Alastair Campbell Quits

Alastair Campbell quits

The BBC is slowly being vindicated.

HAVE WE LEARNED???

WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE REMIND GEORGE W. BUSH?

Hot Summer? Hotter Fall

Hot Summer? Hotter Fall
From Tom Paine.com

Hey, Mr. Bush...


"Bush could only react, interrupting his vacation -- and his fundraising -- to issue a soundbite about energy policy and deliver more boilerplate about evildoer terrorists. The president was all talk and no action, which only drives home the point that, while Iraq is burning, he's chopping wood....

...I can't help but think of Bush's father, who insisted that all was right with the world right up until the voters gave him a nice long vacation."

Iraq: One in Three US Military Dollars Spent Goes to Halliburton

Iraq: One in Three US Military Dollars Spent Goes to Halliburton
From CorpWatch.org

"..The size and scope of the government contracts awarded to Halliburton in connection with the war in Iraq are significantly greater than was previously disclosed and demonstrate the U.S. military's increasing reliance on for-profit corporations to run its logistical operations..."

"...The amount of money [earned by Halliburton] is quite staggering, far more than we were originally led to believe. This is clearly a trend under this administration, and it concerns me because often the privatization of government services ends up costing the taxpayers more money rather than less."
U.S. Rep Henry Waxman

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



This is freedom? This is the answer to the evils of Big Government? Toiling to pay your taxes to Halliburton while the nation's deficit could fill up the Grand Canyon?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"...Independent experts said the trend toward outsourcing logistic operations has resulted in new problems, such as a lack of accountability and transparency on the part of private military firms and sometimes questionable billing practices..."

"...."At the end of the day, neither these companies nor their employees are bound by military justice, and it is up to them whether to show up or not," Singer said. "The result is that there have been delays in setting up showers for soldiers, getting them cooked meals and so on."
A related concern is the rising cost of hiring contract workers because of skyrocketing insurance premiums. Singer estimates that premiums have increased by 300 percent to 400 percent this year, costs that are passed on to the taxpayer under the cost-plus-award fee system that is the basis for most contracts...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

COMPANION STORY: Two U.S. Firms Hit Iraq Jackpot

Operation Iraqi Freedom: The well-hidden and forgotten wounded

Operation Iraqi Freedom:
The well-hidden and forgotten wounded

Wounded, Weary And Disappeared
From Tom Paine.com

"......the president has not shown up at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to shake
hands with the recovering Robert Garrisons or Kenneth Dixons. Journalists should
pay these visits for him, to tell us the stories of these men and women, whose
problems will stretch into the coming years. And they should ask the president
why he is so reluctant to see these troops he sent so confidently into battle....."