Operation OIL - The Weak In Review - October 31st, '03

[greedy_lars]

Mushroom clouds...

Iraq 'shelved nuclear plans'

By Jon Leyne

Iraq's nuclear programme may have been disbanded in 1991. New evidence acquired by the Washington Post newspaper suggests that Iraq made no attempt to restart its nuclear programme following the first Gulf War in 1991. It follows the report presented by the weapons inspector David Kay earlier this month who admitted they had not found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The information obtained by the newspaper suggests there is no evidence of any renewed nuclear programme in Iraq in the last 12 years. Perhaps even more seriously, the evidence suggests that the Bush administration did not take its own warnings very seriously either.

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U.S. Postwar Death Toll in Iraq Hits New Milestone
Wed Oct 29, 8:26 AM ET

By Alistair Lyon

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. postwar combat death toll in Iraq climbed past the number of soldiers killed during the invasion when the U.S. military said Wednesday it had lost two more dead in a roadside bomb north of Baghdad.

Their deaths brought to 116 the number of U.S. troops killed in hostilities since President Bush declared major combat over on May 1, surpassing the 115 killed in the war launched on March 20 to topple Saddam Hussein.

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Nations back off sending troops

By Tom Squitieri

Bangladesh and Portugal won't deploy forces to Iraq; decision is postponed in South Korea
WASHINGTON -- Bangladesh and Portugal, two nations the Pentagon has pressed to send combat troops to Iraq, have decided against contributing to the U.S.-led force there. A third nation that once promised to send troops, South Korea, says it has not made up its mind and has delayed a decision pending further study.
Turkey has agreed to send 10,000 troops but is waiting to hear from the Pentagon when and where they should go. U.S. officials have delayed discussing specifics with Turkey because of opposition to the Turkish deployment from Kurds who live in northern Iraq. Turkish officials say their offer will stand for a year but that none of its forces will be deployed unless the Pentagon gets public assurances of support from the Kurds.

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"thousands and thousands"

Private study estimates Iraqi war dead at 13,000

WASHINGTON (AFP) - An estimated 13,000 Iraqis, including as many as 4,300 non-combatants, were killed during the major combat phase of the war in Iraq, a research group found in a study.

The Project on Defense Alternatives said its estimate was based on a review of US combat data, battlefield press reports, and Iraqi hospital surveys. The study covered the period from March 19 to the end of April.


The Pentagon has refrained from making estimates of Iraqi dead in either the 1991 Gulf War or the latest conflict.


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White House pressed on 'mission accomplished' sign

Navy suggested it, White House made it, both sides say

From Dana Bash


Wednesday, October 29, 2003

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- What was once viewed as a premier presidential photo op continues to dog President Bush six months after he landed on an aircraft carrier to declare "one victory" in the war on terrorism and an end to major combat operations in Iraq.

Attention turned Tuesday to a giant "Mission Accomplished" sign that stood behind Bush aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln when he gave the speech May 1.

The president told reporters the sign was put up by the Navy, not the White House.

"I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man from my staff -- they weren't that ingenious, by the way," the president said Tuesday.



President Bush addresses the nation from aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1 with the banner in the background.

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Congress Nixes Extra Pay for Some Troops
Wed Oct 29, 2:34 AM ET

By KEN GUGGENHEIM,

WASHINGTON - House-Senate negotiators considering an $87 billion package for Iraq and Afghanistan have rejected a Democratic proposal to compensate federal employees on active duty with the National Guard and reserves.

The proposal by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., would have made up the differences between the workers' regular salaries and their service incomes, as many states and private employers are already doing. He said 23,000 federal employees would be affected.

The Senate had included the provision in its version of the Iraq spending bill, but senators in the conference agreed to eliminate it Tuesday in a 16-13 vote that was mainly along party lines.

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Reps: U.S. Overpaying Halliburton for Gas
Wed Oct 29, 7:24 PM ET

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is paying Vice President Dick Cheney's former firm Halliburton "enormous sums" -- $2.65 a gallon -- for gasoline imported into Iraq from Kuwait, two lawmakers charged on Wednesday.

Democrats Rep. Henry Waxman of California and Rep. John Dingell of Michigan said this gross overpayment was made worse by the fact that the U.S. government was turning around and reselling the gasoline in Iraq for four to 15 cents a gallon.

In a letter of complaint sent to President Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice , the two lawmakers said experts they consulted think the cost of buying and transporting gasoline from Kuwait into Iraq should cost less than $1 a gallon.

The Iraqi oil company SOMO is paying only 97 cents a gallon to import gasoline from Kuwait to Iraq, they said.

Waxman added in a statement: "We know that someone is getting rich importing gasoline into Iraq. What we don't know is who is making the money, Halliburton or the Kuwaitis?"

Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root, which defends its pricing as fair, has a contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild Iraq's oil sector. This has included importing oil products in short supply as the oil-rich nation's refineries are brought back into production.

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and on a related note
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Halliburton Contract Extended in Iraq
Wed Oct 29, 6:28 PM ET

By LARRY MARGASAK

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney's former company will retain a no-bid contract in Iraq longer than expected, the Bush administration said Wednesday, blaming sabotage of oil facilities for delays in replacement contracts.

Halliburton's contract, worth $1.59 billion so far, will be extended until December or January while the government receives and evaluates revised bids for replacement work that could total $2 billion.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which administers the oil industry rehabilitation, already has received competitive bids for replacement contracts, and hoped to announce the winners this month. The Corps said it was forced to revise the workload requirements because of continued sabotage and a need to provide additional security.


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Report Says Iraq Contracts Reek of Cronyism
Thu Oct 30, 2:41 PM ET

By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many of the U.S. firms doing billions of dollars of work in Iraq and Afghanistan have been big donors to President Bush and his Republican Party and fill their boards with political and military heavyweights, a report on Thursday said.

The report by the watchdog group, the Center for Public Integrity, said most of the 70 firms and individuals getting up to $8 billion in contracts for post-war Iraq and Afghanistan donated more to Bush's presidential campaign -- a little over $500,000 -- than any other candidate in the past decade.

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busy week.
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