Displaying 991 To 1,020 Of 3,237 Comments Understanding How the Military Works Yes and other international cartels were hard at work in this too. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 3:46 pm Blind trusts are a con man’s game if you have the (im) proper trustees. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 3:45 pm Stupefying isn’t it and all perfectly legal. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 3:44 pm Actually our current Sec of Def and the Joint Chiefs have joined the chorus of voices about a reduced military. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 3:17 pm Yep, that did it. Funny, in a very sad way. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 3:16 pm All legal because Cheney has all of his holdings in a “blind trust” which gave him amnesia in re. to his previous source of earnings and his contemporary holdings in stocks. Absurd. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 3:14 pm Now there’s work that we would know is an invetment in our future! » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 2:48 pm Sometimes an example like this one really drives the lessons home. As to those members of Congress. Who had to vote for the war, keep it funded and not ask nasty questions. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 2:47 pm I wonder if there might be other industries that might actually exist that develop the country’s economy, that move us toward energy independence, and that train our work force in tranferable peace time skills. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 2:28 pm KT—- the link malfunctioned. Rats! (Referring of course to both Cheney and Tony Soprano). » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 2:27 pm Cheney’s Halliburton Made $39.5 Billion on Iraq War By Angelo Young, International Business Times 20 March 2013 The accounting of the financial cost of the nearly decade-long Iraq War will go on for years, but a recent analysis has shed light on the companies that made money off the war by providing support services as the privatization of what were former U.S. military operations rose to unprecedented levels. Private or publicly listed firms received at least $138 billion of U.S. taxpayer money for government contracts for services that included providing private security, building infrastructure and feeding the troops. Ten contractors received 52 percent of the funds, according to an analysis by the Financial Times that was published Tuesday. The No. 1 recipient? Houston-based energy-focused engineering and construction firm KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR), which was spun off from its parent, oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL), in 2007. The company was given $39.5 billion in Iraq-related contracts over the past decade, with many of the deals given without any bidding from competing firms, such as a $568-million contract renewal in 2010 to provide housing, meals, water and bathroom services to soldiers, a deal that led to a Justice Department lawsuit over alleged kickbacks, as reported by Bloomberg. Who were Nos. 2 and 3? Agility Logistics (KSE:AGLTY) of Kuwait and the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. Together, these firms garnered $13.5 billion of U.S. contracts. As private enterprise entered the war zone at unprecedented levels, the amount of corruption ballooned, even if most contractors performed their duties as expected. According to the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the level of corruption by defense contractors may be as high as $60 billion. Disciplined soldiers that would traditionally do many of the tasks are commissioned by private and publicly listed companies. Even without the graft, the costs of paying for these services are higher than paying government employees or soldiers to do them because of the profit motive involved. No-bid contracting – when companies get to name their price with no competing bid – didn’t lower legitimate expenses. (Despite promises by President Barack Obama to reel in this habit, the trend toward granting favored companies federal contracts without considering competing bids continued to grow, by 9 percent last year, according to the Washington Post.) Even though the military has largely pulled out of Iraq, private contractors remain on the ground and continue to reap U.S. government contracts. For example, the U.S. State Department estimates that taxpayers will dole out $3 billion to private guards for the government’s sprawling embassy in Baghdad. The costs of paying private and publicly listed war profiteers seem miniscule in light of the total bill for the war. Last week, the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University said the war in Iraq cost $1.7 trillion dollars, not including the $490 billion in immediate benefits owed to veterans of the war and the lifetime benefits that will be owed to them or their next of kin. ========================= Cheney, the CEO of Halliburton, prior to his VP stint In the five years he worked at the company, he received $12.5m in salary. He also held $39m-worth of stock options when he quit the company in 2000 – a fortune for a man with no previous experience in running a multinational company. In addition, Halliburton’s board of directors voted to award him early retirement when he quit his job, even though he was too young to qualify under his contract. That flexibility enabled him to leave with a retirement package, including stock and options, worth millions more than if he had simply resigned. Plus, Halliburton paid out Cheney an extra $1m during the time he served as vice-president. Cheney cashed in his remaining stock options gradually, starting with selling 100,000 Halliburton shares in May 2000, for an immediate profit of $3m. In 2005, Cheney exercised most of what remained of his Halliburton stock options for a $6.9m profit, all of which he donated to charity. (Most of it was donated to the Richard B Cheney Cardiac Institute at George Washington University.) ========================================== SO WHAT MOTIVATION MIGHT EXIST FOR HALLIBURTON TO GIVE SUCH A FINE SENDOFF TO THEIR INEXPERIENCED AND UNDERPERFORMING CEO? But he gave his profit to charity! Good, right? Think about the tax benefits. He had already cashed out most of his options and he was getting most of his Halliburton salary. Here’s the thing, as KBR’s chief exec Cheney was all that good. They lost a lot of money during h is time at the helm. