[Peace-discuss] carving up iraq

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Carving Up The New Iraq (cont.)


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THE POWER-BROKERS




Robert Reilly



Former director of Voice of America, the pro-US radio service, Reilly has 
been entrusted with overhauling Iraqi radio, television and newspapers. 

The Bush administration has already given Reilly the green light to operate 
Radio Free Iraq. This will involve using transmitters that have been sent to 
the Middle East for the military’s psychological operations.

Reilly is closely involved with an American administration plan to establish 
a media network in the Middle East. A $62m (£40m) satellite TV station is 
scheduled to begin at the end of the year. 

He is a very close friend and business partner of Ahmed Chalabi.

Michael Mobbs



Pentagon lawyer and overall civilian co-ordinator who will be in charge of 11 
of the ministries.

Mobbs wants US citizens imprisoned indefinitely without charge for terrorist 
offences. A notorious hawk and close friend of Richard Perle, Mobbs also 
worked for Douglas Feith’s law firm.

Currently a Pentagon consultant, he created the legal framework for the 
indefinite detention of al-Qaeda suspects at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, 
which was built by Bechtel (see The businesses) for $16m (£10m). Also a 
former member of the US arms control agency under former president Ronald 
Reagan.

William Eagleton



Like George Shultz, a contemporary of George Bush Snr. and revered by the 
right as one the grand old men of republican foreign policy.

The pair went to Yale together and both served in the Far East during the 
second world war. A career diplomat, Eagleton was based in Iraq between 
1980-1984 as Chief of US Interests Section in Baghdad.

His tenure there came at a time when Iraqi use of chemical weapons against 
Iran was being studiously ignored by Washington.

He is tipped to be the “Mayor of Kirkuk”, the oil-rich city in northern 
Iraq, or Kurdistan.

Andrew Natsios



The head of USAid, United States Agency for International Development, 
Natsios is the man who hands out the post-war reconstruction contracts. Only 
US companies can bid for these lucrative deals. 

One of the most controversial episodes of his career saw him, as CEO of the 
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, oversee the Big Dig construction project, a 
three-mile underground highway in Boston, undertaken by Bechtel. The budget 
spiralled out of control costing up to $10bn (£6.3bn) more than it should 
have, with the largest budget rises under Natsios’s tenure.

A former Massachusetts House of Representatives congressman, he is the author 
of a book called US Foreign Policy And The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse 
and a retired lieutenant colonel from the first Gulf war. He was also the 
chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party for most of the 1980s. 

Natsios will be assisted by Michael Marx, the head of USAid Disaster 
Assistance Response Team (Dart) and a former US army officer. Marx previously 
headed the Dart team after the conflict in Afghanistan. 

Lewis Lucke, another USAid senior staffer, will oversee the Iraqi 
reconstruction process. He headed the USAid mission team in Haiti alongside 
Timothy Carney (see grey suits), one of the former US ambassadors who is now 
involved in administering Free Iraq. Attempts at establishing democracy in 
Haiti have so far failed, with elections collapsing amid allegations of 
electoral manipulation and fraud.

George Shultz and Clint Williamson


A Republican heavyweight and former secretary of state under Nixon, Shultz 
was Bush Jnr’s presidential campaign adviser. He is also one of the 
administration’s key thinkers on running post-war Iraq, and on the board of 
directors at Bechtel, which is in the running for contracts after regime 
change. Like Perle, he has lucrative financial relationships, which bring his 
impartiality into question. Shultz is the chairman of the International 
Council of JP Morgan Chase, the banking syndicate in which Lewis Libby (see 
neo-cons) has heavy investments. Morgan Chase lent Saddam’s regime $500m 
(£320m) in 1983. Shultz is a member of the Committee for the Liberation of 
Iraq and a patron of the American Enterprise Institute. Perle advised clients 
of Goldman Sachs, the investment house, on post-war investment opportunities 
in Iraq. Perle is also a director of the software company Autonomy Corp, 
which has clients including the Pentagon. Autonomy says it expects its 
profits to increase dramatically after the war in Iraq ends.

