Let’s see: American soldiers die in Iraq. Neither their brothers in arms, nor their survivors, stand to benefit from the contracts we’re talking about.
Apparently, because of their sacrifice, the execs and stockholders of Bechtel and Halliburton should benefit.
It takes a Dubya to make that connection.
Now if the US contractors were to donate their Iraqi contract profits to US soldiers wounded in Iraq, and to the families of those killed there, then it might make sense to establish such a connection.
Saddam has WoMD, we must invade to protect ourselves!!!
months later (oops, no WoMD)
It was to save the Iraqi People, that’s why we went to war, it was all to serve the Iraqi People.
months later (um, those rebuilding contracts that will net profits??? no, we don’t want them to go to whoever can provide the best service for the price, we want it to go to, well, the folks we want it to go to)
so, without the “it was for the benefit of the poor Iraqi people” rationale, what, pray tell, is left? lucrative contracts for certain select groups?
this alone could be a pit thread. Let’s be honest here. Anyone joining the military (at least in the US) is signing (yes, you sign a contract with the US gov’t) to put your life on the line.
I’m sick and tired of hearing how a soldier is supposed to garner my sympathy simply because they only signed up for the free college education. The education comes at a potential price! See my other posts about how the USMC wouldn’t take me because I took the G.E.D. route to get into college a year early. Thereby not a high school grad in the traditional sense.
The military exists to kill people, break stuff, and keep others from invading.
Again, check the OP. Anyone who pays US income tax, therefore funding this, has my attention. All else wanting to do the typical suckling at the American teat, tough shit.
The money is already spent or is going to be spent in the near future you dipshit.
Now it’s a question of where it goes and how it’s used. If a company from the US or US approved county can do the job the best that’s great give them the contract but if a company from a non approved country can do it better why the fuck shouldn’t they be hired?
Nobody is saying France or any other country should get some work by default. I’m just saying that it should be done by the right company whatever their nationality.
Bush’s decision looks like cronyism nothing more. It’s shortsighted and stupid but hey I’m only a non-us nobody so what do you care.
Also BTW in this day and age the concept of nationality when it comes to large corporations is almost meaningless.
*If a French company got a large contract it’s shareholders would benefit. I’d guess that a lot of Americans have a lot of money invested in French companies. These companies also most likely have several US offices staffed by US staff. So it more and more just seems like chest thumping playground behaviour to me.
I’m basing the entire next paragraph on the belief that if a company got a large contract to do with Iraq they’d probably be a large public company.
They say that you can learn something from everyone, that everyone has something to teach. My lesson from you has been in the effects of unbridled stupidity on the ability of a person to engage the brain above the cerebellum.
Interesting. Your comprehension skills exceed that of a yak
A soldier should garner your sympathy due to the fact that he is risking his life in an illegal and unjust occupation; however you should not use large words thay you do not understand.
How dare those weaklings try to get a free college education!
G.E.D or none, you aren’t really a highschool graduate in any sense. See, to be considered a highschool graduate, one must exhibit intelligence that exceeds their ability to operate a vacuum cleaner. The USMC would not take you because you exhibit the mental function of jeep.
Alas, as you are only capable of one of those three things, you are not a good candidate.
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Again, check the OP. Anyone who pays US income tax, therefore funding this, has my attention. All else wanting to do the typical suckling at the American teat, tough shit.
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Is that why you posted this here? So that non Americans could have some tough shit?
Then you should also have better things to spend it on than an operation that cost 18 billion dollars and yet can’t find a man in a country the size of Alabama with 100,000 troops.
As I’ve said, this is a debate that should be had by Americans since we are the one’s paying for it.
WorldEater, living in Brooklyn you have one of the highest tax rates in the country, go ahead and complain about those tax breaks, if you don’t want them, send a check to the Treasury. I bet you won’t. Tax cuts are NOT mandatory. It is Federal law that you can send as much as you want to the IRS. Consult a tax attorney (maybe Lucwarm?) and they can tell you the difference of your taxes from last year and this year. The difference can be sent to Washington.
If you really believe that the tax cuts are that bad for the US, give it back.
As a taxpayer (maybe I’m alone here?) I want my money to go to the 60-plus countries that supported us in usurping power from a wanna-be Hitler. Slam me if you will, but I want my money going to countries that support eradicating rapists.
Then donate to your local police department. Spending 18 billion dollars to eliminate a little caesar who’s whereabouts are “currently unknown” is not very efficient.
No (have you been in a cave for the last year?) :wally
Those countries said that UN weapons inspectors should continue to search Iraq for the WMD’s that Bush ‘knew’ were there. Meanwhile the restricted flying zones and various tough controls on Iraq should stay.
Bush ignored the rest of the World and invaded. Soon it will be the 1st anniversary of that invasion to capture the WMD’s. Perhaps they will find one by then…
Ooooh, ‘dozens and dozens’ of countries.
Were many of those Saddam’s neighbours?
Why, for example, did Turkey turn down millions of dollars in bribes to let the US pass through?
