12-2004 NGUYEN: We want to go back now to that video that we're just getting in from Donald Rumsfeld's visit to Iraq, a surprise visit, he is at Camp Victory here in Baghdad in this video speaking to soldiers in the mess hall. Let's take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: And to change that way of living, would strike at the very essence of our country. And I think all of us have a sense if we imagine the kind of world we would face if the people who bombed the mess hall in Mosul, or the people who did the bombing in Spain, or the people who attacked the United States in New York, shot down the plane over Pennsylvania and attacked the Pentagon, the people who cut off peoples' heads on television to intimidate, to frighten -- indeed the word "terrorized" is just that. Its purpose is to terrorize, to alter behavior, to make people be something other than that which they want to be. And that is exactly what we cannot allow to happen. The American people recognize the importance of your mission: that you're here for a purpose, and that purpose is not to run the country of Iraq. That's for the Iraqi people. It's not to find an American solution for Iraq. Indeed, it is to be here, to try to help train and equip and organize and assist the Iraqi security forces so that they, over time, will be able to take on responsibility for their country. And this country will find a solution that will be uniquely Iraqi. If you think about what's happened in Afghanistan, three years ago it was the training ground for terrorists. It was the place that the attacks against the United States were hatched and launched. And today they've elected their first popularly elected president in the history of the country. They are moving toward parliamentary elections in April. They have established a democratic system that's respectful of all of the various diverse elements in that country. Women are voting for the first time. They're able to go outside by themselves without being accompanied. Young children can fly a kite, can sing and dance, which they were not allowed to do under the Taliban. The soccer stadium in Kabul is being used for soccer instead of beheading people. So the accomplishment in Afghanistan was a truly breathtaking experience. I was there for the inauguration. And President Karzai, from the bottom of his heart, thanked the American people and said that without that help they would not be a free society, they would not have been able to what they are doing, that people would not be going to school. Here's a country that doesn't have any of the capabilities that this country does. It doesn't have the water, it doesn't have the oil, it doesn't have the population that is as well-educated as Iraq. This country has every chance in the world to make it. And it's in an important location. It will have a big affect on this region. They've made good progress. If you think about it, they've gone from an Iraqi Governing Council to an interim government, moving toward elections at the end of next month, moving toward then the development of a constitution. I've lived a few years -- a lot of years. And I have seen fascism rise and fall. I've seen communism rise and fall. We've seen the Berlin Wall get built and get torn down. And if you think about the message in all of that, we've seen Afghanistan go from a terrorist training ground to a democracy. Now, what does that say? It says that the great sweep of human history is for freedom. And that is the side we're on. And that's the side you're on. Just a few weeks ago, Falluja was controlled by assassins and today it's a free city. Something like 140,000 refugees have come to this country from other countries, Iraqis. Why do they do that? Why do they get up one morning and say to themselves, "I'm going to leave where I am that's safer to be sure, and I'm going to go back to Iraq"? They are voting with their feet. They are convinced that life is going to be good here, that there is a chance of making it, and that people do need to pitch in and see that it happens. I must say, as a personal message, before I come out and shake hands and have a chance to tell you how much we appreciate your service, let me just say that we know that you sacrifice. We certainly know your families do. And they certainly serve, just as you do. And they are strong. I get a chance to see them in Bethesda and Walter Reed and other hospitals. And I meet the families of people who have been wounded, your colleagues, people who have been here and gone back and are recuperating. And I must say, the families are the most amazing thing. They are truly extraordinary. They are proud of what their sons and daughters do. They have strength and courage. And I don't think anyone can come away from being with them without gaining inspiration for the tough tasks ahead. Now, it's Christmas Eve. And I don't want to, in any way, paint a picture that's pretty, because it isn't pretty. This is a tough part of the world. This is a tough country. Your friends and your associates are at risk, as you are. And I wish I could stand here and say that the incidents of violence were going to calm down between now and the elections. I wish I could stand here and say that the incidents