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8:00-8:01 Billboard:
Halliburton and Private Military Contractors Strike it Rich
in Iraq
Kucinich & Braun Blast ABC For Reducing Campaign Coverage
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:20 Halliburton and Private Military Contractors
Strike it Rich in Iraq
INTRO: A Pentagon audit finds that Halliburton overcharged
the U.S. government by as much as $61 million for gasoline
delivered to Iraq. We go to Basra to speak with CorpWatch’s
Pratap Chatterjee about Iraqi reconstruction and the more
than 10,000 private military contractors on the ground in
Iraq.
A Pentagon investigation has found evidence that a subsidiary
of Halliburton Company overcharged the U.S. government by
as much as 61 million dollars for gasoline delivered to Iraq.
Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown and Root, delivers
fuel to Iraq under huge no-bid reconstruction contracts that
have a potential value of $15.6 billion. Separately, Pentagon
officials said they rejected a proposal submitted by KBR for
cafeteria services that was inflated by 67 million dollars.
The allegations of overcharging are not the first against
the company, which has billed the Army for questionable expenses
in the past. Halliburton did not appear to have profited from
the overcharging, but had instead paid a subcontractor too
much for the gasoline in the first place. The company denied
overcharging and called the inquiry a "routine audit."
Halliburton's former CEO is Vice President Dick Cheney. He
still receives about $150,000 in annual deferred payments
from the company.
Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who has been a leading
Congressional critic of the contract, said, "Halliburton
has been gouging taxpayers and the White House has been letting
them get away with it."
Separately, the weekly newsletter Inside the Pentagon is
reporting that Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfwoitz has
placed highly restrictive rules on a newly formed inspector
general's office at the Coalition Provisional Authority in
Iraq. The office was created to watch out for all manner of
waste, fraud, abuse and price gouging by the CPA.
The Halliburton audit came as President Bush worked to justify
his decision to bar non-coalition countries from competing
for primary reconstruction contracts in Iraq.
Bush said, "It's very simple. Our people risk their
lives. Coalition, friendly coalition folks risk their lives,
and, therefore, the contracting is going to reflect that."
The president added that he might issue exemptions for those
countries that write off Iraq's debt.
When told Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's said that "international
law must apply here," Bush responded, "International
law? I better call my lawyer. I don't know what you're talking
about, about international law."
- Pratap Chatterjee, managing director of CorpWatch.org.
He joins us on the phone from Iraq where he just arrived
in Basra from Baghdad today.
Link: www.corpwatch.org
8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break
8:20-8:58 Kucinich & Braun Blast ABC For Reducing
Campaign Coverage
ABC News announced it will stop having producers travel full
time with the presidential campaigns of Carol Moseley Braun,
Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton a day after ABC News’
Ted Koppel hosted the democratic presidential debate in New
Hampshire.
The network says it's a routine coverage decision, but the
move has angered Braun and Kucinich -- particularly after
the Ohio congressman had a testy exchange with Koppel during
Tuesday's debate. Kucinich criticized Koppel for beginning
with a question about Al Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean.
Later, he was angered when Koppel asked whether he, Braun
or Sharpton are "in this as sort of a vanity candidacy."
We speak with Kucinich and Moseley-Braun and hear from ABC
News.
- Excerpt from Democratic Presidential Debate in New Hampshire,
December 9, 2003.
- Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Ohio Congressman and one of the
nine Democratic presidential candidates.
Link: www.kucinich.us
- Carol Moseley-Braun, Democratic presidential candidate.
She is a former senator for Illinois (1992-98) and Ambassador
to New Zealand (1999-2001).
Link: www.carolforpresident.com
- Jeffrey Schneider, Vice President and spokesman for ABC
News.
Singer-Songwriter Michelle Shocked Performs Live in Our
Firehouse Studios
INTRO: Singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked joins us in our
firehouse studios to play three musical interludes.
For more information on Michelle Shocked go to www.michelleshocked.com
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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