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| IRAQ: U.S. Digs in for the Long Haul with Base Building
by Joshua Hammer, Mother Jones
February 28th, 2005
The omnipresence of the giant defense contractor Kellogg, Brown & Root, the shipments of concrete, the transformation of decrepit Iraqi military bases into fortified American enclavescomplete with Pizza Huts and DVD stores are just the most obvious signs that the United States has been digging in for the long haul. |
| IRAQ: Halliburton U.S. Army Contract Could Be Worth $6 Billion Extra
by Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg
February 25th, 2005
Congress in July approved a Bush administration request for $25 billion extra in fiscal 2005 and is now weighing a request for $75 billion more. Of that $100 billion, $6 billion could go to Halliburton, the world's second-biggest oilfield services company, according to the Army charts.
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| IRAQ: Contractor Death Total Unclear
by Kirsten Scharnberg , The Chicago Tribune
February 24th, 2005
At least 232 civilians working on U.S. military and reconstruction contracts have been killed there, many in violent but largely overlooked slayings, according to a report issued to Congress several weeks ago, but the death toll actually could be far higher.
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| U.S.A.: Army Awards Halliburton Bonuses for Some Iraq Work
by Sue Pleming , Reuters
February 24th, 2005
Although under scrutiny for its contracts in Iraq, Halliburton has been given bonuses for some of its work supporting the U.S. military in Kuwait and Afghanistan. The Army said KBR's performance has been rated as "excellent" to "very good" for more than a dozen "task orders" in Kuwait and Afghanistan supporting troops.
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| US: Ex-Boeing Finance Chief Gets Four Months in Prison
by Tony Capaccio , Bloomberg
February 18th, 2005
Former Boeing official, Michael Sears, was sentenced to four months in prison for deceiving the government by offering a job to a Pentagon official while negotiating a $23 billion defense contract. Sears, 57, also was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service. |
| SOUTH AFRICA: 'It's Not Our War'
by Graeme Hosken, The Daily News & Independent Online
February 17th, 2005
National police confirmed that several South African companies and businessmen were being investigated by SAPS Crimes Against the State Unit (CASU) detectives for recruiting former specialised policemen and soldiers to work in Iraq.
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| IRAQ: Waste, Fraud and War
by Jim Hoagland, The Washington Post
February 17th, 2005
The picture that emerges from multiple, overlapping inquiries into the world's management of Iraq's people and oil wealth since 1991 is appalling. It is a portrait inhabited by crooks, inept managers and ostensibly well-meaning diplomats and security experts with hidden agendas.
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| IRAQ: Private Security contractors Largely Unregulated
by By Lisa Myers & the NBC investigative unit, NBC News
February 16th, 2005
Though contractors can use lethal force, the U.S. government does not vet who is hired. The Pentagon says it does watch how companies perform and investigates any alleged misconduct. |
| IRAQ: Millions of Dollars Paid in Cold, Hard Cash to Some Defense Contractors
by John E. Mulligan, The Providence Journal
February 15th, 2005
Franklin Willis, a former official with the Coalition Provision Authority, told the Senate Democratic Policy Commmittee that after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq was "like the Wild West -- awash in $100 bills." One contractor, Custer Battles, was paid with $2 million in fresh U.S. bills, stuffed into a gunnysack, he said. |
| CHINA: An Arms Cornucopia? Europe Will Probably Lift its Embargo
by John Rossant with Dexter Roberts, BusinessWeek
February 15th, 2005
The prospect of supplying the nation with the world's fifth-largest military budget is enough to make any European defense contractor take notice. Beijing's defense outlay has been growing by 10% to 12% a year for the past decade, to an estimated $151 billion. |
| IRAQ: Contractor Employees Say Brutality Against Iraqis Led Them to Quit
by Lisa Myers & the NBC Investigative Unit, NBC News
February 15th, 2005
There are new allegations that heavily armed private security contractors in Iraq are brutalizing Iraqi civilians. In an exclusive interview, four former security contractors told NBC News that they watched as innocent Iraqi civilians were fired upon, and one crushed by a truck. The contractors worked for an American company paid by U.S. taxpayers. The Army is looking into the allegations.
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| IRAQ: Poor Oversight of Seized Iraqi Funds Blamed on Coalition Policy
by Elise Castelli, The Los Angeles Times
February 15th, 2005
just two weeks after an audit by the special inspector general for Iraqi reconstruction found inadequate oversight of unauthorized contracts and a loss of $9 billion in Iraqi funds, a witness told Democrats on Capitol Hill said key decisions by the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq enabled contractors to bilk billions in reconstruction funds. |
| IRAQ: No Shortage of Applicants Wanting to Work as War Zone Contractors
by Particia Kitchen , Newsday
February 13th, 2005
Despite extensive media coverage of the kidnappings, beheadings and suicide attacks on civilian workers, one in ten applicants for jobs with the Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root, remain willing to take those well-paying truck driver, food service, laundry and maintenance positions in Iraq.
