.html)

Scroll down to “writings” , some weird sheet there.

** tiptoes quietly out of the room **

[UpperDeck]

Nobias...I was being somewhat "tongue in cheek" because Defcon has an affinity for generating information from various "conservative-oriented" sources.

Walters may or may not have authored this letter. Donald Ellsworth Walter was nominated to the Federal Bench by Reagan in 1985 and became supernumerary in November, 2001. All of his education (including law degree) was pursued at Louisiana State University.

[DEFCON]

First post:

"Interesting, Defcon. Where did you get this "report" if I might ask? I undertook a Google search and could find no reference to a "Mr. Justice Donald Walters". Is there an error in your post or have I been failed by "Google"?"

..and the second:

"Nobias...I was being somewhat "tongue in cheek" because Defcon has an affinity for generating information from various "conservative-oriented" sources.

Walters may or may not have authored this letter. Donald Ellsworth Walter was nominated to the Federal Bench by Reagan in 1985 and became supernumerary in November, 2001. All of his education (including law degree) was pursued at Louisiana State University."

So I guess Google worked the second time out eh? From your inclusive remark I take it that somethings not up to snuff with regard to an LSU education?

[UpperDeck]

I don't know whether the fault lies with Google or with the subject matter of the search. I put my own name in and got three immediate "hits"; I put Walters name in and came up with nothing. As a result of Nobias' post, I conducted a search of the Federal judiciary and came up with a Judge Walters. Apparently, since and even prior to his appointment, he has done nothing noteworthy (obviously, not much is required given that my name was found) although the epistle the authorship of which is now attributed to him may generate fame that heretofore has been elusive.

LSU? I know nothing particular about LSU though I once had a very good friend who played defensive end at LSU.; for the Tigers, I believe.

[Guest blizzard]

The original quote had the name of the Judge wrong (correct is Don Walter, not Walters). This leads me to question the speech's validity. Judge Don Walter did indeed go to Iraq at the request of the DOJ (see link below), however I do question this supposed speech, which seems to have been partially generated from another letter circulating the internet. My supposition is that either someone has taken his name and created a fictional speech about his trip, or that the speech is genuine, but that Judge Walter himself plagerized a letter written by an Army Engineer. Either way, very strange.

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/May/03_ag_267.htm