My only question: Tony Blair is no dope…so why did he believe GWB? He (Blair) took an enormous risk, with a HUGE downside for himself, should the weapons of mass destruction thing be proven false.
So WHY DID Blair go along with this?
Because someone made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
What the offer was, is the golden question.
Fairly likely, considering Cheney has been on the Haliburton payroll while serving as Veep. Which company got the lucrative contracts in Iraq without competetive bids again? Oh yeah…
That’s a gross mistrepresentation of the truth. It was deferred compensation. As he himself stated, he had no idea that he was going to be Vice President, and since it was money owed him, do you suggest he should just forgive Halliburton all the money he was owed out of the kindness of his heart?
Try telling the truth once in a while, or are you too busy calling Bush a liar to do that?
Just out of curiosity, Airman, are you arguing that the decision to give Halliburton an enormous non-competitive contract in Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with Cheney’s ties to that company? That it was just a complete coincidence?
Are they one of the, if not the, most qualified companies in the field? If I were hiring, I’d go for the best. Further, are you implying that because of those former ties, that they should be disqualified from any sort of government contract for fear of offending the liberal conspiracy theorists?
I refuse to contribute to conspiracy what can reasonably be explained with common sense.
The UK has always had a very special relationship with the US. It is a matter of give and take. The US gives orders and the UK takes them. Quite simple.
It’s not the fact that they got the contract that bothers me, but the fact that they didn’t open the contract up to bidding, which is standard operating procedure for government contracts. If they truly want the best company, they should allow competition. I certainly wouldn’t disqualify Halliburton from bidding based on those former ties, as they are indeed qualified to do the work, but I would also make sure the contract was awarded fairly, with minimal conflicts of interest. If nothing else, competitive bidding ensures that the taxpayers are paying a fair price.
In any event, you didn’t answer the question. I was asking if you, personally, thought that the contract as it was awarded was done so solely because Halliburton was deemed to empirically be the best company, and Cheney’s former ties to that company were purely coincidental in that decision?
Yes. That’s what I believe.
Fair enough. Thanks for the answer.
Halliburton is so well qualified that bidding from other companies was unecessary? That doesn’t seem even little bit fishy?
I believe the moon’s made of cheese. That’s what I believe.
[quote]
http://www.msnbc.com/news/968712.asp?
Kennedy calls case for war a ‘fraud’
Senator also accuses Bush of bribing foreign leaders
BOSTON, Sept. 18 — The case for going to war against Iraq was a fraud “made up in Texas” to give Republicans a political boost, Sen. Edward Kennedy said Thursday.
IN AN INTERVIEW with The Associated Press, Kennedy also said the Bush administration has failed to account for nearly half of the $4 billion the war is costing each month. He said he believes much of the unaccounted-for money is being used to bribe foreign leaders to send in troops.
He called the Bush administration’s current Iraq policy “adrift.”
The Massachusetts Democrat expressed doubts about how serious a threat Saddam Hussein posed to the United States in its battle against terrorism. He said administration officials relied on “distortion, misrepresentation, a selection of intelligence” to justify their case for war.
“There was no imminent threat. This was made up in Texas, announced in January to the Republican leadership that war was going to take place and was going to be good politically. This whole thing was a fraud,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office showed that only about $2.5 billion of the $4 billion being spent monthly on the war can be accounted for by the Bush administration.
“My belief is this money is being shuffled all around to these political leaders in all parts of the world, bribing them to send in troops,” he said.
[quote]
:eek: that’s a very serious statement to make.
Contrary to your accusation of making the whole thing up (“Try telling the truth…”), I quoted an article. You can take it for what it’s worth. I’ve searched my post for anything that mentioned Bush being a liar, and nope, nothing there. That would make you the liar here.
Oh yeah, and go fuck yourself.
I’m reminded of the British TV program Brass Eye, which gets unwitting celebrities to make statements on television in support of false causes. On one occasion radio DJ Neil Fox announced (as part of a faux anti-pedophilia campaign) that pedophiles were genetically more closely related to crabs than to humans, adding:
Either Bush was doing a secret homage to the show, or life once again imitates comedy.
OK, how about the tooth fairy?
To be fair, Halliburton did make a very compelling submission, as did Fluor, Bechtel and Parsons.
:sniffs keyboard:
Now I actually feel more suggestible – and that was just from one sniff.
airman doors is either naive, stupid, or selling something.