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| SOUTH AFRICA: Eyeing Tough New Mercenary Laws
by Gordon Bell, Reuters
February 12th, 2005
With South African mercenaries having shown up in civil wars in Sierra Leone, Angola, Ivory Coast, Papua New Guinea, and, now being active in Iraq, South Africa will review tough new laws to try to dissuade citizens from becoming embroiled in war zones. |
| IRAQ: U.N. Oil-for-Food Head Blocked Audit
by Desmond Butler, Asscociated Press
February 12th, 2005
The U.N. oil-for-food program chief under scrutiny for alleged corruption and mismanagement blocked a proposed audit of his office around the same time he's accused of soliciting lucrative oil deals from Iraq, according to investigators. |
| U.S.: Private Armies March into Legal Vacuum
by Thomas Catan , Financial Times
February 10th, 2005
"Private soldiers" have been operating in a legal limbo, with precious few rules governing their activities. However, a handful of legal cases in the U.S. are beginning to define the legal boundaries under which these companies can operate. |
| IRAQ: U.S. Army Won't Withhold Payment to Halliburton
by Sue Pleming, Reuters
February 3rd, 2005
The U.S. Army has decided not to withold payment on disputed bills involving billions of dollars for Iraq contract work after Halliburton threatened that delays in payment could lead to an interruption of crucial support services to the U.S. military. |
| IRAQ: Audit Slams U.S. Handling of Iraqi Funds
by T. Christian Miller, The Los Angeles Times
January 31st, 2005
The Coalition Provisional Authority may have paid salaries for thousands of nonexistent employees in Iraqi ministries, issued unauthorized multimillion-dollar contracts and provided little oversight of spending in possibly corrupt ministries, according to the report by Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
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| IRAQ: At least 232 Civilians Dead While Doing U.S. Contract Work
by Sue Pleming, Reuters
January 30th, 2005
At least 232 civilians have been killed while working on U.S.-funded contracts in Iraq and the death toll is rising rapidly, according to a U.S. government audit sent to Congress. n addition, 728 claims were filed for employees who missed more than four days of work. Several hundred more were reported from neighboring Kuwait where companies working in Iraq have logistics and support operations. |
| US: Riggs Bank Fined for Not Reporting Suspect Accounts
by Laurence Arnold, Bloomberg
January 27th, 2005
Riggs Bank pleaded guilty to helping former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and the leaders of oil- rich Equatorial Guinea hide hundreds of millions of dollars. The federal judge questioned whether a $16 million fine agreed to by prosecutors was enough.
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| U.S.: Pentagon Struggles to Retain Elite Soldiers in Public Service
by Tom Bowman, Baltimore Sun
January 23rd, 2005
The Pentagon is offering bonuses of up to $150,000 to keep elite commandos, such as Army Green Berets and Navy SEALs, in the military and prevent them from being lured away to higher-paying jobs by private security contractors in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, defense officials said. |
| IRAQ: U.S. Contractor Slain Had Alleged Graft
by Ken Silverstein, T. Christian Miller and Patrick J. McDonnell, The Los Angeles Times
January 20th, 2005
An American contractor gunned down last month in Iraq had accused Iraqi Defense Ministry officials of corruption days before his death, according to documents and U.S. officials. |
| IRAQ: Contractor Suit Opens Doors
by Shaun Waterman, UPI
January 10th, 2005
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for the wrongful death of security contractors. Experts warn it could set off a flood of litigation other private companies, whose unprecedented role in the Iraq conflict is opening unexplored legal territory. |
| IRAQ: Courts to Resolve Contractors' Deaths
by Joseph Neff and Jay Price, The News & Observer
January 9th, 2005
Just as the courts are thrashing out the legal status and rights of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, the courts will wrestle with the responsibility and liability of private companies on the battlefield. "We do reform through litigation, not legislation."
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| IRAQ: Tim Spicer's World
by Andrew Ackerman, The Nation
December 29th, 2004
Not only did the Pentagon have no idea who Tim Spicer was when they gave his company a huge contract, they didn't seem to care when challenged about it. Spicer, a former British soldier has had past business ventures that include violating a UN arms embargo in Sierra Leone and unwittingly triggering a coup in Papua New Guinea. His London-based company, Aegis Defense Services, bagged a $293 million contract to protect US diplomats in Iraq.
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| IRAQ: Three Companies Hit Hardest by Deaths of Contractors
Bloomberg
December 24th, 2004
At least 181 U.S. contractors have died this year in Iraq, and more than half worked for Titan Corp., Halliburton Co. or Computer Science Corp.'s DynCorp Technical Services unit, according to U.S. Labor Department data. The number of contractor personnel deaths contrasts with 23 deaths in 2003. |
| IRAQ: Vulnerability of Mess Tent Was Widely Feared
by Bill Nichols and Del Jones (Gannett News Service), The Olympian
December 22nd, 2004
The new dining hall being build by Halliburton was supposed to be ready by Christmas but is running behind schedule. It is believed the new reinforced mess building would have made a significant difference if it had been ready before Tuesday's attack. |
| IRAQ: Four Halliburton Workers from U.S. Killed
Associated Press
December 22nd, 2004
Two Texas men and two others from Oregon and Alabama were identified Wednesday as the four Halliburton Co. employees killed in the attack at a military base in Iraq, a strike that is among the deadliest for the Houston-based contractor since its involvement there. |
| US: The Spy Who Billed Me
by Tim Shorrock , Mother Jones
December 22nd, 2004
The lines separating contractors from intelligence agencies are so blurred that at the leading trade association -- the Security Affairs Support Association (SASA) -- 8 of 20 board members are current government officials. The association represents about 125 intelligence contractors, including Boeing, CACI, General Dynamics, and Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). |
| UN: Experts Mull Over Code of Conduct for Security Firms on Front Lines
by Deborah Haynes , AFP
December 22nd, 2004
A team of experts under the aegis of the United Nations is exploring proposals on possible codes of conduct for the security industry, while also discussing a new legal definition of the term "mercenary", taking into account the activities of certain private military operators. |
| IRAQ: RTI's Huge Project to Help Rebuild Iraq is Met by Violence and Red Tape
by Kevin Begos, Winston-Salem Journal
December 19th, 2004
A huge chunk of money was set aside for democracy building in Iraq. Funding was then cut in half to $236 million with RTI's core directive to establish local-government councils and help "identify the most appropriate 'legitimate' and functional leaders" for coalition forces to work with. After 18 months some wonder about that mission, which would soon take on deadly significance. |
| COLOMBIA: Protecting people or profit?
by Max Jourdan , BBC
December 14th, 2004
America's privatised military machine is at the heart of the war on drugs in Colombia. Defence corporations hired by the US government enjoy extremely lucrative contracts, but who is responsible when something goes wrong?
