Staying the course in Iraq

#51
#51
Forget money for a second. The entire reasons we entered the war in the first place are flawed. Iraq posed not REAL threat to us, other that a possible haven for Al Quida. Well guess what: the entire Middle East is a haven for them. Why didn't we just attack the Middle East?!

There are no WMD's. And the Bush admistration uses "freedom" as the reason we are over there- which is a fallacy. We're not over there to preserve our freedom. We are over there to satisfy our country addiction: OIL.

Some argue that we are in Iraq to fight the terrorist over there- instead of on our homeland. Well, that's what Afganistan is for (hell Bin-freakin-Laden is over there).

Can we honestly win the war in Iraq?? I don't believe so, not without completely taking over the country (which won't happen).
This is another Veitnam.
 
#53
#53
SWIL said:
Forget money for a second. The entire reasons we entered the war in the first place are flawed. Iraq posed not REAL threat to us, other that a possible haven for Al Quida. Well guess what: the entire Middle East is a haven for them. Why didn't we just attack the Middle East?!

There are no WMD's. And the Bush admistration uses "freedom" as the reason we are over there- which is a fallacy. We're not over there to preserve our freedom. We are over there to satisfy our country addiction: OIL.

Some argue that we are in Iraq to fight the terrorist over there- instead of on our homeland. Well, that's what Afganistan is for (hell Bin-freakin-Laden is over there).

Can we honestly win the war in Iraq?? I don't believe so, not without completely taking over the country (which won't happen).
This is another Veitnam.
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And this is in the "stay the course" thread because why? We are in Iraq now, regardless of what you believe the motives were in March 2003. If your solution is that we just pull out and let Iraq be torn in pieces, then offer that solution.
 
#54
#54
OWB said:
Well how noble of them, I guess I had them all wrong..:rolleyes:
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Not really noble, however, for cost plus contracts to work, usually one has to actually do the work (incur the costs) prior to getting cash. If KBR had broken the contract, instead of losing $820M in one year, they would have lost over $2.4B.
 
#55
#55
Halliburton paid $4 million to politicians for 600% gain on contracts since 2000
26 Sept., 2006

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- Halliburton spent $4.6 million since 2000 buying influence in Washington via campaign donations and lobbying, a HalliburtonWatch analysis reveals.

The board of directors and their spouses personally gave $828,701 to candidates for Congress and the presidency while Halliburton's political action committees gave $1.2 million, most of it donated to Republicans and political organizations with strong Republican ties.

The company spent an additional $2.6 million lobbying members of Congress, the White House and federal agencies.

Conclusion: Halliburton's $4.6 million in political arm-twisting since 2000 has paid-off magnificently as the company's government contracts ballooned by over 600% in value by the end of 2005, mostly because of the war in Iraq.

In 2000, Halliburton was the 20th largest federal contractor, receiving $763 million in federal contracts. By 2005, Halliburton had grown to become the 6th largest federal contractor, receiving nearly $6 billion in federal contracts during that year.

Between March 2003 and June 30, 2006, Halliburton received $18.5 billion in revenue from the federal government for the war in Iraq.

The company has seen its profits in government contracting almost quadruple to $330 million in 2005 compared to $84 million in 2004.

During one quarter in 2005, Halliburton's war profits skyrocketed by 284%.

War contracts, intensified violence in the Middle East and record oil prices helped quadruple the stock price between the March 2003 invasion of Iraq and March 2006. As a result, the board of directors together saw the value of their stock holdings in the company increase by over $100 million.

CEO David Lesar holds the largest number of shares of any Halliburton official, owning 844,928 common shares and share options as of March 1, 2006. The shares were worth $17.3 million as the troops first rolled into Baghdad in 2003. Three years later, on April 10, 2006, the shares were worth $66.8 million, for a $49.5 million gain. Lesar sold an additional 631,071 shares during the war at various stock prices for gross amounts totaling between $12.9 million on March 20, 2003, and $49.9 million on March 1, 2006.
 
#57
#57
CSpindizzy said:
So if they're losing money, can the shareholders thank buying DC for that?
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I would be curious as to why the article using 2000 as its starting point, but then again it is just so obvious.

Yes, Halliburton would lobby and support the GOP in 2000. Although Cheney was no longer employed by Halliburton, as a prior exec the company would likely want him in office. We were not involved in Iraq until 2003, so Halliburton lobbying in order to get the contracts would not be all that farfetched, as they had no idea in 2000 and most of 2001 that we would be in Iraq in 2003. Further, they would continue lobbying in 2002 and the beginning of 2003, because they still could not foresee the costs associated with the Iraq War. The contract was extended, just prior to OIF, through 2005. The cost plus was definitely too low, but Halliburton and KBR still understood that when the contract expired in 2005, they could still outbid most other coorporations for the new contract (at a higher rate that would actually turn a profit.)
 
#58
#58
Costs associated with processes they bid on and task out constantly? This is the basis for their company. They do this internationally all the time.
 
#60
#60
OWB said:
:detective:
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Again, revenue is completely arbitrary if it is not associated with expenses.

Also, Earnings Per Share was negative in 2003 and 2004...Stock prices are simply speculation as to what might happen.
 
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