...action has been coordinated with VP's office...

June 15, 2006 6:20 PM

"I am copying you on this crap since I honestly believe the competitive procurement will never happen." --a multi-billion-dollar no-bid contract to KBR/Halliburton announced only after the fact, Cheney's extensive involvement, the attempted coverup of that involvement, lies, and you. Embarrassment is not sufficient cause for exemption from the Freedom of Information Act, no matter how much some may wish. ...Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press in September 2003 Cheney stated, “I have absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts led by the [Army] Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the Federal Government.”
posted by amberglow (38 comments total)

Surely...
posted by pompomtom at 6:34 PM on June 15, 2006

Wait a minute, the Bush Administration lied to us? Now I'm pissed!

&c
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:44 PM on June 15, 2006

Being on Meet the Press != being under oath
posted by mathowie at 7:01 PM on June 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

Oooh! Oooh! My turn!
This is my surprised face:

:-|

posted by spacewrench at 7:11 PM on June 15, 2006

I predict that this thread will end up peppered in birdshot.
posted by isopraxis at 7:13 PM on June 15, 2006

I fact, isn't lying required on Meet the Press? Or is that just for Russert's cable show?
posted by wendell at 7:15 PM on June 15, 2006

Gee, I thought Halliburton got all those no-bid contracts because they were just that good.
posted by mek at 7:34 PM on June 15, 2006

Being on Meet the Press != being under oath

Well, that dosn't mean it's a good idea to just lie with impunity.
posted by delmoi at 7:35 PM on June 15, 2006

This report is brought to you by one of the sources that told us about the Rove indictment.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 7:42 PM on June 15, 2006

Judicial Watch Obtains Documents from Army Related to Halliburton Subsidiary’s No-Bid Iraq Contract
posted by homunculus at 8:04 PM on June 15, 2006

Being on Meet the Press != being under oath

Being on Meet the Press equals a free pass to lie to the public.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:23 PM on June 15, 2006

Oh, c'mon, no one believes anything on TV.
posted by klangklangston at 9:10 PM on June 15, 2006

Being on Meet the Press != being under oath

i missed the part where one need be under oath to tell the truth.
posted by Hat Maui at 9:11 PM on June 15, 2006

Being on Meet the Press != being under oath

Because issuing a categorical statement, no matter how obvious a lie, can't be held against you unless you're in court.

What a Dick.
posted by FormlessOne at 9:15 PM on June 15, 2006

Well, there was never a bible in the room.
-former Texas governor Bill Clements
posted by 2sheets at 9:23 PM on June 15, 2006

Oh, c'mon, no one believes anything on TV.

I can't believe they didn't kick off Jaymz on So You Think You Can Dance?. That dude could fuck up standing still.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:29 PM on June 15, 2006

So now who's going to get hauled off asking him about it?
posted by Smedleyman at 10:25 PM on June 15, 2006

The joke's on Cheney. He can lie and cheat all he wants, but there's no Republic left to undermine. Sucker!

I'd protest, but the designated 'free speech zone' for this scandal is located in a dark alley behind a crack house Gary, Indiana. I can't get there. I'm on a no-fly list. Apparently all eight hits on my blog were government agencies (plus one guy who thoughtfully recommended a product to enlarge my yankee doodle).
posted by Davenhill at 11:46 PM on June 15, 2006

This report is brought to you by one of the sources that told us about the Rove indictment.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste

Do you have a point?
posted by rough ashlar at 1:14 AM on June 16, 2006

what Davenhill said. whatever that was.
posted by Hat Maui at 3:33 AM on June 16, 2006

Being on Meet the Press != being under oath
posted by mathowie

Dishonesty != perjury
posted by Happy Monkey at 4:07 AM on June 16, 2006

This report is brought to you by one of the sources that told us about the Rove indictment.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste

Do you have a point?

he's been felching linnwood again.
posted by quonsar at 4:25 AM on June 16, 2006

We all saw the writing on the wall when Bunny Greenhouse was driven out, though, right?
posted by overanxious ducksqueezer at 4:41 AM on June 16, 2006

This report is brought to you by one of the sources that told us about the Rove indictment.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste