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| IRAQ: Reconstruction Deal With a 'Merchant of Death'?
by Michael Isikoff, Newsweek/MSNBC
December 13th, 2004
Texas air charter firm allegedly controlled Russian arms trafficker Victor Bout was making repeated flights to Iraq—courtesy of a Pentagon contract allowing it to refuel at U.S. military bases. One reason for the flights, sources say, was that the firm was flying on behalf of Kellogg Brown & Root, the division of Halliburton hired to rebuild Iraq's oilfields. |
| IRAQ: How Harris Became a Major Media Player
by Noelle C. Haner , Orlando Business Journal
December 12th, 2004
Nearly a year and a great deal of controversy later, many media observers are wondering why the federal government awarded a $96 million contract to a company with little journalism background to run the Iraqi Media Network. Some suggest simple politics may be the reason. |
| IRAQ: Dirty Warriors for Hire
by Julian Brookes , Mother Jones
December 6th, 2004
With pressure to quickly fill thousands of jobs, many companies have recruited former police officers and soldiers who engaged in human rights violations -- including torture and illicit killings -- for regimes such as apartheid South Africa, Augusto Pinochet’s Chile, and Slobodan Milosevic’s Yugoslavia. |
| USA: Boeing Tanker Deal Rigged from the Beginning
by Editorial, The Washington Post
November 28th, 2004
The pile of internal e-mails show an Air Force leadership more bent on stifling dissenting views from within than on determining the best deal for taxpayers and inappropriately cozy with some contractors and personally biased against others. |
| U.N.: Annan's Son Took Payments Through 2004
by Claudia Rosett, New York Sun
November 26th, 2004
For more than eight years, from 1995-2004, the secretary-general's son was in one way or another on the payroll of Cotecna, which for almost five of those years held a key oil-for-food inspection contract with the U.N. Secretariat. |
| USA: Gamers Get a Taste of Playing Mercenary
IGN Insider
November 25th, 2004
LucasArts and Pandemic Studios are endeavoring to lure gamers into something a little different, you take on the role of a private military man who engages in a search for the "Deck of 52," the sum of dangerous and/or politically influential members of the government. |
| AFGHANISTAN: Private Prison Operators Appeal in Court
Daily Times/Pakistan/AFP
November 25th, 2004
The group’s ringleader leader, Jonathan “Jack” Idema, cursed reporters as he arrived at a court in the Afghan capital, dressed in military-style khaki trousers and shirt and dark sunglasses. “The press lies. None of you tell the truth,” Idema, 48, said as he entered the closed-door hearing.
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| AFRICA: Thatcher Feels Like a 'Corpse in a River'
by Lech Mintowt-czyz And Luke Leitch, Evening Standard
November 24th, 2004
Sir Mark Thatcher said his life had been "destroyed" by charges that he helped finance a failed African coup. The son of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher said he felt like a "corpse floating in the river" in the face of the case against him. |
| IRAQ: Silence Surrounds Fates of Contractors
by David Ivanovich, Houston Chronicle
November 21st, 2004
Halliburton Co. truck drivers Tim Bell and Bill Bradley disappeared April 9 when their convoy was attacked west of Baghdad. The Army has conducted an investigation into the ambush, but the report is classified. Pentagon officials refused to discuss its contents, directing questions to Halliburton. The company referred questions back to the Pentagon. |
| IRAQ: Contractor Deaths Grow in Iraq
by Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
November 21st, 2004
Total death insurance claims by contractors in Iraq have risen more than sixfold from 2003, U.S. government figures show, as nearly as many civilians are working overseas as soldiers. |
| SCOTLAND: Contract 1030484 Turned Oil into Gold
by Calum MacDonald, The Herald
November 16th, 2004
The Weir Group admitted in July to £4.3m worth of irregular payments amounting to an 11.5% mark-up on contracts worth £36.5m. It is still unable to account for the money, which is suspected of having lined the pockets of go-betweens and may have ended up in the hands of Saddam Hussein. |
| USA: Senate Told of Oil-for-Food Bribes
by William Tinning, The Herald
November 16th, 2004
The Senage Panel heard that more than 3,500 companies worldwide contracted with Iraq under the program, and that hundreds probably paid kickbacks to Saddam. |
| USA: A Watchdog Follows the Money in Iraq
by Erik Eckholm, The New York Times
November 15th, 2004
As former officials describe it, some officers regarded Bunnatine H. Greenhouse as a stickler for cumbersome rules on things like sharing contracts with small businesses and ensuring open competition for bids. |
| USA: Long Fall for Pentagon Procurement Star
by Renae Merle, The Washington Post
November 14th, 2004
When at the peak of her power as a top Air Force weapons buyer, Darleen Druyun helped direct the Air Force's $30 billion procurement budget. Last month she stunned military and industry leaders by admitting that she gave Boeing preferential treatment for years before taking a job with the company.
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| IRAQ: British Security Firm 'Abused Scared Iraqi Boy'
by Antony Barnett and Patrick Smith, The Guardian
November 14th, 2004
Pictures show two Erinys employees restraining the 16-year-old Iraqi with six car tyres around his body. The photographs, taken last May, show the boy frozen with fear in a room where the wall appeared to be marked by bullet holes.
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| AFGHANISTAN: 'Luxury' Cell in Jail for Convicted Bounty Hunter
by Colin Freeman, The Scotsman
November 14th, 2004
Convicted of illegal bounty-hunting in Afghanistan, ex-US soldier Jonathan ‘Jack’ Idema and his two American co-defendants live in relative luxury. Their apartment-style suite is complete with satellite TV, Persian carpets, private bathroom and kitchen and rumours are now circulating that they will be freed in a deal between Washington and the Afghan government.
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| USA: Seeking the Edge as Government Doles Out Contracts
by Elizabeth Williamson, The Washington Post
November 14th, 2004
Defense spending on outside contracts totaled more than $200 billion last year. It can take years for a firm to become eligible for government work and some say the best way to make government connections is to hire them. "You have to hire people from these organizations in the hope that their connections will bring you business," says one contractor.