of violence will calm down after the elections. I can't say that. The people that we're up against have a lot to lose, a lot to lose. They also have brains. And they watch what we do, and they adjust to what we do. And they're determined. But so are we. We are in a test of wills. There isn't a battle anyone could bring against you that you couldn't win. You're not going to be faced with battles. You're going to be faced in the shadows, in the side streets and with people who are using every conceivable time, task and way of attacking you where you're most vulnerable. And that's what we face. So there isn't any way that foreign troops, our troops, coalition troops or any other troops from any country can provide security in this country. What we can do is contribute to security. What we can do is help to train the Iraqis and mentor the Iraqis, and see that the Iraqis develop the capability, the equipment, the training, the organization, the chain of command, the experience, the rib cage, the officer leadership, the non-com leadership, the experience to take over responsibility for their own security. And that's our task. That's what we have to do. That's what is being done. And we've got wonderful people working on it, and I'm here to simply to look you in the eye and say, "Thank you, every one of you. God bless you." (APPLAUSE)
2 children whos parents were shot DEAD at checkpoint by accident
U.S. Checkpoints Raise Ire in Iraq
By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: March 7, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 6 - When an Italian journalist was driven up Baghdad's airport road toward an American military checkpoint on Friday night, she was driving into a situation fraught with hazards thousands of Iraqis face every day. The journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, 56, ran into fierce American gunfire that left her with a shrapnel wound to her shoulder and killed the Italian intelligence agent sitting beside her in the rear seat. She had been released only 35 minutes earlier by Iraqi kidnappers who had held her hostage for a month, and the car carrying them to the airport was driving in pitch dark. But the conditions for the journey, up a road that is considered the most dangerous in Iraq, were broadly the same as those facing all civilian drivers approaching American checkpoints or convoys. American soldiers operate under rules of engagement that give them authority to open fire whenever they have reason to believe that they or others in their unit may be at risk of suicide bombings or other insurgent attacks. Next to the scandal of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, no other aspect of the American military presence in Iraq has caused such widespread dismay and anger among Iraqis, judging by their frequent outbursts on the subject. Daily reports compiled by Western security companies chronicle many incidents in which Iraqis with no apparent connection to the insurgency are killed or wounded by American troops who have opened fire on suspicion that the Iraqis were engaged in a terrorist attack. Accounts of the incidents vary widely, as they have in the incident involving Ms. Sgrena, with the American command emphasizing aspects of drivers' behavior that aroused legitimate concerns, and survivors saying, often, that they were doing nothing threatening. Since few of the incidents are ever formally investigated, many families are left with unresolved feelings of bitterness. American and Iraqi officials say they have no figures on such casualties, just as they say they have no reliable statistics on the far higher number of civilian deaths in the fighting that began with the American-led invasion nearly two years ago. But any Westerner working in Iraq comes across numerous accounts of apparently innocent deaths and injuries among drivers and passengers who drew American fire, often in circumstances that have left the Iraqis puzzled as to what, if anything, they did wrong. The confusion arises, in most cases, from a clash of perspectives. The American soldiers know that circumstances erupt in which a second's hesitation can mean death, and say civilian deaths are a regrettable but inevitable consequence of a war in which suicide bombers have been the insurgents' most deadly weapon. But Iraqis say they have no clear idea of American engagement rules, and accuse the American command of failing to disseminate the rules to the public, in newspapers or on radio and television stations. The military says it takes many precautions to ensure the safety of civilians. But a military spokesman in Baghdad declined in a telephone interview on Sunday to describe the engagement rules in detail, saying the military needed to maintain secrecy over how it responds to the threat of car bombs. The spokesman, as well as a senior Pentagon official who discussed the issue in Washington on Sunday, said official statements issued after the Friday shooting offered a broad outline of the rules. In those statements, the military said it tried to slow Ms. Sgrena's vehicle with hand signals, flashing lights and warning shots before firing into the car's engine block. But many Iraqis tell of being fired on with little or no warning. Basman