GI views on KBR-Halliburton

Kellogg Towers in Greenford,
West London. With US vice -president Dick Cheney kept on the payroll after he stepped down as boss, it's maybe not surprising Kellogg-Brown Root/ Halliburton, has done well out of war contracts. The company has also been favoured in Britain. But GIs serving in Iraq are not so fond of it.

(NB -Halliburton announced last year, to uproar from US congressmen and commentators, that it was moving its headquarters from Houston to Dubai. It followed up by separating from its KBR contracting subsidiary).

Thanks to Mike Marqusee and Iraq Occupation Focus for this extract from the soldiers' publication:

From: [XXXX, Soldier Iraq] To: GI Special, Traveling Soldier’s sister publication Subject: thank you My name is [XXXXXX], I’m a [XXXXXX] with [XXXXXX], [XXXXXX] Division, currently deployed to Kirkuk, Iraq. I just wanted to thank you for putting out GI Special. Its nice to know that a lot of other people who are deployed, or have previously deployed think being in Iraq is completely counter-productive. I, personally, don’t believe in fighting for the profit of a handful of people. I also don’t believe in fighting for a government that is willing, if not eager, to fuck its own people over. KBR [Kellogg, Brown, and Root] is a perfect example. KBR handles just about everything on our FOB. I was talking to a KBR maintenance guy named [xxxxxx] about what exactly KBR did. He told me about how he had been in Iraq for the past 4 years working, and how sheisty KBR is. They had a lot of civilian Americans working for them, and from what I’ve been told by a few of them, they got paid pretty well considering the shit-hole conditions they have to work in. But now what’s happening is, KBR is actively seeking reasons to fire these people, and starting to hire people from other countries, who do the same job, for a fraction of the money. Putting people like [xxxxxx] out of a job for even the slightest fuckup. At the time I just thought, “hey, that’s not right “. But then I was reading through Traveling Soldier and I noticed that KBR was one of Halliburton’s entities, and that Cheney has some major say in what’s going on with that company. Maybe this information isn’t fully correct, but that’s just what I got out of it all. The shit is really piling up on this administration. I fully support all the men and women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan but, I’m already at the “fuck the army” point, I’ve never been a supporter of this war, and I thank you for doing what you do. Keep it up. REPLY: Dear Soldier, First of all, I want to thank you for reading GI Special and Traveling Soldier and writing us. On KBR, Halliburton, and Cheney: KBR is a subsidiary of Halliburton. Cheney was Halliburton’s CEO for five years, and stepped down in August of 2000. Since leaving, he has received $250,000-$300,000 every year in deferred compensation and his stock options are worth an estimated $8 million. (See http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Cheneys_stock_options_rose_3281_last_1011.html for the story.) The scandal is that KBR got no-bid ontracts worth billions to “rebuild” in Iraq. No-bid means there was no competitive bidding, the Pentagon simply handed them the contract and wrote them the checks. This is in addition to the logistical support they provide at the many permanent military installations that are being built in Iraq which you know of first hand. KBR also got no-bid contracts to rebuild in New Orleans after Katrina. Did KBR get these lucrative deals because Cheney is the #2 man in the White House? The answer is obvious. When Senator Pat Leahy of Vermont confronted Cheney about this issue on the floor of the Senate, Cheney told him to “go fuck yourself.” If that’s how Cheney thinks about his colleagues in the Senate who dare to raise the issue, I can only imagine what he thinks of rank-and-file anti-war soldiers reading Traveling Soldier and GI Special! Hope that clarifies things. An increasing number of people working in the anti-war movement, including organizations like Iraq Veterans Against the War are behind you 100%, doing our best to bring you and all your friends home safe and sound. Keep writing, stay safe. – Pham Binh Traveling Soldier Editorial Board