Clint Williamson, who is expected to head the Iraqi ministry of justice, 
appears to be one of the good guys. A former prosecutor at the Hague’s 
International War Crimes Tribunal, he helped compile evidence against 
Slobodan Milosevic. Williamson now works at Condoleezza Rice’s National 
Security Agency. Williamson appears ideally placed to deal with the unfolding 
chaos gripping the nation of Iraq, and is skilled and seasoned in preparing 
indictments against war criminals. 

John Bolton



A prime architect of Bush’s Iraq policy, Bolton served Bush Snr and Reagan in 
the state department, justice department and USAid and is now under-secretary 
for arms control and international security in Bush Jnr’s state department. 
His appointment was intended to counter the dove-ish Colin Powell. 

Bolton now leads Rumsfeld’s charge to destabilise Powell’s multilateralism. 
Bolton is part of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, the 
Project for the New American Century and is a vice-president at the American 
Enterprise Institute. He was also one of Bush’s chad-counters during the 
Florida count. Bolton has long advocated Taiwan getting a UN seat – he’s 
been on the payroll of the Taiwanese government. 

The US unilateralist is a regular contributor to William Kristol’s right-wing 
Weekly Standard and has vilified UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Bolton was 
an opponent of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and a cheerleader for the 
Star Wars Defence System. He has hinted at targeting Cuba in the war on 
terror. His financial interests include oil and arms firms and JP Morgan 
Chase, like Shultz. It is said that Bolton believes in the inevitability of 
Armageddon.

Like Woolsey, Bolton is said to believe we are in the midst of world war four 
which he estimates could take 40 years to finish. Despite evidence to the 
contrary they believe Iraq was involved in September 11. With Rumsfeld, 
Wolfowitz, Khalilzad, Bennet, Woolsey, Perle and Kristol, Bolton co-signed a 
letter in 1998 urging President Bill Clinton to take military action in Iraq .




THE THINK-TANKS

These are the right-wing foundations and intellectual powerhouses stuffed 
with Republican Party hacks which have successfully influenced Bush’s Iraq 
policy since he took power.



The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs.


With its aims of informing Americans of the continued importance of American 
security, and of the need for an Israeli “victory” in the Middle East, Jinsa 
places itself firmly on the extreme right wing. It has repeatedly praised 
Israel for what it views as “remarkable restraint” in the face of a 
centrally-orchestrated campaign of terror from the Palestinian authorities, 
and its ranks include most of Bush’s neo-cons. It also supports both Garner 
and Chalabi.



The Project for a New American Century. 


Founded by the likes of Rumsfeld and Cheney in 1997 to counter what it viewed 
as Clinton’s drifting foreign and defence policy, this think-tank would come 
to form the nucleus of Team Bush. It has always lobbied for regime change in 
Iraq and for America to play a more permanent role in the Middle East. It 
also believes American foreign policy to be by definition, inherently 
“right”. Many see it as the brains behind a US-controlled “new world order”.



The American Enterprise Institute.


One of America’s biggest and most-established think-tanks, the American 
Enterprise Institute has been pushing its conservative agendas for over 50 
years in both foreign and domestic policy. With 14 of its members in Bush’s 
administration, it claims to be better represented than any other think tank 
in the current administration.



The Bradley Foundation. 


During the 15-year tenure of Michael Joyce heading up this charitable body, 
the century-old foundation increased its profile dramatically and can now 
claim to be cash-rich and very powerful. It even provided the money needed to 
set up the Project for a New American Century. The Republicans love it and 
some even call it the patron saint of hawkish causes, thanks to the 
considerable amounts of money it doles out to neo-con causes.