Fadhil, 29, a taxi driver interviewed Sunday in Baghdad, described driving home to the southern Doura neighborhood on Jan. 13. The power was out, as it often is in the capital, and the streets were very dark. He was only a block or so from his house when bullets shattered his windshield. "I thought it was thieves trying to steal my car, so I drove faster," he said. One bullet struck him in the shoulder, causing him to crash into a concrete barrier. Getting out of the badly damaged vehicle, he staggered a few steps until American and Iraqi soldiers began yelling at him from the darkness not to move. When he asked the soldiers why they had shot at him, Mr. Fadhil said, they told him there had been gunmen in the area shortly before. The military spokesman in Baghdad said the rules of engagement were written and issued by senior commanders in the 150,000-member American force here, and submitted for higher approval by the United States Central Command, which controls American military activities across the Middle East. The rules are passed down the chain of command, and thoroughly explained to every soldier operating a checkpoint or manning weapons in any vehicles in a convoy, the spokesman said. Because the rules are intended to protect soldiers coming under immediate attack, no telephone or radio calls to higher command are required before soldiers may put them into effect. "Rules of engagement are standing orders," he said. "These are briefed all the way down to the lowest level." "Everybody knows what they are," he said. "They are automatic." In Italy, Ms. Sgrena, recovering in a hospital, has contested several aspects of the military's account. In a front-page account headlined "My Truth" that appeared Sunday in her newspaper, Il Manifesto, and in interviews with Italian news agencies, she said that the car was traveling at "moderate speed," that she saw no flashing lights, and that the first notice she had was when the car came under "a rain of bullets." The Pentagon and the American command in Baghdad have pledged a thorough investigation of the shooting. Ms. Sgrena and her companions were not the only Western civilians to have come under American fire, according to a series of unclassified government reports that receive extremely restricted circulation, copies of which have been made available to The Times. The reports outline at least six incidents since December in which American troops have fired on vehicles carrying Westerners in the area around the airport. The reports chronicled one incident in January at a checkpoint near the airport road when an American soldier fired at a car even though it was moving slowly and the driver was holding his identification card in plain sight out of the window. The soldier finally waved the car away and forced it to drive down the wrong side of a road. In early February, a private security company carrying Western clients was fired upon by American troops on the airport road itself. "This is the second time in three days," the report on the incident noted. Later that month, a Western contractor approaching a checkpoint at roughly five miles an hour after dropping off a passenger at the airport heard gunfire, assumed he was coming under attack by insurgents and tried to speed away. But the fire turned out to have been from American troops, who fired warning shots, then hit the passenger side windshield, forcing the driver to stop, climb from the car and put his hands in the air. In statements released by the United States command about suicide bombings that it has foiled, the emphasis is usually on the graduated response. "A gray sedan broke through the stopped traffic and accelerated to about 40 miles per hour as it moved through an intersection," said one of those releases, put out by the First Marine Expeditionary Force on March 2. "Soldiers first used hand and arm signals, along with verbal commands, in an effort to get the driver of the vehicle to stop," the statement said. "Soldiers fired in front of the vehicle to warn the driver to stop. They then fired into the engine compartment when it was about 25 meters from their position, which disabled the vehicle." The vehicle caught fire and was rocked by a series of explosions, suggesting that the car had been rigged as a bomb, the release said. "The driver never exited the vehicle," it concluded, indicating that he had been killed. Many Iraqi drivers complain that they know of no clear rules for dealing with American convoys. Reporters have listened as American officers brief armored-vehicle drivers before leaving United States bases on procedures for keeping civilian vehicles well back. Generally, the machine-gunner in the last Humvee is instructed to raise a clenched fist - a military gesture meaning "stay back" that few Iraqis understand - then to wave both arms, and throw water bottles or anything else available. Only then, the officers say, is the gunner authorized to open fire, first at the engine block, then at the driver. One of the starkest incidents in recent weeks occurred on the evening of Jan. 18 in the town of Tal Afar, a trouble spot west of the city of Mosul, where a platoon from the 25th Infantry Division was on a foot patrol. Chris Hondros, a photographer