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jun/08/dick-cheney-halliburton-supreme-court I wonder why they were so willing to give him a golden parachute? Hmmmmm…..do you think he owed them? Hmmmmm…..how could he repay them? Hmmmmm…..what we need is a nice little war….or two….hmmmmm [img]http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/caa58d8963147e2979b80ccace86c9441fffc891/c=494-0-4256-2826&r=x404&c=534×401/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/10/20/1382312827000-XXX-DICK-CHENEY0322-59157972.jpg[/img] Wartime has been very, very good to me. Sitting Pretty. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 2:03 pm The Bush Legacy 2.0: The Dissolving of Iraq Into Warring Factions Well done. Churchill once said that “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” The Middle East with its stew of ethnic, tribal, ideological and sectarian rivalry, antagonism and outright hostility has only been governed with positive effect by secular governments. As galling as it is to admit this, Saddam Hussein, as you point out, kept the forces in check with a political structure anchored in the Baath Party and provided a check on emerging Iranian power. The limited response to the invasion of Kuwait was a finely tuned action the more we look back on it. The farce that was the case for the W led invasion in 2003 and the disaster that the invasion represent in tactics and strategy are now being revisited. Perhaps Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and members of Congress like McCain will, at long last, be subject to the public scrutiny they deserve. Outlandish, welcome to the Planet. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 14, 2014 @ 5:20 am Neither the History Channel or National Geographic can be trusted any longer AS channels. Individual programs…a different matter. Both have had to go with a tabloid approach to gather viewers. World Net Daily is an on line newspaper and the mother of conspiracies. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 4:10 pm You wrote: You forgot to add, dear MTS, “daddy” also allegedly facilitated the killing of Pres. Kennedy. Of course dad also made a generous contribution to Yale so shrub could have his degree. ================ I did not forget to add it. That is World Net Daily Nonsense. Part of the ongoing effort to smear a moderate, limited war Republican who believed in paying for the wars you fight. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 2:17 pm George HW Bush AND THAT TELLS THE WHOLE STORY. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 4:13 am George HW Bush vs. George W. Bush AND THAT TELLS THE WHOLE STORY. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 4:05 am Very high praise indeed. I don’t not think I have the breath of Khirad’s commentary but I know how to do the research and that is helping to fill in the gap. Thanks for this kudo! » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 3:54 am IMAGINE….. Another”insertion” into the Middle East. This time with the U.S. in an alliance, a “coalition of the willing” featuring our staunch allies, the The Supreme Leader of Iran (Persian: ولی فقیه ایران, vali-e faghih-e iran, lit. Guardian Jurist of Iran, or رهبر انقلاب, rahbar-e enghelab, lit. Leader of the Revolution) the Ayattolah Ali Khamenei, and Bashar Hafez al-Assad (Arabic: بشار حافظ الأسد Baššār Ḥāfiẓ al-ʾAsad, Levantine pronunciation: [baʃˈʃaːr ˈħaːfezˤ elˈʔasad]; President of Syria, General Secretary of the Ba’ath Party and Regional Secretary of the party’s branch in Syria. And Nouri Kamil Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki (Arabic: نوري كامل محمد حسن المالكي; the Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the (Shiite) Islamic Dawa Party. opposed to the forces ISIS The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria/the Levant (Arabic: الدولة الاسلامية في العراق والشام ʾad-dawla ʾal-islāmiyya fīl-‘irāq waš-šām or Arabic: داعش dāʿiš), abbreviated as ISIS AND their allies? Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt????? It is Shia (the “good guys” vs Sunni “the bad guys”, at least today, folks. Yeah, that’s the ticket! » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 1:31 am DONALD RUMSFELD, PREDICTING THE COURSE OF THE WAR IN IRAQ There will be no World War III starting with Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared Thursday, and rejected concerns that a war would be a quagmire. “The idea that it’s going to be a long, long, long battle of some kind I think is belied by the fact of what happened in 1990,” he said on an Infinity Radio call-in program. He said the U.S. military is stronger than it was during the Persian Gulf War, while Iraq’s armed forces are weaker. “Five days or five weeks or five months, but it certainly isn’t going to last any longer than that,” he said. “It won’t be a World War III.” http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rumsfeld-it-would-be-a-short-war/ [img]http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/donald-rumsfeld-documentary.jpg[/img] BEWARE THE NEO-CONS… » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 17, 2014 @ 1:18 am I think historians will regard the Bush years as among the worst in presidential leadership in our history. The Planet has been a home for me since 2009. I am so please to see you here as well. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 15, 2014 @ 7:52 am Oh, I think that Iraq was on the screen of the neocon cabinet its puppet president for a long time and there was real concern in the cabinet that 9/11 and the resultant Afghan insertion was going to block them from doing what they really want to do: create an Islamic U.S. client state in the heart of the Middle East. For Bush- a winning argument was: We are finishing up what Daddy left undone. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 15, 2014 @ 7:48 am We can dream, can we not? » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 15, 2014 @ 7:45 am Churchill once said that “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” The Middle East with its stew of ethnic, tribal, ideological and sectarian rivalry, antagonism and outright hostility has only been governed with positive effect by secular governments. As galling as it is to admit this, Saddam Hussein, as you point out, kept the forces of chaos in check with a political structure anchored in the Baath Party, a ruthless police state with a common ground of ultra-nationalism and in the process provided a check on emerging Iranian power. The U.S. limited response to the invasion of Kuwait was a finely tuned action the more we look back on it. Of note, it was Poppy Bush whose CIA experience combined with generals who understood the limitations of power and the dangers of occupation that thwarted effort, even then, by Cheney et. al. leaders of the incipient Neocons to expand the scope of the Gulf War. After the war, Cheney mouthed the right words but never gave up on his dream- a U.S. client state, Muslim in nature, rich in oil with a strong military tradition…. The farce that was the case for the W led invasion in 2003 and the disaster that the invasion represent in tactics and strategy are now being revisited. Perhaps Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and members of Congress like McCain will, at long last, be subject to the public scrutiny they deserve. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 14, 2014 @ 5:54 am The Weekend Music Thread-Come Rain or Come Shine SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN Singin’ in the Rain is a 1952 American musical comedy film directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds, and choreographed by Kelly and Donen. It offers a lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late ’20s, with the three stars portraying performers caught up in the transition from silent films to “talkies.” The film was only a modest hit when first released, with O’Connor’s Best Supporting Actor win at the Golden Globes, Comden and Green’s win at the Writers Guild of America Awards, and the best supporting actress Oscar nomination for Jean Hagen being the only major recognitions. However, it was accorded its legendary status by contemporary critics. It is now frequently described as one of the best musicals ever made, and the best film ever made in the “Arthur Freed Unit” at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It topped the AFI’s 100 Years of Musicals list, and is ranked as the fifth greatest American motion picture of all time in its updated list of the greatest American films in 2007. The song is probably best known today as the centerpiece of the musical film Singin’ in the Rain (1952), in which Gene Kelly memorably danced to the song while splashing through puddles during a rainstorm. The song is also performed during the opening credits of the film. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singin%27_in_the_Rain
» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 15, 2014 @ 7:34 am No Longer Lost: Finding a New Home at Daily Kos and PlanetPOV I know real clear politics….thanks… » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 12, 2014 @ 8:11 pm I think they did a total blood replacement transfusion. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 12, 2014 @ 8:10 pm Well, I understand but for me it was the action that counted and they sent out a communique to a lot of people many of whom replied to me and got this info. So, the works were to the good. Please pass this info on to those still looking for a happy home. Copy and paste or provide a link….. Thanks. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 12, 2014 @ 8:08 pm The report is being amended to include a couple of items unintentionally omitted or misrepresented. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 12, 2014 @ 6:14 pm Yep…all our replies to comments but not a direct reply to a post. I left one for myself the top of this thread in reply to the post itself that begins with “By way of an explanation- this “report” is the one I have been sending to HP posters….” more than a half hour ago and no alert. Ad and I did test this and the system gives you alerts to replies to comments but not direct comments made to the post. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 12, 2014 @ 6:13 pm Whenever you are able. I will be making the same correction at Daily Kos and in the form that I send out to persons who contact me. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 12, 2014 @ 5:53 pmComments Posted By MurphTheSurf3
http://www.ibtimes.com/winner-most-iraq-war-contracts-kbr-395-billion-decade-1135905
did well, in fact very, very, very well at KBR and he did not deserve…then
President 4 years
VP for 8 years
Dir of the CIA for 1 year
Chief of the Liaion Office to the People’s Republic of China 2 years
Chairman of the RNC 1 year
Ambassador to the UN 2 year
Member of the House of Reps 5 years
Founder/Operator of his own oil company 17 years
Distinguished service as a naval aviator in WWII
Summa Cum Laude Yale Grad
vs.
George W. Bush
President, 8 years
Gov of Tx, 5 years,
Failed in his run for the House
Failed in the oil business
Co-owner of Tx Rangers (a pay off no matter how you look at it in anticipation of favors not yet dispensed)
Air National Guard with no combat and frequent promotion without a distinguished service record during the Vietnam War
Yale grad (barely)
President 4 years
VP for 8 years
Dir of the CIA for 1 year
Chief of the Liaion Office to the People’s Republic of China 2 years
Chairman of the RNC 1 year
Ambassador to the UN 2 year
Member of the House of Reps 5 years
Founder/Operator of his own oil company 17 years
Distinguished service as a naval aviator in WWII
Summa Cum Laude Yale Grad
President, 8 years
Gov of Tx, 5 years,
Failed in his run for the House
Failed in the oil business
Co-owner of Tx Rangers (a pay off no matter how you look at it in anticipation of favors not yet dispensed)
November 15, 2002, 1:54 PM
WRONG THEN, WRONG NOW, WRONG TOMORROW
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