THE BUSINESSES




SteveDoring Services Of America


This world-leading Seattle port company won the first USAid contract for 
Iraqi reconstruction – a $4.8m (£3m) deal to manage Iraq’s strategic port, 
Umm Qasr. Known for its union-busting activities, it turns over around $1bn 
(£634m) a year and its president, John Hemingway, has made personal donations 
to Republican Party candidates. SSA’s contract has angered the British 
government and army, and Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt unsuccessfully 
called on Washington to intervene. The British shipping giant P&O is also 
angered about missing out and about not being told why they lost. EU 
commissioner Chris Patten called the US-exclusive bidding “exceptionally 
maladroit”.

Bechtel



Almost certain to win $900m (£573m) in contracts. The total amount of 
business from Iraqi reconstruction could total $100bn (£634m). Bechtel has 
donated $1.3m (£820,000) to political campaign funds since 1999, with the 
majority going to the republican Party. George Shultz (see power-brokers) is 
Bechtel’s former CEO and is still on the board of directors. Other 
Republicans linked to the company include former Reagan defence secretary 
Caspar Weinberger. General Jack Sheehan, retired Marine corp general, is its 
senior vice president, he also sits on the Pentagon’s influential Defence 
Policy Board. In the 1980s Bechtel proposed building an oil pipeline through 
Iraq with Rumsfeld as a intermediary for the company to Saddam.

International Resources Group


The Washington-based company has won a $70m (£44m) contract to establish the 
humanitarian aid programme in Iraq. Obviously this involves an exceptionally 
close working relationship with USAid, which awards the contracts. Four of 
IRG’s vice-presidents have all held senior posts with USAid, and 24 of the 
firm’s 48 technical staff have worked for USAid. 

Other players tipped to win contracts include Washington Group International, 
bidding for the capital construction job, which gave $438,700 (£270,000) to 
the Republicans – along with a donation to Bush, and the Louis Berger Group 
which gave $26,300 to the republicans and is implementing the USAid Croatia 
development programme.

Halliburton



This was Dick Cheney’s old oil company until he joined Team Bush, walking out 
the door with a pay-off worth around $30m (£19m). There have been deferred 
payments of $180,000 (£120,000) a year.

Halliburton’s subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, was the first company to be 
awarded an Iraqi reconstruction contract by the Pentagon to cap burning oil 
wells, the deal is reportedly worth $500m (£320m). The contract was awarded 
by the Army Corps of Engineers without any open competitive bidding process 
thanks to federal laws allowing the negotiations to take place in secret in 
the interests of national security. KBR has won a string of lucrative 
contracts despite failing to control the cost of work in the Balkans and 
being fined $2m (£1.3m) following claims of fraud at a military base. KBR is 
also one of two contractors chosen by the Defence Threat Reduction Agency to 
undertake the disposal of weapons of mass destruction – if they are ever 
found. Since 1999, Halliburton has given 95%, or just under $700,000, 
(£448,000) of its political donations to the Republican party. It also gave 
George Bush nearly $18,000 (£12,000). KBR has subcontracted some of the work 
to two Houston firms – Wild Wells, and Boots and Coots, which is close to 
bankruptcy. Boots and Coots have a capital deficit of $17m (£11m).

They were recently given a $1m (£634,000) loan from a Panama-registered 
investment company, Checkpoint, run by Texas oilmen. It claims Boots and 
Coots defaulted and wants it to file for bankruptcy. 

Best of the rest



Fluor Corp, which donated $275,000 (£175,000) to the Republicans and $3500 
(£2200) personally to George Bush, has ties to a number of intelligence and 
defence procurement officials. These include Kenneth J Oscar, former acting 
assistant secretary of the army and Bobby R Inman a retired admiral, former 
NSA director and CIA deputy director. 

Also in the running is Parsons Corp, which donated $152,000 (£96,000) to the 
Republican party and £2000 (£1800) to Bush. It has helped reconstruct Kosovo 
and Bosnia and built the Saudi “military city” of Yanbu. Bush’s labour 
secretary Elaine Chao served on its board before joining the cabinet. It has 
got a chance of $900m (£570m) of reconstruction contracts and works closely 
with Halliburton. Chao’s husband, assistant majority leader and majority whip 
Mitch McConnell has links to defence contractor Northrop Grumman. He has also 
received donations from, among others, Halliburton and arms firm Lockheed 
Martin .