for Getty Images, an American photo agency, said that soldiers of the Apache company were walking in near darkness toward an intersection along a deserted commercial street when they saw the headlights of a sedan turning into the street about 100 yards ahead. An officer ordered the troops over their headsets to halt the vehicle, and all raised weapons. One soldier fired a three-shot burst into the air, but the car kept coming, Mr. Hondros said, and then half a dozen troops fired at least 50 rounds, until the car was peppered with bullets and rolled gently to a stop against a curb. "I could hear sobbing and crying coming from t he car, children's voices," Mr. Hondros said. Next he said, one of the rear doors opened, and six children, four girls and two boys, one only 8 years old, tumbled into the street. They were splattered with blood. Mr. Hondros, whose photographs of the incident were published around the world, said that the parents of four of the children lay dead in the front seat. Their bodies were riddled with bullets, and the man's skull had smashed. Back at a base in Tal Afar, the soldiers and Mr. Hondros filled out forms with their observations on the incident. The company commander told the soldiers that there would be an investigation, but that they had followed the rules of engagement and that they should tell the truth, Mr. Hondros said. "I'll stick up for you," the captain told the soldiers, Mr. Hondros recalled. He said the platoon involved in the incident had been engaged in an intense firefight with insurgents in Tal Afar two days before the incident. "It was a jangling experience," he said. Reporting for this article was contributed by Robert F. Worth, James Glanz, Edward Wong and Iraqi staff members of The New York Times bureau in Baghdad and by Thom Shanker from Washington. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/07/international/middleeast/07patrols.html?oref=login
WAR PROTEST 2004
KILL KILL PROFITS KILL KILL PROFITS KILL
BUSH*CRIME*FAMILY*WAR*PROFITS
They Are Profiting Millons Off Iraq War
http://democracyrising.us/content/view/57/72/
The Bush Family's War Profiteering PDF | Print | E-mail Written by Administrator Thursday, 24 February 2005 The extent of Iraq contracts going to corporations which involve members of President George W. Bush's family is widespread and extensive involving hundreds of millions of dollars. Often these firms receive contracts where the corporations have no expertise and certainly the Bush family members have no expertise or experience in these areas. It is a world not of know how but of know who, marinated in campaign contributions. It seems like Bush family and friends are trading on their relationship to the President. The matrix of government contracts and Bush related corporations invites further investigation by the media and Congress - inquiries that are long overdue.
Below are examples of Bush Family members who have profited from the war and occupation of Iraq. These issues have not been examined or reported by the mainstream media.
Neil Mallon Bush the younger brother of the President, infamous for his involvement in the Silverado S and L scandal, has been hired by Crest Investment Company as a consultant for $60,000 per year to assist with their efforts to serve as a middleman to advise other companies that seek taxpayer-financed business in Iraq. Working with Crest puts Neil Bush at the center of multiple organizations profiting from the war and occupation in close alliance with long-term Bush Family allies.
Crest Investment is headed by Jamal Daniel who is a principal partner in New Bridge, a Houston, TX based company with offices in Iraq and Kuwait. The main focus of New Bridge is to advise companies that seek opportunities in the private sector in Iraq, including licenses to market products in Iraq. The company highlights that the Coalition Provisional Authority decision to allow foreign companies to establish 100 percent ownership of businesses in Iraq, an unusual arrangement in the Mideast, has added to the attractiveness of the market. The company describes itself by saying:
“ New Bridge Strategies, LLC is a unique company that was created specifically with the aim of assisting clients to evaluate and take advantage of business opportunities in the Middle East following the conclusion of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Its activities will seek to expedite the creation of free and fair markets and new economic growth in Iraq, consistent with the policies of the Bush Administration. The opportunities evolving in Iraq today are of such an unprecedented nature and scope that no other existing firm has the necessary skills and experience to be effective both in Washington, D.C. and on the ground in Iraq.” (See: http://www.newbridgestrategies.com/index.asp ) .
New Bridge Strategies , is headed by Joe M. Allbaugh, Mr. Bush's campaign manager in 2000 and the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency until March 2003. Earlier he was Chief of Staff to then-Governor Bush of Texas Other directors include Edward M. Rogers, Jr. vice chairman, and Lanny Griffith, lobbyists who were assistants to President George Herbert Walker and now have close ties to the White House."
