Fortunes of war await Bush's circle after attacks on Iraq
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
Independent.co.uk - 15 September
2002
The last time the United States went to war against Iraq, Dick Cheney
did very nicely from it.
Having served as Defence Secretary, and basked in the reflected glory
of the US military's surprisingly rapid advance across the desert
sands to end the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, he then managed to reap
benefits of a very different kind once the war was over and he left
government to become chief executive of Halliburton, the Texas-based
oil services company.
When the United Nations relaxed its sanctions regime in 1998 and
permitted Iraq to buy spare parts for its oil fields, it was
Halliburton, under Mr Cheney's leadership, that cleaned up on the
contract to repair war damage and get Saddam Hussein's oil pipes
flowing at full capacity again. Two Halliburton subsidiaries did
business worth almost $24m (£15m) with the man whom these days Mr
Cheney calls a "murderous dictator" and "the world's worst leader".
Since taking over as George Bush's vice-president, Mr Cheney has
severed all formal ties with his former employer, notably when he
cashed in $36m in stock options and other benefits at the height of
the market in August 2000. But Halliburton – currently struggling
with a corporate accounting scandal that may or may not implicate Mr
Cheney – could profit all over again if the much-threatened new war
against Iraq comes to pass.
We can certainly expect more air strikes against the oil fields,
possibly combined with a ground invasion. Then, when it is all over,
someone is going to have to mop up the damage once again.
Halliburton, with its previous experience and unparalleled political
connections (not limited to Mr Cheney), would be in pole position for
the job.
Nobody could justifiably accuse the Bush administration of wanting to
wage war on Iraq solely as a favour to its friends in the oil
business and the military-industrial complex. But many of the
companies that stand to gain most from a war enjoy remarkably close
ties to senior figures in the administration. And some of the
President's closest confidants have shown extraordinary elasticity
down the years in their attitudes to President Saddam, America's on-
again, off-again public enemy number one.
Mr Cheney, who has gone from warmonger to dealmaker and back to
warmonger, is just one example. Donald Rumsfeld, the current Defence
Secretary, has repeatedly raised the spectre of Iraq's arsenal of
weapons of mass destruction. But in 1983, when Mr Rumsfeld was
President Reagan's special envoy to Iraq, he turned a blind eye to
Iraqi use of nerve and mustard gas in its war with Iran,
concentrating instead on forging a personal relationship with the
Iraqi leader, then considered a valuable US ally.
Mr Rumsfeld was actually in Baghdad on the day the United Nations
first reported Iraqi use of chemical weapons, but chose to remain
silent, as did the rest of the US establishment. Five years later, he
cited his ability to make friends with Saddam Hussein as one of his
qualifications for a possible run at the presidency.
This Bush administration has been much more upfront about the role of
oil in its deliberations on Iraq than the last Bush administration.
That is partly a matter of circumstance: since the 11 September
attacks, the stability of Middle Eastern oil states has been a big
policy consideration. But it also reflects the fact that much of the
Bush inner circle, including the President himself, is made up of
former oilmen. The oil and gas industry has pumped about $50m to
political candidates since the 2000 election.
There are also uncomfortably cosy ties between the government and the
defence industry. Mr Rumsfeld's oldest friend, Frank Carlucci, a
former defence secretary himself, now heads the Carlyle Group, an
investment consortium which has a big interest in the contracting
firm United Defense.
Carlyle's board includes George Bush Sr and James Baker, the former
secretary of state. One programme alone – the Crusader artillery
system – has earned Carlyle more than $2bn in advance government
contracts. Carlyle's European chairman is John Major, who may have
played a role in the Ministry of Defence's controversial recent
decision to declare Carlyle the "preferred bidder" for a stake in its
scientific research division.
None of these links is illegal, but that does not mean there is no
conflict of interest. Messrs Bush, Cheney and friends have either
sold their stock holdings or put them in a blind trust, meaning
personal gain is off the agenda. But gain for their friends and
family may well be a by-product of the looming war against Iraq.
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