California congressman, Darrell Issa, wants firms such as Lucent Technologies 
and Qualcomm to rebuild Iraq’s decrepit telecoms system – a deal worth 
around $1bn (£634m). Pentagon under-secretary, Douglas Feith, has up to 
$500,000 (£317,000) invested in Lucent; and Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, 
Lewis Libby, has shares in Qualcomm.

Raytheon Corp alongside KBR is another company apparently chosen by the 
Defence Threat Reduction Agency to deal with WMD. Libby also has shares in 
this company.


THE DEFENCE PLAYERS

The business players inextricably tied to the reconstructors:



SY Coleman


It is a key company connected to the US Patriot missile system. The fact that 
the company is headed by Lt Gen Jay Garner, the so-called Sheriff of Baghdad, 
has caused consternation among both aid agencies and the UN.



Northrop Grumman


One of the biggest winners under Bush’s increases in defence spending, they 
won $8.5 billion in contracts last year. It has links with Jinsa and the AEI 
and key Bush administration hawks. The company planned a merger with Lockheed 
Martin, another defence giant who had Dick Cheney’s wife Lynne on the board. 



DynCorp


Linked to former CIA director James Woolsey. It provides security in world 
trouble spots where America has had to act as the policeman. Woolsey’s 
DynCorp links tally with his intellectual inclinations – both he and Richard 
Perle sit on the Foundation for the Defence of Democracy, a pro-military 
think-tank 



The Defence Policy Board


This is the massively influential Pentagon advisory group, headed by Richard 
Perle until forced to resign over a conflict of interests. Currying favour 
with the DPB is the key to getting a Pentagon contract. Eight other DPB 
members have links to firms that have won defence contracts including 
Northrop Grumman, Bechtel and Rand Corp, which is linked to Lewis Libby and 
Zalmay Khalilzad. DPB members include General Jack Sheehan, who is connected 
to Bechtel, the CIA’s James Woolsey and former Republican secretary of 
defence James Schlesinger.



THE ARABS







Ahmed Chalabi



Leader of the London-based Iraqi National Congress (INC), Chalabi’s 
supporters include Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld, who are pushing for 
him to be the interim leader of the post-war Iraq. He is backed by the 
think-tank Jinsa and linked to the American Enterprise Institute. 

Convicted in absentia in Jordan for his part in an massive embezzlement 
scandal, Chalabi received up to $12 million from Washington after the first 
Gulf war.

He will be working with Reilly (see power-brokers) on broadcasting and 
communications in the new Iraq. Often referred to as “Cheney’s protégé”, he 
is unpopular in Iraq and loathed by Colin Powell’s state department. He has 
also fallen out of favour with the CIA, which in the early 1990s funded the 
INC to the tune of $325,000 a month. However, in a recent trip to Israel, 
organised by Jinsa, he tried to warm up relations regarding Iraq’s 
post-regime change. Other Iraqis involved in a future government – at the 
behest of Wolfowitz – include INC members Salem Chalabi (Chalabi’s nephew) 
and Aras Habib. Habib’s cousin, Dr Ali Yassin Karim, a former medic with the 
CIA, was nearly kicked out of the agency but was saved by the CIA’s James 
Woolsey. Wolfowitz also wants jobs to go to Chalabi’s friends Tamara 
Daghestani and Goran Talebani.

Zalmay Khalilzad



Afghanistan-born Khalilzad is Bush’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Iraq 
and has a wide variety of oil interests. He co-wrote an article on Saddam, 
entitled Overthrow Him, with Wolfowitz, his former boss. A consultant with 
the oil company Unocal, he was pushing for a natural gas pipeline in 
Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, and worked under Condoleezza Rice when 
she served as director of Chevron. He is also a close associate of George 
Shultz, and encouraged Schultz to use Iran to help topple Saddam. He is a 
former Rand Corp employee and a charter member of the PNAC. 



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