Also related to this Neil Bush network is Diligence LLC ( http://www.diligencellc.com/index.html ). Diligence shares addresses and many Board members with New Bridge Strategies. It was formed by past members of the CIA and Britain's MI5 Intelligence Services along with experts in international law, journalism and intelligence which enables them to review all sorts of future investment projects and provide security advice. Diligence opened an office in Baghdad in July 2003 where they provided payroll protection and delivery, personnel and facilities security, review of potential Iraqi business ventures, training and management of personal security forces, and intelligence briefs. A subsidiary includes Diligence Middle East, LLC which was created in partnership with New Bridge and the Kuwaiti Coroporation, Al-Mal Investment Company.
William H.T. ("Bucky") Bush, an uncle of George W. Bush, joined the board of directors of the St. Louis based company Engineered Support Systems in March 2000. (See: http://www.engineeredsupport.com/) Bucky Bush was one the Bush “Pioneers,” the campaign contributors who raised more than $100,000 in the 2000 presidential election. Engineered Support Systems has three areas: light military support equipment, heavy military support equipment, and electronics/automation systems. Since 2000, following the presidential election and the 9-11 attacks, the company's federal contracts, revenues and its stock value have all gone up. Engineered Support Systems has been in the top 100 contractors with the DoD since 2001. It’s contracts with the U.S. military have totaled over $1 billion.
On May 1, 2003, Engineered Support Systems acquired Maryland-based Technical and Management Services, TAMSCO on May 1, 2003. (See http://www.tamsco.com/.) The following week TAMSCO announced that it had “implemented a leading edge communications technology to support U.S. Army logistics operations in the Middle East upon the successful fielding of two Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) satellite terminals as part of the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) project in Iraq.” According to the company, “This marked the first time that TDMA technology had been utilized by the U.S. Army for satellite communications.”
In February 2003, before the invasion of Iraq, TAMSCO began its satellite communications network linking Germany, Iraq and the U.S. In a period of less than two and a half months, TAMSCO identified the most cost-effective technology; procured, integrated, tested and shipped the equipment; trained soldiers on its installation and maintenance; installed an antenna hub site in Germany; installed the network equipment; and established a help desk operation in Kuwait.
The Air Force and Army were both offering contracts. The Air Force awarded TAMSCO a $44.2 million contract for a radar system in June, another $11.7 million in orders in July, and more than $21.8 million in contracts in August. The Army provided a contract for a development project totaling $700,000 in June, and $12.8 million in contracts in August 2003.
Engineered Support Systems' enterprises are profitable for Bucky Bush. He received consulting fees of $2,500 a month in 2002 for serving on its audit committee, as well as options to buy thousands of shares of stock at $28.42 a share. The stock now trades at $62.50 a share. As of January, he owned 33,750 shares, along with his portion of 3.3 million shares owned by all the firm's officers and directors as a group. The company paid him another $125,000 in fees.
William H.T. Bush is also a trustee for the investment firm Lord Abbott, one of Halliburton's top 10 shareholders and also a top-ten mutual fund holder in Halliburton, which has obtained prime contracts in Iraq. Vice President Cheney, the former CEO of Halliburton, still has between $18 million and $87 million invested through Vanguard, another top-ten holder in Halliburton stock.
Former president George H.W. Bush only recently resigned as a board member of the finance giant the Carlyle Group, heavily associated with military and security contracts. The Carlyle Group was 43rd among federal contractors in 2002, with $676.5 million in contracts. In 2003, the Carlyle Group moved up to 11th place, with $2.1 billion in contracts, partly from the war on terrorism and partly from Iraq. Insiders at the company also cashed in millions of dollars' worth of options in 2003. (See http://www.thecarlylegroup.com/eng/. )
Marvin P. Bush, the youngest brother of George W. Bush, shares an interest in federal contracts held by companies in his firm's portfolio. Marvin Bush is also an adviser at HCC Insurance, formerly called the Houston Casualty Company, one of the biggest insurance carriers for the World Trade Center. Bush was a director at HCC, which has benefited financially from the 9-11 insurance bailout legislation passed by Congress at the instigation of the White House. The departure of Marvin from the HCC board was announced the same day, November 22, 2002, as the passage of the bill.