Do you have a point?
posted by rough ashlar

Look on top of the USS Clueless head for above mentioned feature.
posted by nofundy at 5:44 AM on June 16, 2006

Um well does Halliburton have any real competition on most of these large contracts? Probably not, but the idea of an open bid is to see if in fact there may be. However if there were time constraints, and if the Gubment wanted to have some assurance of qualifications, then Halliburton is the logical choice. I mean we can try another company when there's more time. Allowing a low bidder to Fuck it all up for the sake of the appearance of "competitive bidding" may not always be the safest course
posted by Gungho at 6:30 AM on June 16, 2006

There were Iraqi companies that could have done all the work, and we have laws about competitive bidding on govt. contracts, Gungho. This contract wasn't even announced to the public or put out for bidding until after it had already been awarded to Cheney's.
posted by amberglow at 6:53 AM on June 16, 2006

he's been felching linnwood again

Felching Linnwood would be an awesome band name.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:03 AM on June 16, 2006

Allowing a low bidder to Fuck it all up for the sake of the appearance of "competitive bidding" may not always be the safest course

Allowing a no-bidder to fuck it all up for the sake of squeezing another billion into the profit margin is rarely the safest option, either.
posted by Balisong at 7:27 AM on June 16, 2006

Every time I see one of these stories, I get my hopes up for just a moment. Then I think back to the allegations of Bush's AWOL time in the Guard, and the questionable circumstances of his release. Every story since then, has the same effect, except the high is less high and the hangover more severe.
posted by Doohickie at 9:16 AM on June 16, 2006

It's just one more notch in Cheney's lying bed post.

Arlen Specter is a liar, too.
posted by overanxious ducksqueezer at 9:37 AM on June 16, 2006

Bechtel is probably the only potential competitor to KBR etc., and they're not much better.
posted by feloniousmonk at 10:50 AM on June 16, 2006

No, there are several: Bechtel, Blackwater, Halliburton, Fluor, probably some more I don't know about, all fulfilling roughly overlapping roles in construction, energy, and mercenary forces.

The business model of these guys literally requires human blood as input. They cannot be non-coercively profitable.

Besides Iraq, various combinations of the above can be found doing private police work in many countries in South America, some parts of Africa, and post-Katrina Louisiana.
posted by sonofsamiam at 11:06 AM on June 16, 2006

" There are 34 competitors for Halliburton". The three listed are:

* Bechtel
* Schlumberger
* Technip

Certainly on such projects as food supplies for the military there are smaller competitiors that could easily have covered this (Sodexho, for example).

It's time to let the "lack of competitors" myth die.
posted by Kickstart70 at 11:23 AM on June 16, 2006

"The business model of these guys literally requires human blood as input."

Remind you of anyone?

Like say, maybe Satan perhaps?

Or how about those South American natives whose priest/rulers used to cut people's hearts out on an altar?

Sounds pretty much definitively evil to me.

And we let these fuckers run the world? Mm hm. Yeah, good job.
posted by zoogleplex at 2:42 PM on June 16, 2006

Well, yeah.

The way I look at things, brutality is in some way the real motivating force, the imposition of one's will on others.

Whether it is justified as necessary to appease the gods or necessary to "help the free market" (an oxymoron), doesn't matter.

The brutality is the invariant, the irrational justifications which are ostensibly the real motivating factors, and whether they are "capitalist" or "communist" or "religious", seem like a secondary phenomenon, a narrative imposed retroactively.
posted by sonofsamiam at 2:49 PM on June 16, 2006

The way I look at things, brutality is in some way the real motivating force, the imposition of one's will on others.

and the implications of that are beyond chilling.
posted by amberglow at 7:34 PM on June 16, 2006

just came across a really apt quote:
"WAR is a racket. It always has been. A few profit - and the many pay. But there is a way to stop it. You can't end it by disarmament conferences. You can't eliminate it by peace parleys at Geneva. Well-meaning but impractical groups can't wipe it out by resolutions. It can be smashed effectively only by taking the profit out of war. -- Major General Smedley Butler, USMC
posted by amberglow at 8:41 PM on June 17, 2006

Federal contracts up 86% under Bush; Halliburton rises 600%
posted by amberglow at 7:48 PM on June 19, 2006