Barracks for Charlie CO 2/508 82n Airborne

DynCorp Manager Used Armored Car To Transport Hookers In Iraq

Some explosive testimony this afternoon from a panel of whistleblowers testifying before the Senate’s Democratic Policy Committee on contractor abuse in Iraq.

A contractor died when a DynCorp manager used an employee’s armored car to transport prostitutes, according to Barry Halley, a Worldwide Network Services employee working under a DynCorp subcontract.

“DynCorp’s site manager was involved in bringing prostitutes into hotels operated by DynCorp. A co-worker unrelated to the ring was killed when he was travelling in an unsecure car and shot performing a high-risk mission. I believe that my co-worker could have survived if he had been riding in an armored car. At the time, the armored car that he would otherwise have been riding in was being used by the contractor’s manager to transport prostitutes from Kuwait to Baghdad.“ Read more..
http://www.muckraked.com/wordpress/2008/04/28/dyncorp-manager-used-armored-car-to-transport-hookers-in-iraq/

New bid, same result: KBR shares big Army contract

WASHINGTON — Houston-based KBR has again been selected to participate in a 10-year military logistical support contract valued at up to $150 billion, the U.S. Army announced today.

The Army Sustainment Command, at the insistence of the Government Accountability Office, had re-evaluated its decision last summer to award the massive contract to KBR, Fort Worth-based DynCorp International and Fluor Intercontinental of Greenville, S.C.

But after rebidding the contract, the Army chose the same three players.

Currently, KBR has sole responsibility for providing support services to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world, under a logistics contract valued at $27 billion. The bulk of that work — more than $24 billion obligated to date — has resulted from the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, Army records show.

But when awarding the new contract this time around, Army officials opted to split up the contract work in the hopes of stimulating competition among the three participants.

The Rock Island, Ill.-based Army Sustainment Command awarded the newest logistics contract to KBR, DynCorp and Fluor last June, after taking bids from six companies.

Two firms on the losing end of that decision — IAP Worldwide Services and Contingency Management Group — filed protests.

After reviewing their complaints, the GAO found flaws in the Army's evaluation of the proposals from KBR and Fluor. Read more..
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5710119.html

Food crisis - but it's no surprise

From the riots in Mexico to the US dropping grain subsidies, the signs have been there

What will we promise the world's hungry this time? When I was a girl, my father, King Hussein of Jordan, related a story about the last global food crisis and a famous promise made to the world's hungry by Henry Kissinger, who was then US Secretary of State.

Dr Kissinger came to Amman after attending the World Food Conference in Rome in 1974, called hastily as global food prices skyrocketed and widespread hunger threatened to engulf the developing world. Secretary Kissinger related how he had boldly pledged that within a decade, no child would go to bed hungry anywhere in the world. Read more..
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3811604.ece

Israel Knifes US In The Back....Again

Clinton threatens to 'obliterate' Iran

Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton says in case she becomes the next US president she would support Israel against Iran.

In an interview with the ABC News, when she was asked what she would do if Iran attacked Israel, she said "I want the Iranians to know that if I am the president we will attack Iran."

"In the next ten years, during which they might consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them," she added.

Clinton's support for the regime comes as Tehran has never declared any program to launch a military attack on Israel.

NOT So Cool Facts About Israel

Venezuela warns U.S. over applying terrorism label

Venezuela warned the United States on Thursday against listing the OPEC nation as a state sponsor of terrorism, citing a potential for lost exports and jobs and noting the importance of Venezuelan oil exports.

The United States has said it is investigating Colombian allegations that leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrillas in Colombia $300 million.

In March a senior U.S. official said new information about possible links between Venezuela and FARC were disturbing but Washington was far from a decision to declare Caracas a state sponsor of terrorism. Washington classifies FARC as a terrorist group.

"There have been recent indications that the Bush administration and its congressional allies want to designate Venezuela a state sponsor of terrorism," Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela's Ambassador to the United States said in a speech to lawyers and investors in New York.

"There will be very grave economic consequences if a politically driven measure like this is taken. Just think about the $10.2 billion lost U.S. exports to Venezuela, 230,000 manufacturing jobs tied to exports and 1.58 million barrels of oil a day from Venezuela," he said.

Five countries are now on Washington's terrorism blacklist: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.

Alvarez also noted the terrorism designation, which could lead to sanctions on Venezuela, would increase commercial costs and place a number of restrictions on U.S. businesses looking to invest in Venezuela.

"Any action like this would have economic and political consequences, not only for the U.S.-Venezuela relationship as a whole, but also within the region. This would be seen as an effort to breed instability in the region," he said.

A Third American War Crime in the Making

The US Congress, the US media, the American people, and the United Nations, are looking the other way as Cheney prepares his attack on Iran.

If only America had an independent media and an opposition party. If there were a shred of integrity left in American political life, perhaps a third act of naked aggression--a third war crime under the Nuremberg standard--by the Bush Regime could be prevented.

On March 30, the Russian News & Information Agency, Novosti, cited “a high-ranking security source: “The latest military intelligence data point to heightened US military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran.” http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070327/62697703.html

According to Novosti, Russian Colonel General Leonid Ivashov said “that the Pentagon is planning to deliver a massive air strike on Iran’s military infrastructure in the near future.”

The chief of Russia’s general staff, Yuri Baluyevsky, said last November that Russia was beefing up its military in response to US aggression, but that the Russian military is not “obliged to defend the world from the evil Americans.” http://www.mnweekly.ru/national/20071115/55289883.html

On March 29, OpEdNews cited a report by the Saudi Arabian newspaper Okaz, which was picked up by the German news service, DPA. The Saudi newspaper reported on March 22, the day following Cheney’s visit with the kingdom’s rulers, that the Saudi Shura Council is preparing “national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the kingdom following experts’ warnings of possible attacks on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactors.” http://empireburlesquenow.blogspot.com/2008/03/worried-yet-saudis-prepare-for-sudden.html

And Admiral William “there will be no attack on Iran on my watch” Fallon has been removed as US chief of Central Command, thus clearing the way for Cheney’s planned attack on Iran.

The Iranians don’t seem to believe it, despite the dispatch of US nuclear submarines and another aircraft carrier attack group to the Persian Gulf. To counter any Iranian missiles launched in response to an attack, the US is deploying anti-missile defenses to protect US bases and Saudi oil fields.

Two massive failures by the American media, the Democratic Party, and the American people have paved the way for Cheney’s long planned attack on Iran. One failure is the lack of skepticism about the US government’s explanation of 9/11. The other failure is the Democrats’ refusal to begin impeachment proceedings against President Bush for lying to the Congress, the American people, and the world and launching an invasion of Iraq based on deception and fabricated evidence.

If an American president can start a war exactly as Adolf Hitler did with pure lies and not be held accountable, he can get away with anything. And Bush and his evil regime have.