The UK joined in because Blair told our UK Parliament that:
Saddam had WMD’s threatening UK bases, ready to fire in 45 minutes. (See above for progress on finding the WMD’s :rolleyes: )
Saddam had bought nuclear weapons material from Africa (Obviously this is hidden in the same place as the WMD’s )
Perhaps you could define a ‘mini-Hitler’. Is it someone who presents no threat to anyone, or someone who invades ‘just a bit’ of Europe?
Actually all the big contracts are going to US companies that gave money to Bush’s election campaign.
There have been protests by UK companies that they are ruled out of the bidding, but since they didn’t sponsor Bush, it’s presumably their own fault.
Yes, the UK would like to win a contract. Can you tell us what we should do?
(in case you are as ignorant as you sound, we have sent our Prime Minister to address Congress in sympathy, tried to get countries to vote in the UN for US proposals, sent loads of troops to Iraq, suffered casualties in Iraq and even invited Bush to a State visit.
So far, nothing. We couldn’t even get UK nationals out of Guantanamo Bay to receive legal representation and due legal process.)
And I DO hope that nobody is surprised at this. That’s just the way that Bush operates and has always operated. The good ole boys ALWAYS scratch each others’ backs.
Yes, however we are not the only ones affected by what happens to us, and what we do to others. People are angry because we are being a horrible citizen of the world right now, and your inane attitude isn’t helping anything.
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I don’t know what type of special crack smoking haze you are in, but I honestly have no idea as to what the hell you are talking about. I don’t know how we leaped to the Bush taxcut here.
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I would rather my money go to the company that could get it done expeditiously and at the lowest price. That way, this whole ordeal will end quicker, because the longer we stay in there, the more money we spend and the more personnel we lose. If a German company can do that, then gutten tagen motherfucker.
As far as the other point, about countries either being for or against rape rooms and mass murder, listen closely.
We were told that SH had WMD, and was an imminent threat. He had shit he would use on us, or he would give it to Al Qaeda. We were told we had to go in so fast, that we didn’t even have time for further diplomacy. There was one reason for war, and one reason alone, WM fuckin Ds. Iraq is not the only country with a crazy mass murdering leader, there are several others, so what set them apart? The WMD they could use within 45 minutes! Other countries objected, saying more time was needed, or inspections were working, etc.
It is important to realize, without WMD, SH is just another asshole tinpot dictator, and if we are going to take one out, we shouldn’t start with him. If we are doing it to save lives, there are places we could save more.
Anyway bucko, in terms of why we went to war, it turns out they were right. There are no WMD, so on that particular point they are right and we are wrong. Now was SH an asshole? Of course, he was a total waste of carbon, but we were not told that we were going to overthrow him because he was an asshole. If we had said that, and France and Germany objected, then we could say they are for raping the shit out of people and killing for fun. They were objecting on an invasion on the premise that SH had all these evil weapons, and fought it with the same vigor that we forced this war on the world.
I’ve been lucky enough to travel a lot to Europe. You know what? They wake up, they eat, they bitch about their job, they get sad when they hear about a 2year old getting thrown in the garbage, just like us. The sky is blue, the air is smoggy, and all their motorcycles have 2 wheels just like ours. In fact there isn’t much difference at all, maybe the language, and they call their burger a Le Mac.
Get on a plane sometime, maybe you’ll see people for what they are, other people. More importantly, maybe you’ll stop being such an asshole.
The thing is, it’s nonsense to “punish France” by not giving contracts to French companies. First of all, companies are not the same thing as governments. American firms didn’t spend any blood or any money on the war. They didn’t sacrifice anything more or less than a French firm did. Nor were French firms necessarily against the war. The mere fact that they are incorportated in a country that did is not their fault.
But second of all, many of these firms employ AMERICANS. Remember that globalization thing?
Consider: Michelin is a French company with American tire factories. Tons of new tires are going to be needed in the reconstruction effort. So denying French firms a right to make fair bid means potentially denying AMERICAN workers the right to work on a project. So the issue is just not so simple.
The moment the US took over Iraq your wishes became subservient to what is best for the Iraqis. The fact you post the asinine firing of your synapses on a board accessible from anywhere in the world and you’re all upset that those nasty foreigners think your arguments are shit? Boo fucking hoo.
I spend hours stripping the skin off a jingoistic Canadian railing about blindly arrogant Americans a day or so ago, and look what crawls out from the cracks.
There was a poster here a while ago that use to use the phrase “pre fooled” to describe people throwing themselves on the Bush war wagon. I take issue with the obvious derisive tone of the phrase; many accepted on good faith the explanations by their governments for this war. It’s understandable, I mean if a democrat claims a healthcare program is going to help everyone left leaners will tend buy it, if a republican claims an external threat exists, right leaners will tend to buy that.
You Praying4Brains are beyond that. You sir/madam are a member of the perennially fooled. The lies, manipulations, cronyism, and sycophantic fawning that this administration has done over Iraq should be shaking you to the bones. Instead, when provided with yet another example of this administrations myopic, ham fisted international skill set you cry foul of the cynics.
I’ll leave you with just 1 thought. You might actually be able to deal with it. Why did the Deputy Defense Secretary announce this and not the State department?
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