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| U.S.: New Bribes Scandal at Halliburton
by John Sterlicchi, Evening Standard
November 9th, 2004
Halliburton says its staff may have paid bribes to Nigerian officials to secure a $4 billion contract in the 1990s. The company says the Justice Department is also investigating payments in connection with bidding practices on certain foreign projects.
which dismissed Stanley as a consultant earlier this year, said the Justice Department was also investigating whether Stanley 'received payments in connection with bidding practices on certain foreign projects'. |
| PHILIPPINES: Workers Sent to Iraq Unaware of Ban?
by Sandy Araneta, Philippine Headline News
November 7th, 2004
Nineteen Filipino workers (returning from Iraq knew their country banned deployment to the strife-torn country, but like contestants at the once popular game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," they needed to be prompted for the precise month when the ban was imposed.
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| U.S.: Let FBI Get To Bottom Of Halliburton Deal
by Sun-Sentinel, Editorial Board
November 6th, 2004
Even if all had been above board, and that apparently hasn't been the case, Halliburton's role in Iraq left the United States open to criticism that its war effort had wrongly profited a multinational corporation because of the vice president's connection. |
| UK: Fraud Office to Investigate BAE Contracts
BBC
November 3rd, 2004
An investigation into suspected false accounting related to contracts between Robert Lee International, Travellers World and BAE in connection with defense equipment contracts with Saudi Arabia. |
| IRAQ: Dirty Warriors
by Barry Yeoman , Mother Jones
November 1st, 2004
How South African hit men, Serbian paramilitaries, and other human rights violators became guns for hire for military contractors in Iraq |
| IRAQ: Audit Can't Find Billions
by Bryan Bender, The Boston Globe
October 16th, 2004
The audit found serious gaps in how the Development Fund for Iraq -- a pool of money drawn from Iraqi oil revenues and international aid -- was handled by American occupation officials responsible for funding reconstruction projects. |
| EQUATORIAL GUNIEA: American military Officials Linked to Failed Coup Plot
by David Leigh, David Pallister and Jamie Wilson, Guardian
September 29th, 2004
Theresa Whelan, a member of the Bush administration in charge of African affairs at the Pentagon, twice met a London-based businessman, Greg Wales, in Washington before the coup attempt. Mr Wales has been accused of being one of its organisers, but has denied any involvement. |
| IRAQ: Contractors Are Bidding Amid Increasing Attacks
by Beth Potter, McGraw Hill Construction
July 26th, 2004
Some 50 Iraqi contractors listened recently at a Sunday bid meeting to Kellogg, Brown & Root project manager Glenn Powell via a translator. To get there, they had passed through four U.S. military checkpoints along a quarter-mile stretch through a heavily fortified Baghdad “green zone” for foreigners doing business in Iraq. |
| IRAQ: Many Foreign Laborers Receive Inferior Pay, Food and Shelter
by Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post
July 1st, 2004
The war in Iraq has been a windfall for Kellogg Brown & Root Inc., the company that has a multibillion-dollar contract to provide support services for U.S. troops. Its profits have come thanks to the hard work of people like Dharmapalan Ajayakumar, who until last month served as a kitchen helper at a military base. |
| Iraq: CACI Probed on Keeping Future Government Contracts
by Chelsea Emery, Reuters
May 27th, 2004
Federal officials are investigating whether employees of defense contractor CACI International Inc. were involved in prisoner abuse in Iraq and whether the company should remain eligible for government contracts, CACI said on Thursday.
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| Iraq: Titan's Army contract under review
by Bruce V. Bigelow, San Diego Union-Tribune
May 27th, 2004
The Army command that hired San Diego's Titan Corp. to provide Arabic linguists to units in Iraq is evaluating whether the lucrative contract should be awarded to another company. |
| Iraq: Army Contract Again Disputed
by T. Christian Miller, Los Angeles Times
May 26th, 2004
The U.S. Army has, for the second time, awarded a contract to supply the Iraqi security forces to a consortium of companies with little arms experience and whose participants include a friend of controversial Iraqi official Ahmad Chalabi.
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| US: Probe into Iraq trafficking claims
by Elise Labott, CNN
May 5th, 2004
The United States is investigating reports Indian nationals were victims of human trafficking to Iraq and mistreated while working there as contractors in U.S. military camps, the State Department has said. |
| Iraq: Contractors Implicated in Prison Abuse Remain on the Job
by Joel Brinkley and James Glanz, New York Times
May 4th, 2004
More than two months after a classified Army report found that two contract workers were implicated in the abuse of Iraqis at a prison outside Baghdad, the companies that employ them say that they have heard nothing from the Pentagon, and that they have not removed any employees from Iraq.
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| Iraq: Contractors Fall Through Legal Cracks
by T. Christian Miller, New York Times
May 4th, 2004
Three civilian employees who allegedly participated in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners have yet to face any disciplinary action, their employers said Monday, raising within the Pentagon the issue of accountability for thousands of private contractors in Iraq. |
| Iraq: Al Sabah Editor Quits, Citing U.S. Meddling
Associated Press
May 4th, 2004
The head of a U.S.-funded Iraqi newspaper quit and said Monday that he was taking almost his entire staff with him because of American interference in the publication. |
| Iraq: CACI to Open Probe of Workers
by By Renae Merle and Ellen McCarthy, Washington Post
May 3rd, 2004
Defense contractor CACI International Inc. said yesterday it launched an independent investigation of its employees in connection with allegations that Iraqi detainees were abused by U.S. soldiers at an Army-run prison in Iraq. |
| Iraq: Prisoner Abuse Appears More Extensive
by T. Christian Miller, Los Angeles Times
May 2nd, 2004
At least one Iraqi prisoner died after interrogation, some were threatened with attack dogs and others were kept naked in tiny cells without running water or ventilation, according to an account written by a military police sergeant who is one of six U.S. soldiers charged in a growing scandal over prisoner abuse in Iraq. |
| Iraq: Prison Workers Questioned
by T. Christian Miller and Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times
May 1st, 2004
CACI International of Arlington, Va., said the employees had
volunteered to be interviewed in a case in which six U.S. soldiers have been charged with sexually and physically abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. |
| Iraq: US Military in Torture Scandal
by Julian Borger, Guardian, U.K.
