In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
OCCUPATION, INC.
War profiteers in Iraq pursue quick fixes and high profits by overcharging for shoddy work, while Iraqis protest that they could do the work better and cheaper. Welcome to the reconstruction racket.
...
Across the street the lights go out. Yaruub Jasim, the general director of electricity for the southern region, a kindly-looking man in his sixties dressed neatly in a grey suit, is apologetic. “Normally we have power 23 hours a day but today there is a problem. We should have done maintenance on these turbines in October, but we had no spare parts and no money.”
The needed parts were supposed to be supplied by Bechtel, a California-based company in charge of repairing the power system under a contract to restore Iraq’s infrastructure. The contract was issued without competing bids last April, before an end to major conflict was declared by President Bush, and also covers sewage, water and school systems. The contract is worth over a billion dollars and growing, making Bechtel’s business in Iraq second only to Texas-based Halliburton.
- rob 1:35 PM - [PermaLink] -
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