Koryto korytem est

[Gość: Nihil]

>W Polsce przyslowiowym jest to parcie do rzadowego koryta. Blednie to w
porownaniu do tego, co sie dzieje w slawetnej, 'demokratycznej' Ameryce,
gdzie ci, ktorzy przekupuja samego prezydenta, w tym wypadku Busha, swoimi
setkami tysiecy $ w formie donacji wyborczych, teraz dostaja kontrakty w
Iraku, ktore sa gwarantowane przez aministracje amerykanska z Bushem na
czele.

story.news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=721&e=7&u=/ap/20031030/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_contracts

Report Links Iraq Deals to Bush Donations
Thu Oct 30, 3:28 PM ET

By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Companies awarded $8 billion in contracts to rebuild Iraq
(news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites) have been major
campaign donors to President Bush (news - web sites), and their executives
have had important political and military connections, according to a study
released Thursday.


AP Photo



The study of more than 70 U.S. companies and individual contractors turned
up more than $500,000 in donations to the president's 2000 campaign, more
than they gave collectively to any other politician over the past dozen
years.


The report was released by the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-
based research organization that produces investigative articles on special
interests and ethics in government. Its staff includes journalists and
researchers.


The Center concluded that most of the 10 largest contracts went to companies
that employed former high-ranking government officials, or executives with
close ties to members of Congress and even the agencies awarding their
contracts.


Major contracts for Iraq and Afghanistan were awarded by the Bush
administration without competitive bids, because agencies said competition
would have taken too much time to meet urgent needs in both countries.


"No single agency supervised the contracting process for the government,"
Center executive director Charles Lewis said. "This situation alone shows
how susceptible the contracting system is to waste, fraud and cronyism."


J. Edward Fox, an assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for
International Development, took issue with Lewis' statement and aspects of
the report.


"It would ... be incorrect to suggest that there is no overall oversight of
this process," he wrote the Center. "The USAID inspector general's review of
all Iraq contracts which was requested by USAID Administrator Andrew S.
Natsios on April 14th has shown that all Iraq contracts to date have been
done in compliance" with federal regulations.


State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, defending the way contracts are
awarded, said: "The reason that these companies get the contracts has
nothing to do with who may have worked there before. Those people in senior
positions have no influence over the decision."


He added, "Competitive procedure is very, very important to us, and we have
done that in Iraq."


The top contract recipient was the Halliburton subsidiary KBR, with more
than $2.3 billion awarded to support the U.S. military and restore Iraq's
oil industry.


Halliburton was headed by Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites)
before he resigned to run with Bush in 2000.


Halliburton's top executive, Dave Lesar, said Wednesday he was offended by
criticism of the company's Iraq work but believed it was "less about
Halliburton and more about external political issues."


"As a company uniquely qualified to take on this difficult assignment, we
will continue to bring all of our global resources to bear at this critical
time in the Middle East. We have served the military for over 50 years and
have no intention of backing down at this point," he said.


Bechtel was second with a $1 billion capital construction contract involving
Iraq's utilities, telecommunications, railroads, ports, schools, health care
facilities, bridges, roads and airports.


The company's Internet site says, "We do engage in the political process, as
do most companies in the United States. We have legitimate policy interests
and positions on matters before Congress, and we express them in many ways,
including support for elected officials who support those positions.


"We do not expect or receive political favors or government contracts as a
result of those contributions."





The Center's analysis of contractor political donations showed:

_The top 10 contractors contributed $11 million to national political
parties, candidates and political action committees since 1990.

_Fourteen of the companies won contracts in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Those
companies, combined, have given more than $23 million in political
contributions since 1990.

_Most contractors, their political action committees and their employees
have contributed just under $49 million to national political campaigns and
parties since that year.

_In the same time period, contractor donations to Republican Party
committees outpaced contributions to the Democrats, $12.7 million to $7.1
million.

Many of the companies with large contracts have important political
connections.

Former Secretary of State George Shultz is a member of Bechtel's board of
directors, although he has no management role, according to the company's
Web site.

Riley Bechtel, the chairman and chief executive officer, was named early
this year to the President's Export Council, which advises the president on
programs to improve U.S. trade.

Jack Sheehan, senior vice president in Bechtel's petroleum and chemicals
business, served on the Defense Policy Board, which advises the defense
secretary on a variety of issues.

Other contractors also had connections. Among those cited by the Center:

David Kay, head of the Bush administration's search for weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq, is a former vice president of Science Applications
International Corp. He left the company in October 2002.

Christopher "Ryan" Henry left the same company as a vice president in
February 2003 to become principal deputy undersecretary of defense for
policy.

Scott Spangler, principal owner of Chemonics International, was a senior
U.S. Agency for International Development official during the first Bush
administration. The company receives 90 percent of its business from USAID.

Sullivan Haave Associates Inc. was founded by Carol Haave, currently the
deputy assistant secretary of defense for security and information
operations.

The Center's findings are based, in part, on 73 Freedom of Information Act
requests and an analysis of a federal contractor database.

___