April 30th, 2004
The scandal has also brought to light the growing and largely unregulated role of private contractors in the interrogation of detainees. |
| Iraq: No Guns for Contractors, Pentagon is Proposing
by Seth Borenstein, Philadelphia Inquirer
April 29th, 2004
As the insurgency in Iraq remains strong, the Department of Defense has proposed a new rule for most of the estimated 70,000 civilian contractors working in the region: They cannot carry guns. |
| Iraq: Cellular Project Leads to U.S. Inquiry
by T. Christian Miller, Los Angeles Times
April 29th, 2004
A senior Defense Department official is under investigation by the Pentagon inspector general for allegations that he attempted to alter a contract proposal in Iraq to benefit a mobile phone consortium that includes friends and colleagues, according to documents obtained by The Times and sources with direct knowledge of the process. |
| US: Boeing reports $623 million profit, surge in defense revenue
by Dave Carpenter, Associated Press
April 28th, 2004
Boeing Co. rode an 18 percent surge in revenue from its defense contracting unit to a far-better-than-expected $623 million profit in the first quarter and raised its earnings estimates for 2004 and 2005. |
| US: Jets, IT Drive Lockheed Gains
by Renae Merle, Washington Post
April 28th, 2004
Lockheed Martin Corp. reported a 16 percent jump in first-quarter profit yesterday as demand for fighter aircraft and information technology continued to boost sales. |
| US: Probe of Boeing, Documents Expanded
by Renae Merle, Washington Post
April 28th, 2004
A criminal investigation into whether Boeing Co. used stolen Lockheed Martin Corp. documents to win an Air Force contract has grown to include an examination of NASA contract competitions, sources close to the inquiry said yesterday. |
| US: Lockheed Profit Rises 16% on Missiles, Jets
Bloomberg News
April 28th, 2004
Lockheed Martin Corp., the biggest U.S. military contractor, said Tuesday that first-quarter profit climbed 16%, buoyed by spending on Patriot missiles used in Iraq and funding to develop new jets. |
| IRAQ: 10 US Contractors Penalized
by Matt Kelley, Associated Press
April 26th, 2004
Ten companies with billions of dollars in U.S. contracts for Iraq reconstruction have paid more than $300 million in penalties since 2000 to resolve allegations of bid rigging, fraud, delivery of faulty military parts and environmental damage. |
| US: Court Documents Unsealed in Northrop Grumman Case
Associated Press
April 22nd, 2004
Northrop Grumman Corp., the nation's third-largest defense contractor, lied to the Air Force about the readiness of its radar-jamming equipment in the late 1980s, according to recently unsealed court documents from a whistle-blower case against the company. |
| Iraq: Families Grieve After Halliburton Contract Workers Identified
by Kristen Hays, Associated Press
April 21st, 2004
The bodies of the two men and a third American contractor, Jack Montague, were found last week near the site of an April 9 attack on a fuel convoy west of Baghdad, Houston-based Halliburton announced Tuesday. A fourth, unidentified, victim was also found. |
| US: Bechtel's 2003 Revenue Breaks Company Record
by David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
April 20th, 2004
Bechtel Corp., the San Francisco engineering giant rebuilding Iraq, today will report record revenue of $16.3 billion in 2003, reversing a three- year slide. |
| US: Boeing Turns to New CEO and the Pentagon
by Julie Creswell, Fortune
April 19th, 2004
The aerospace giant saw its blue-chip reputation and cherished status as an innovator flipped upside down last year. Two of its top executives became entangled in an ethics investigation by the Pentagon, while other employees faced criminal charges involving industrial espionage. The government penalized Boeing by canceling rocket launches valued at about $ 1 billion and is holding up a $ 17 billion aerial tanker contract.
Furthermore, Boeing infuriated investors with a billion-dollar surprise charge last summer. And underlying this sorry litany was a simpler, larger problem: In 2003, for the first time, Boeing sold fewer planes than the other global aviation superpower, Europe's Airbus Industrie.
