U.S. Owes $208 Million To Iraq, U.N. Audit Finds
A U.N.-established international auditing board called on the United States to repay Iraq $208 million in disputed fees for Kellogg, Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary that received nearly $1.4 billion in contracts without having to compete for the delivery of fuel and the repair of Iraq’s oil infrastructure.
The board’s finding adds to the criticism of the United States’ handling of the postwar reconstruction of Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion of the oil-rich country in March 2003. The role of Halliburton — the company run by Richard B. Cheney before he became George W. Bush’s running mate in the 2000 presidential campaign — in Iraq’s reconstruction has fueled charges of political favoritism.
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In Hunt for Terrorists, Bureau Examines Records of Ordinary Americans
The FBI came calling in Windsor, Conn., this summer with a document marked for delivery by hand. On Matianuk Avenue, across from the tennis courts, two special agents found their man. They gave George Christian the letter, which warned him to tell no one, ever, what it said.
Under the shield and stars of the FBI crest, the letter directed Christian to surrender “all subscriber information, billing information and access logs of any person” who used a specific computer at a library branch some distance away. Christian, who manages digital records for three dozen Connecticut libraries, said in an affidavit that he configures his system for privacy. But the vendors of the software he operates said their databases can reveal the Web sites that visitors browse, the e-mail accounts they open and the books they borrow.
Christian refused to hand over those records, and his employer, Library Connection Inc., filed suit for the right to protest the FBI demand in public. The Washington Post established their identities — still under seal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit — by comparing unsealed portions of the file with public records and information gleaned from people who had no knowledge of the FBI demand.
This is truly outragous stuff…
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“What is something that is very, very small?”
Dick Cheney’s aprroval rating has sunk to 19 percent.
Cheney is now two points less popular than cheating on your spouse. He’s seven points behind corporal punishment in schools. The number of people who believe alien beings have secretly contacted the U.S. government now leads Dick Cheney by 18 points.
On the posative side, Cheney is still 7 points ahead of those who think the United States should have a British-style royal family.
Bush is still showing signs of competativeness; he trails the number of people who think astrology is scientific by only five points–very close to being a statistical dead heat.
I expect these posative notes to start showing up in Republican talking points any day now.