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Halliburton
In 1992, then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney hired a private company to answer the question: Is it economically feasible to outsource military logistics from the Department of Defense to private companies? That is, Should we let private companies take care of building barracks, delivering fuel and ammunition, delivering and cooking and serving food, etc.? Of course, the private company said, “Yes.” The private company’s name was Halliburton. In 1992, Cheney left public office and with no previous business experience at all, became the CEO of a major private company. The private company’s name was Halliburton. For the next eight years, thousands of military logistics contracts were outsourced. One thousand of these contracts went to one private company. The private company’s name was Halliburton. In 2000, Dick Cheney became the Vice President of the United States. A little over a year later, the United States went to war against Afghanistan. Halliburton’s profits jumped. About two years after that, the United States went to war against Iraq. Halliburton, whose former CEO was now Vice-President of the United States, got hundreds of “no-bid” contracts. That is, contracts for Iraq were simply given to Halliburton, with no competitive bidding at all. Half a billion dollars worth in 2003, three billion Dollars in 2004, eight billion dollars in 2005. Halliburton’s profits spiked again. And so did the value of Dick Cheney’s 433,000 “deferred stock options” in Halliburton. We cannot help but wonder if there is a conflict of interest here: With so much personal profit at stake, can we honestly say that Dick Cheney is using his voice solely for the well-being of the United States? The War Resisters League wants to stop all war profiteering. And we want to start by getting Halliburton out of the business of war-making. Halliburton has multi-billion dollar contracts for military logistics. Through their subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), they have a multi-billion dollar contract for Iraqi oil. They even have a contract to expand the notorious torture camp at Guantanamo. Make no mistake. Halliburton’s first priority is that of most corporations – to make as much money as they can. One set of results is predictable: shoddy supplies and service, and at least a billion dollars in charges “not considered acceptable” by the Defense Contract Audit Agency. The other set of results is also predictable: Halliburton and its agents are going to continue to push for war because there is so much profit in it. The “Stop the Merchants of Death” campaign is asking people to pledge not to work for Halliburton or Kellogg Brown & Root until they stop making profit from making war. |
War Resisters League
339 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 228-0450
fax (212) 228-6193
amc@warresisters.org
"We affirm that all war is a crime against humanity.
We therefore are determined not to support any kind of war, international or civil,
and to strive nonviolently for the removal of all the causes of war."
We therefore are determined not to support any kind of war, international or civil,
and to strive nonviolently for the removal of all the causes of war."