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| Iraq: Security Firm Will Hire a Nightclub Bouncer
by Bernard Ginns and John Bynorth, Mail on Sunday, London
April 18th, 2004
The lives of contractors in Iraq are being put at risk by security firms prepared to employ untrained staff, a Mail on Sunday investigation reveals. |
| Iraq: Companies Wait for the Smoke to Clear
by Tim Webb and Clayton Hirst
April 18th, 2004
Iraq was supposed to provide rich pickings, with billions of dollars' worth of contracts up for grabs. But as kidnappings and killings undermine security still further, Tim Webb and Clayton Hirst ask if the reconstruction effort is about to unravel |
| Iraq: KBR contractors weigh heavy risks
by Jenalia Moreno and Bill Hensel Jr. , Houston Chronicle
April 14th, 2004
For more than a week, KBR officials have tried to prepare new hires like Michael Tovar, 29, for the risks they'll face as contractors in Iraq. |
| Iraq: More Limits Sought for Private Security Teams
by Mary Pat Flaherty and Dana Priest, Washington Post
April 13th, 2004
With an estimated 20,000 private security workers on the ground, the Coalition Provisional Authority is increasingly concerned about the quality of the security teams, the weapons they use and the rules that will govern them after June 30, when the authority transfers political power to an interim Iraqi government. |
| US: C-130’s Costs Soar Despite Reforms
by David Phinney, Defense News
April 12th, 2004
The Pentagon had high hopes it could keep costs low on a new model of the C-130 transport by treating it like any other commercial purchase, but despite the publicly intended purpose, the airlifter’s price nearly doubled. |
| US: A Case of Reprisal Against One Pentagon Auditor
by David Phinney, Federal Times
April 12th, 2004
Last year, Ken Pedeleose and two colleagues wrote a 90-page report, cross-referenced with hundreds of documents and correspondence, accusing DCMA officials and the Pentagon of routinely bypassing administrative safeguards. The report was delivered to more than 50 members of Congress. |
| Iraq: Seven U.S. Civilian Contract Workers Missing
by John F. Burns and Kirk Semple, New York Times
April 12th, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 12 — The American military today put at seven the number of civilian contract workers missing after their convoy was ambushed in Iraq on Friday. |
| Iraq: Halliburton's Role In Iraq - from Meals to Oil
by Sue Pleming, Reuters
April 12th, 2004
Texas company Halliburton, which has seven workers missing in Iraq, is the U.S. military's biggest contractor there, responsibe for everything from preparing meals for U.S. troops to repairing Iraq's oil infrastructure. |
| Iraq: Contractors Put Reconstruction On Hold
by Nicolas Pelham, Financial Times
April 11th, 2004
Many of Iraq's reconstruction projects are being put on hold after a spate of foreign kidnappings and attacks on convoys in Baghdad grounded foreign and Iraqi contractors. |
| Iraq: Bush Conceals Names of U.S. Firms That Paid Kickbacks to Saddam
by Lawrence M. O'Rourke, McClatchy Newspapers
April 8th, 2004
Saddam Hussein siphoned off $10.1 billion from Iraq's oil-for-food program through illegal oil contracts and kickback deals with private suppliers of food and medicine, a congressional agency said Wednesday. John Negroponte, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Bush administration can identify the private business firms that cut kickback deals with Saddam Hussein, but intends to keep the names secret.
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| Iraq: Security Firms Form World's Largest Private 'Army'
by Dana Priest and Mary Pat Flaherty, Washington Post
April 8th, 2004
Under assault by insurgents and unable to rely on U.S. and coalition troops for intelligence or help under duress, private security firms in Iraq have begun to band together in the past 48 hours, organizing what may effectively be the largest private army in the world, with its own rescue teams and pooled, sensitive intelligence. |
| UK: BAE Chairman 'Close' to Accused Executive
by David Leigh and Rob Evans, Guardian (London)
April 7th, 2004
Sir Dick Evans, the chairman of BAE Systems, had close personal links with the arms firm executive accused of providing free holidays and gifts for a Ministry of Defence official, it was alleged last night. Tony Winship, a former BAE employee, is the executive at the centre of allegations revealed in yesterday's Guardian that a BAE slush fund paid for a series of unauthorised luxury hotel stays for a civil servant in the MoD's arms sales unit.
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| US: Pentagon Asks Congress For Environment Waivers
The Associated Press
April 7th, 2004
The Defense Department wants the government to ease environmental laws to avoid costly cleanups of military ranges and give states more time to handle air pollution from training exercises. |
| US: Diminished Oversight Leads to Overpricing
by David Phinney, Federal Times
April 5th, 2004
Ken Pedeleose’s eyes popped in awe as he plowed through a bill for airplane parts in 1999: $2,522 for a 4½-inch metal sleeve, $744 for a washer, $714 for a rivet, and $5,217 for a 1-inch metal bracket. |
| US: Blackwater Mercenaries Take Risks for Right Price
by James Dao, Eric Schmitt, and John F. Burns, New York Times
April 2nd, 2004
Here, at the 6,000-acre training ground of Blackwater U.S.A., scores of former military commandos, police officers and civilians are prepared each month to join the lucrative but often deadly work of providing security for corporations and governments in the toughest corners of the globe. On Wednesday, four employees of a Blackwater unit -- most of them former American military Special Operations personnel -- were killed in an ambush in the central Iraqi city of Fallujah, their bodies mutilated and dragged through the streets by chanting crowds. |
| Iraq: RTI Wins Another Contract for Government Creation
by Jay Price, News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
April 1st, 2004
The U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded RTI International a one-year contract extension worth up to $154 million to foster democratic local government in Iraq, a company executive said Wednesday. With a handover of power from the United States to an Iraqi government scheduled for June, the nonprofit institute's second year in Iraq will be crucial, said Ron Johnson, RTI's vice president for international development. |
| Japan: Arms Export Ban To Be Revisited
by Mariko Sanchanta, Financial Times
April 1st, 2004
Japan's decision to dispatch troops from its self-defence force to southern Iraq has marked a watershed inthe country's postwar history and jarred the pacifist roots of its constitution.
But while Japan may now be shipping its soldiers to Samawah, it still struggles to export Japanese-made weapons. A four-decade ban on the sale of weapons abroad has left the country's defence industry largely impotent on the world stage. |
| Iraq: Trade Fair Postponed Over Security Fears
by Joshua Chaffin and Salamander Davoudi, Financial Times
April 1st, 2004
The deteriorating security situation in Iraq has prompted the postponement of a US-led trade fair aimed at accelerating reconstruction in the country amid heightening concerns about the safety of foreign civilians working there. Organisers of Destination Baghdad Expo, that was due to begin on Monday, postponed the event following the gruesome killings on Wednesday of four western contract workers in the city of Falluja. |
| Iraq: Soldiers of Fortune Rush to Cash in on Unrest
by James Hider, Times (London)
April 1st, 2004
In Iraq, the postwar business boom is not oil. It is security. In a country shaken by guerrilla warfare, crime and terrorism, where the United States is handing out almost $ 20 billion (£11 billion) in reconstruction contracts, thousands of well-armed private security contractors are making a fortune. |
| Afghanistan/Iraq: Weary Special Forces Quit for Security Jobs
by David Rennie and Michael Smith, Daily Telegraph (London)
March 31st, 2004
Exhausted American and British special forces troopers, the West's front line in the war on terrorism, are resigning in record numbers and taking highly-paid jobs as private security guards in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senior US commanders are so alarmed that they have held emergency meetings to agree new deals on pay and conditions for the men. |
| Iraq: Rebuilding Plan Reviewed
by Jackie Spinner and Mary Pat Flaherty, Washington Post
March 31st, 2004
The new inspector general of the U.S.-led interim authority in Iraq reported yesterday that though he is just beginning his own audits of reconstruction spending, he is concerned about the oversight of spending and control of cash.
