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The following story is a "nice" example for how the U.S. capital is using the war against Iraq to make "some" extra profit and how the cooperation between U.S. government and U.S. capital is working.

The Pentagon contract given without competition to a subsidiary of Halliburton Co. to fight oil well fires in Iraq is worth as much as $7 billion over two years, according to a letter from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The contract also allows the subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, receive as much as 7 percent profit. That could amount to $490 million.

The Army Corps of Engineers release these details in a letter last Thursday to Representative H. Waxman, one of two senior lawmakers who had asked the General Accounting Office to investigate how the Bush administration was awarding contract for the reconstruction of Iraq.

The reconstruction effort could cost $100 billion and become one of the most lucrative building programs in decades.

The contract to Kellogg Brown & Root was cited in the lawmakers´ request to the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of U.S. Congress. The two lawmakers asked the special attention be paid to "allegations that Halliburton has received special treatment from the Bush administration.

U.S. Vice President Cheney was chief executive of Halliburton from 1995 until 2000. When he left the company to run for vice president, Cheney received over $30 million (30.000.000) in compensation!

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, don´t wonder, Kellogg Brown & Root has won significant additional business from U.S. federal government and the Defense Department. It has build cells for detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and is the exclusive logistic supplier for the U.S. Navy and Army, providing services like cooking, construction, power generation and fuel transportation.

Since the aggression against Iraq began last month, Cheney has been repeatedly questioned about his ties to his old employer and the oil industry. But the Bush administration, according to International Herald Tribune (2003-04-12), said these contracts and all the other contracts to rebuild Iraq had been awarded without any comment from Cheney or anyone else in the White House. Of course.. And we still believe in Santa Claus!