Marvin Bush is co-founder and partner in Winston Partners, a private investment firm which is part of a larger firm called the Chatterjee Group. (See http://www.winstonpartners.com/. ) According to SEC filings, the Chatterjee Group consists of Winston Partners, LP; Chatterjee Fund Management, LP; Winston Partners II LDC, a Cayman Islands-based company; Winston Partners II LLC; Chatterjee Advisors LLC; Chatterjee Management Company; Mr. Chatterjee himself; and Furxedown Trading Limited, a company organized under the laws of the Isle of Man. The address for Winston Partners II LDC is in the Netherlands Antilles. The other subsidiaries were organized in Delaware. Governor Jeb Bush is also an investor in the Winston Capital Fund, which happens to be managed by Marvin's firm.
According to the Sept 30, 2003, issue of Mother Jones, an $80 million Iraq contract was awarded to Nour, a company which began in 2003 with ties to Winston Partners. Nour is an “international investment and development company" with more than 100 employees based in Iraq, and claims expertise in telecommunications, agribusiness, internet development, recruitment, construction materials, oil and power services, pharmaceuticals and fashion apparel.”
In January, 2004, Nour was awarded a $327 million contract to equip the Iraqi armed forces and Civil Defense Corps. However, not long after it was awarded, Nour came under heavy scrutiny because of questions involving the company's president and Ahmed Chalabi, of the US appointed Iraqi Governing Council. Newsday reported, Chalabi received a $2 million “fee” for helping to arrange a $80 million contract, that was actually awarded to a firm called Erinys International “within days” of being granted the contract, Erinys became a joint venture operation with Nour.
In addition, after the $327 million contract was awarded it was revealed that Nour had no prior experience in providing military equipment. Nour’s response was it planned to subcontract its weapons procurement to the Polish firm, Ostrowski Arms – unfortunately, Ostrowski didn't even have a license to export weapons. After these concerns the Army decided to terminate the contract with Nour. This added to the delays in body armor and other equipment that have increased the risks for U.S. soldiers. In May 2004, ANHAM, a joint venture with Nour, based in Vienna, Va., was the winner of a $259-million contract to equip the new Iraqi army and security forces with guns, trucks and other equipment. Nour lists current Iraq projects with the Ministry of Oil, the New Iraqi Army, and Criminal Intelligence in Iraq, Security in Iraq. (See http://www.nourusa.com .)
Winston Partners' also are heavily invested in another military contractor, the Amsec Corp. In 2001, Amsec was awarded $37,722,000 in contracts from the Navy. Marvin Bush's long-time business partner, Scott Andrews, sits on the Amsec board of directors, and the firm's CEO at the time was Michael Braham, who used to work for none other than Paul Bremer, the Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority.
In addition, the Chatterjee Group also owns 5.5 million shares in a security company known as Sybase. SEC filings show the shares as being divided up between, Winston Partners LP with 1,036,075 shares; Winston Partners LDC holding 1,317,825 shares; and Winston Partners LLC owning 1,221,837 shares. Sybase prepared to make major profits from the Patriot Act long before it was passed. Sybase created a product called the “Sybase PATRIOT Compliance Solution” to track money laundering by terrorists.
Sybase also is a significant government contractor, with contracts from the Navy ($2.9 million in 2001), the Army ($1.8 million in 2001), the Department of Defense ($5.3 million in 2001), Commerce, the Treasury, Agriculture and the General Services Administration, among others. The federal procurement database lists Sybase's total awards for 2001 as $14,754,000.
In 1993, shortly after the first gulf war, Marvin Bush joined his father, George H.W. Bush (three months out of office), on a trip to Kuwait. Where, according to the March 16, 2001 Austin Chronicle, “Marvin was representing U.S. defense firms selling electronic fences to the Kuwaiti Defense Ministry.”