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| Iraq: Security Pushes Up Contract Costs
by Sue Pleming, Reuters
March 31st, 2004
Soaring security and insurance costs are driving up the price of contracts to rebuild Iraq and more funds may be needed, said a report on Wednesday by the U.S.-led authority's chief inspector in Iraq.
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| US: Former McKesson CFO Indicted in Fraud
by Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle
March 31st, 2004
The former chief financial officer of San Francisco health care giant McKesson Corp. was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury for his role in a huge criminal securities fraud that wiped out $9 billion of shareholder value five years ago. |
| Iraq: Parsons Corp. Wins $900 Million Contract
Reuters
March 30th, 2004
California's Parsons Corp., one of the most active U.S. companies in Iraq, said on Tuesday it won a contract worth up to $900 million from the U.S. military for security and justice work in Iraq. The privately-owned engineering and construction company said the latest deal includes the restoration and construction of bases for the Iraqi security forces, police stations, border control stations, fire stations, courthouses and prisons. |
| Iraq: Halliburton Continues to Profit
by Matt Kelley, Associated Press
March 30th, 2004
Halliburton Co. has reaped as much as $6 billion in contracts from the U.S. invasion of Iraq, but improprieties in those military contracts have also given Vice President Dick Cheney's former company high-profile headaches. Pentagon auditors have criticized Halliburton's estimating, spending and subcontracting, and they plan to begin withholding up to $300 million in payments next month. The Justice Department is investigating allegations of overcharges, bribes and kickbacks. Democrats have accused the company of war profiteering. |
| Iraq: Global Security Firms Fill in as Private Armies
by Robert Collier, San Francisco Chronicle
March 28th, 2004
The shootout was just one more example of the behind-the-scenes role played in Iraq by an estimated 15,000 private security agents from the United States, Britain and countries as varied as Nepal, Chile, Ukraine, Israel, South Africa and Fiji. They are employed by about 25 different firms that are playing their part in Iraq's highly dangerous postwar environment by performing tasks ranging from training the country's new police and army to protecting government leaders to providing logistics for the U.S. military. 15,000 agents patrol the violent streets of Iraq. |
| Iraq: Facing $310 Billion Debt Crisis
Observer (London)
March 28th, 2004
Iraq is heading for economic meltdown under the weight of its $ 310 billion international debt and reparations bill. Attempts by the International Monetary Fund to reduce it are insufficient and will block Iraq's long-term reconstruction. Financial meltdown could come despite increased oil revenues. |
| Equatorial Guinea: Mercenary Tells How Coup Went Wrong
by Tom Walker, Sunday Times (London)
March 28th, 2004
A former SAS soldier languishing in a Zimbabwean jail has confessed to numerous failures in his attempt to lead a group of mercenaries in overthrowing the president of Equatorial Guinea. In a 13-page handwritten statement, Simon Mann describes how he hoped to convince the Harare authorities to let him and his men pass through Zimbabwe.
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| UK: Pentagon Warns British Contractors
by David Gow, Guardian (London)
March 27th, 2004
The Pentagon yesterday warned British firms winning contracts under its $ 18.4bn (£10bn) Iraqi reconstruction programme that they would be thrown out if they failed to give a minimum 10% of the work to US small businesses. |
| US: Halliburton Lobby Costs Drop
by Maud S. Beelman, Boston Globe
March 27th, 2004
Halliburton, the oil and construction conglomerate formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, dramatically reduced what it spent on lobbying Congress and the federal government after the Bush-Cheney administration took office in January 2001. |
| Iraq: SAIC Pays DOD Settlement
by Rachel Sams, Baltimore Business Journal
March 25th, 2004
Defense contractor Science Applications International Corp. has agreed to pay $484,500 to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act when designing a computer system program for the U.S. Department of Defense.
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| Iraq: Report Rips SAIC Over Contracts
by Bruce V. Bigelow, Union-Tribune
March 25th, 2004
In a scathing report yesterday, the Pentagon's inspector general sharply criticized contracts issued last year to San Diego's SAIC for reconstruction and humanitarian work in Iraq.
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| Iraq: Attack Slays Iraqi Employee Of Bechtel
by David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
March 25th, 2004
An Iraqi working for Bechtel Corp. in Baghdad died in a mortar attack last week, the San Francisco construction firm's first known loss to the violence roiling the country. |
| US: Lockheed In Raptor Deal With Pentagon
by Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times
March 24th, 2004
Lockheed Martin on Tuesday reached an agreement to sell 22 Raptor jet fighters to the US air force after the Pentagon decided to proceed with operational testing of the controversial aircraft next month. |
| Iraq: Violence Slows Bechtel in Iraq
by David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
March 23rd, 2004
Violence has slowed or interrupted work at approximately 10 percent of Bechtel Corp.'s reconstruction sites in Iraq, government and company representatives said Thursday. Two of its subcontractors forced to curtail or suspend operations at hostile sites. |
| Haiti: Companies Covet Post-War Rebuilding Contracts
by Rick Westhead, Toronto Star
March 23rd, 2004
Nation-rebuilding projects in countries such as Iraq, the Congo and Haiti have spawned a growing industry as private-sector companies compete to win contracts to aid in the rebuilding efforts. Some analysts say the business now generates as much as $200 billion (U.S.) a year. |
| Iraq: Nour USA Ltd's Delivery Delays
by Tom Shanker and Eric Schmitt, New York Times
March 22nd, 2004
Senior American commanders in Iraq are publicly complaining that delays in delivering radios, body armor and other equipment have hobbled their ability to build an effective Iraqi security force that can ultimately replace United States troops here. |
| US: Carlyle Stands to Profit from Disaster
by David Lazarus, San Francisco Chronicle
March 21st, 2004
The Washington investment firm, run by a who's who of Republican heavyweights, including former Secretary of State James Baker and former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, has put money into about 300 different companies and properties.
