oh, come on. politicians don't lie. you should know that. what are you, French? all that conspiracy stuff is just internet garbage. it's not their fault that the administration is filled with the same group of ex oil executives that ran the first Bush administration - there's only 280 million people in the US, not like there's an infinite amount of talent out there, you know. if oil exec's are the only ones that know how to find *WMD* then they are the ones that should be selected to do it.
U.S. Finds Iraq Contractor with No Political Ties (2003-04-19) -- The U.S. government has awarded a $7.9 Billion contract for the redevelopment of Iraq's oil industry to the only company it could find that had no political connections. The White House, under pressure from Democrats to avoid awarding bids to major campaign donors, located the contractor in rural Howard, Pennsylvania. Bob Yoder, of Howard, who runs a small engine repair shop, salvage yard and "groundhog mitigation service", said he would do his best to get Iraq's oil industry "up and humming again." Mr. Yoder has never contributed to any political campaign and has never voted in an election. "Between the engine shop and shooting groundhogs, I really don't have time for politics," said Mr. Yoder. "My old lady and I are excited about this deal because we've never flown in an airplane before." http://www.scrappleface.com/MT/archives/000834.html#000834
Read Hitchens' latest article: http://slate.msn.com/id/2081707/ Among other things, he opines that prior to coalition intervention, French and Russian companies enjoyed an exclusive atmosphere for the awarding of contracts by the Baath party.
Sounds like Mr. Yoder would be a better prospect than most of the carpers on this board. At least he has done something real.
sort of inconclusive - the argument seems to be: 1) the company contracted by the administration is run by one of the war's chief architects. 2) well, who else can do it? hippies?
Regarding the 'conspiracy in the square'... Pick up the recent Newsweek and look in the first few pages. There you will see a different picture (angle, expression, lighting, etc.) of the guy who is purported to be behind Chalabi and in the square. From that pic you can clearly see that it isn't the same person. But don't let that stop you msfe al-tikriti!! Long live Saddam mein Fuhrer!! It was the gunmen at the grassy knoll! There were no Iraqis celebrating that day!
1. Cheney is running Halliburton? Hardly. 2. Hitchen's point is that the whiners deride the only choices possible, leaving only their "hippy" bs as an "alternative."
1. right. it should read "was" instead of "is." 2. that does not address the conflict of interest issue. is the term "whiners" applied to the French, people who dislike the administration, or anyone who points out that there is a conflict of interest?
2. What conflict of interest? Is there a company out there that does not have some connection either through past employees, a lobbying arm or political donation? I doubt it. Does it mean that the "fix" is in or that there are kickbacks? I doubt it. "whiners" : If you read the article or even the excerpt you quoted, you would find "But unless the anti-war forces..."