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Cheney's Believe It or Not!
A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
By
all accounts, Vice President Dick Cheney has been a major force in
pushing the theory that Iraq’s supposed nuclear weapon
s
program and connection to Al Qaeda was the basis for the U.S. invasion.
As early
as June of 2002, Cheney claimed to have evidence that Iraq had nuclear
weapons, and leading up to the war he said the U.S. had evidence
of a close cooperative connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama
bin Laden. At the same time, he claimed that the Iraq war had nothing
to do with enriching his former employer, Halliburton. Believe it…or
not:
CHENEY: "IRAQ HAS RECONSTITUTED NUCLEAR WEAPONS" - BELIEVE IT…OR NOT!
Six days before the U.S. sent troops to Iraq, Cheney said "We believe Iraq has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons" [Meet the Press, 3/7/03]. This echoed his June, 2002 speech in which he said the same thing. He made these claims while offering no evidence, and despite the fact that "the CIA sent two memos to the White House in October voicing strong doubts about a claim President Bush made three months later in the State of the Union address that Iraq was trying to buy nuclear material in Africa" [Washington Post, 7/23/03].
CHENEY: THE IAEA "IS FRANKLY WRONG" IN ITS FINDINGS - BELIEVE IT…OR NOT!
When questioned directly about the International Atomic Energy Agency’s findings that the White House falsely claimed that Iraq had bought uranium from Africa, Cheney said that "[IAEA Director] Elbaradei is, frankly, wrong." He said this despite the fact that the IAEA’s findings were the same as the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies that Cheney was consulting with.
CHENEY: "SADDAM HAS A LONG RELATIONSHIP WITH AL QAEDA" - BELIEVE IT…OR NOT!
Cheney repeatedly asserted that the U.S. needed to go to war with Iraq because, he said, U.S. intelligence knew that Saddam was working with Al Qaeda. As he said on Meet the Press, "We know that [Saddam] has a long-standing relationship with various terrorist groups, including the al-Qaeda organization." However, in June, the U.N. formally investigated the claim and found absolutely no evidence. As reported by the NY Times, "The chairman of the monitoring group appointed by the United Nations Security Council to track Al Qaeda told reporters that his team had found no evidence linking Al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein" [6/27/03]. Similarly, the bipartisan September 11th commission report "undercuts Bush administration claims before the war that Hussein had links to Al Qaeda" [LA Times, 7/19/03]. According to national security officials, "In the 14 weeks since the fall of Baghdad, coalition forces have not brought to light any significant evidence demonstrating the bond between Iraq and Al Qaeda…Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah, the two highest-ranking Qaeda operatives in custody, have told investigators that Mr. bin Laden shunned cooperation with Saddam Hussein" [NY Times, 7/20/03]
CHENEY: "IRAQ OIL IS FOR IRAQIS, NOT HALLIBURTON" - BELIEVE IT…OR NOT!
Facing questions about whether Bush and Cheney were pushing for war to enrich the oil industry that funded their election campaign, Cheney echoed the Administration’s line, saying Iraq’s oil "will generate billions of dollars a year in cash flow…and that flow of resources, obviously, belongs to the Iraqi people, needs to be put to use by the Iraqi people for the Iraqi people and that will be one of our major objectives." [3/16/03]. However, according to news reports, "the Bush administration is considering a controversial plan to pay for Iraq's reconstruction by mortgaging its future oil revenue. The proposal has the enthusiastic endorsement of the two major U.S. companies with reconstruction contracts in Iraq, Halliburton Co. and Bechtel Group Inc." [WSJ, 6/19/03]. As U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman pointed out in a letter, "Such an arrangement would commit future oil revenue from Iraqi wells to paying the expense of major U.S. contractors operating in Iraq. In effect, the country’s oil revenues would belong to Halliburton and Bechtel" [6/24/03]. This proposal came after the Administration admitted that Halliburton would not just be responsible for putting out oil fires as first claimed, but for full "operation" of Iraqi oil fields and "distribution" of Iraqi oil [Letter, 5/2/03]. While Halliburton claims that the Iraq revenues it pockets will help Iraqis, news media tell a different story. As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, "A subsidiary of the well-connected Halliburton Co. has earned nearly $90 million catering to the Americans who are working to rebuild Iraq, U.S. officials said -- while the reconstruction effort has yet to show significant results for ordinary Iraqis" [5/9/03].
CHENEY: "WE WILL PROSECUTE CORPORATE FRAUD" - BELIEVE IT…OR NOT!
During revelations of Halliburton’s major accounting scandal while Cheney was CEO, Cheney actually gave a speech saying, "Where there is corporate fraud, the American people can be certain that the government will fully investigate and prosecute those responsible" [Speech, 8/7/02]. Of course, no criminal charges have been filed by the government in the matter, despite the fact that Halliburton was forced in a civil suit to "agree to pay $6 million to settle 20 shareholder lawsuits that accused it of using deceptive accounting practices while Vice President Dick Cheney led the company" [AP, 5/31/03]. Meanwhile, Halliburton is still making annual payments of as much as $1 million a year to Cheney" at the very same time the Bush/Cheney Administration is awarding Halliburton hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts for work in Iraq, many of which have been granted with no competition from other corporations [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 3/13/03].
Stay Tuned, we're sure there will be more of . . .
Cheney's Believe It or Not!
A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
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