Those investments include United Defense Industries, a maker of combat vehicles, naval guns and missile launchers; and Sippican, a maker of submarine systems and countermeasures to protect warships |
| US: Government Funds Massive Biodefense Effort
by Michael Scherer, MotherJones.com
March 20th, 2004
In the wake of 9/11, the U.S. government is funding a massive new biodefense research effort, redirecting up to $10 billion toward projects related to biological weapons such as anthrax. The Pentagon's budget for chemical and biological defense has doubled; high-security nuclear-weapons labs have begun conducting genetic research on dangerous pathogens; universities are receiving government funding to build high-tech labs equipped to handle deadly infectious organisms; and Fort Detrick, Maryland, once the home of America's secret bioweapons program, is about to break ground on two new high-tech biodefense centers. |
| UK: Whitehall Warns UK Firms to Stop Sending Workers to Iraq
by Severin Carrell, Tim Webb and Clayton Hirst, The Independent (London)
March 18th, 2004
British businesses hoping to win lucrative deals in Iraq have been told to scrap their plans to travel there because of the escalating violence against Westerners. |
| Iraq: IFC Plans to Venture into Iraq by June
by Sandhya D'mello, Khaleej Times Online
March 14th, 2004
nternational Finance Corporation (IFC) is planning to venture into Iraq by June this year. The transaction is reported to be in the form of an equity or loan in small and medium enterprise, this was confirmed yesterday by Mr Assaad J Jabre, Vice-President Operations, IFC (The World Bank Group). |
| US: SF Firm Awarded Contract in Iraq
by David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
March 12th, 2004
The Pentagon has begun doling out $5 billion in new contracts to rebuild Iraq, and a San Francisco firm partially owned by Sen. Dianne Feinstein's husband has landed some of the cash. URS Corp. will oversee repairs to Iraq's communications system, hospitals and courthouses under contracts worth a total of $27.7 million.
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| US: Report Finds Halliburton Violated Contracting Rules
by Seth Borenstein, Knight Ridder
March 11th, 2004
Halliburton, the big contractor that's won the lion's share of government contracts to rebuild Iraq, significantly and systematically violated federal contracting rules by providing inaccurate and incomplete information about its own costs, according to a special report by Defense Department auditors. |
| Iraq: Lukoil Chief Says Prewar Deal Still Valid
by Matt Moore, Associated Press/Boston Globe
March 11th, 2004
The head of Russia's Lukoil said Thursday that a lucrative prewar deal to produce oil in Iraq is still valid, but conceded that its fate hinges on the decision of the new government due to take power on June 30. |
| Iraq: Report Finds Halliburton Violated Contracting Rules
by Seth Borenstein, Knight Ridder Washington Bureau
March 11th, 2004
Halliburton, the big contractor that's won the lion's share of government contracts to rebuild Iraq, significantly and systematically violated federal contracting rules by providing inaccurate and incomplete information about its own costs, according to a special report by Defense Department auditors. |
| US: Roche Bails Out for Top Army Job Amid Scandal
by Esther Schrader, Los Angeles Times
March 11th, 2004
Air Force Secretary James G. Roche, whose nomination to head the Army had been stalled in Congress since summer over a controversial $27-billion deal with Boeing Co. and an Air Force Academy sexual assault scandal, withdrew his name Wednesday from consideration for the post.
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| US: Pentagon Asks Justice to Join Halliburton Probe
by Neil King Jr. and Glenn R. Simpson, Wall Street Journal
March 10th, 2004
The Pentagon has asked the Justice Department to join an inquiry into alleged fuel overcharging by Halliburton Co. in Iraq, indicating that Pentagon officials see possible grounds for criminal charges or civil penalties. |
| Iraq: The Fight for Iraq
by Neil KingJr. and Glenn R. Simpson, Wall Street Journal
March 10th, 2004
The Pentagon has asked the Justice Department to join an inquiry into alleged fuel overcharging by Halliburton Co. in Iraq, indicating that Pentagon officials see possible grounds for criminal charges or civil penalties.
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| US: Lockheed's New CEO Facing Tough Challenge
by Renae Merle, Washington Post
March 8th, 2004
Robert J. Stevens, who will become chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp. in August, is taking over from Vance D. Coffman as a rising federal budget threatens to slow defense spending, Pentagon views of high-tech warfare shift and Lockheed continues to have problems with two high-profile programs: the F/A-22 and F-35 fighter jets. |
| US: Opens Probe Into Contractor Titan Corp.
by Renae Merle , Washington Post
March 6th, 2004
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether San Diego defense contractor Titan Corp. made illegal payments to international consultants, endangering Lockheed Martin Corp.'s plan to buy the firm.
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| US: General Dynamics Subpoenaed Over Long Island Plant
by Anitha Reddy, Washington Post
March 6th, 2004
The U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of New York has subpoenaed General Dynamics Corp. about a New York factory it believes may have falsely certified that parts for U.S. Navy submarines were properly tested. |
| Unearthing Democratic Root to Halliburton Flap
by Al Kamen, Washington Post
March 5th, 2004
Truly there is nothing new under the sun. In recent months Democrats have been bleating about fat Iraq construction contracts going to Halliburton, about Halliburton's ties to the administration because Vice President Cheney happened to run the company just before taking his current job and a shocking GOP tendency to help contributors. |
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