Dick Cheney flash back... Halliburton acquiring Dresser Industries... Why?

[salin]

In the Enron implosion side stories a lot was made of Cheney's decision, as CEO of Halliburton, for Halliburton to buy Dresser - even though Dresser stood to have a great deal of asbestoes liability exposure. The story came back up when the spotlight in the Enron story began to focus on Arthur Anderson... and a promotional videotape for Anderson is released in which Cheney extols the great services he has recieved from AA and how, with AAs help - the most exciting thing of his career was the successful acquisition of Dresser.

After the vidclip makes the rounds - stories get into the news speculating about HOW the CEO and board of Halliburton could have so devalued the threat of asbestoes suits (which were starting to pick up speed - and suddenly there was pressure in congress to pass a law protecting industries from asbestoes liability law suits.)

Meanwhile - in a far different section of newspapers - and thus somehow never put together in the mainstream media, from time to time the interesting story of how Halliburton became a BIG business partner to Saddam Hussein in the late nineties - in the rebuilding of the Iraqi oil fields. Now the story first emerged in the 2000 elections to be emphatically denied by Cheney - there were sanctions against US businesses doing business in Iraq + says Cheney he would NEVER have approved doing business with such an evil leader. A wee bit later he is forced to admit that yes indeedy ole Halliburton had done business in Iraq - and was the largest supply of infrastructure building to the Iraqi oil fields. But, the few stories that actually appeared at the time, pointed out... that Halliburton didn't break any laws... see they got around the law by using (the newly acquired) (french division) of... wait for it... Dresser Industries.

I thought about this old story when reading the NYT ode to Libby - who claim not only was he obsessed about Wilson - but that for years and years he was concerned about terrorism, WMDs - and in particular had a great hatred for ... Saddam Hussein. So to try to make an image that while Libby may have crossed a line - it was at least consistent with his long standing beliefs and passions per Iraq, and Saddam - the question then begs to be asked... if that is true, then how could he have gone to work for Cheney a second time (he worked for Cheney in Bush1) given Cheney's role in rebuilding oilfields which in turn allowed Saddam to raise "humanitarian money" (much of which never seemed to get to the people...) which in turn - in the neocon world of theories allowed Saddam to allegedly keep pursuing WMDs? The NYT spin just sorta somehow doesn't make sense when you recall the Halliburton/Dresser role in the rebuilding of Iraqi oil fields (and lining Saddams wealth/solidifying his power.)

Just thought I would share a news flash back - triggered by some fantastical spin per Libby in the NYT today.

[dbeach]

1. will raise you a prescott bush flashback

And will throw in the history repeats and bet ya dresser gets set up to hide more crimes..ahem ...like the 1930-40s treason of
grandpa prescott which has been fluffed over with candy but still stinks...so dresser will hide the recent treason..

which grows more odorous as we speak

THANX for heads up




http://www.answers.com/topic/prescott-bush
"He married Dorothy, George Herbert Walker's daughter, on August 6, 1921, and together they had five children, including George H. W. Bush (named after George Herbert Walker), Prescott Bush, Jr., Jonathan Bush, William Bush, and Nancy Bush. Among those attending the Kennebunkport, Maine wedding ceremony were Isabel Stillman Rockefeller (daughter of Percy Rockefeller), Hope Lincoln, Mary Keck, Elizabeth Trotter, Martha Pittman, Ruth Lionberger, Nancy Walker, George Herbert Walker, Knight Wooley, Frank Shephard, John Shepley, Richard Bentley, Henry Isham, William Potter Wear, and Henry Fenimore Cooper.

The Bushes moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1923, where Bush worked for the Hupp Products Company, where his business efforts generally failed. He left in November 1923 to become president of sales for Stedman Products of South Braintree, Massachusetts. Seven months later, on June 12, 1924, future President George H. W. Bush was born (had Prescott Bush's business in Columbus not failed, his son would have been born in Ohio, the 8th of that state; hence, President Bush was merely 'conceived' in Columbus, Ohio). In 1925, he joined the United States Rubber Company (based in New York City) as manager of the foreign division, and moved to Greenwich, Connecticut.


Corporate success
He entered business in the organization of George Herbert Walker and Averell Harriman and became an officer in their investment banking firm, W. A. Harriman and Company in 1926. When it merged with Brown Brothers Harriman in 1931, he became a partner in the new firm of Brown Brothers Harriman. Bush called it "my good fortune" to work with close friends, including Yale classmates (and members of the Skull and Bones) E. Roland Harriman, Knight Woolley, and Ellery James, as well as Robert A. Lovett and Thomas McCance.

As a managing partner of Brown Brothers Harriman, he sat on several corporate boards, including the following:

Dresser Industries. An oil drilling equipment supply company. in 1928 W.A. Harriman and Company paid $4,000,000 for Dresser's corporate stock, and sold securities against the company. In 1929 Bush refinanced Dresser "so that we retained a substantial measure of control." In 1930, E. Roland Harriman and Bush became members of the board (Bush served until 1952), and installed their Yale classmate Henry Neil Mallon as chairman. Mallon and Bush were lifelong friends. (In 1948, Mallon hired George H.W. Bush to work at Dresser and George H.W. Bush named one of his sons, Neil Mallon Bush, after Mallon). In September 1998, Dresser merged with Halliburton and is now known as Halliburton Company. "

[salin]

3. Wow. Seriously never made that little bitty family connection

how very interesting.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

6. A friend of my money is my friend.... or is it the enemy of my enemy

is my friend.... I am sure it cuts both ways.

[maddezmom]

2. fine flashback...IIRC Dresser was also had contracts in Iran

I'm going to bookmark and look for links in the am. It's close to my bedtime here in the UK. :)

[salin]

4. please do bring any links back

I am pretty sure that Halliburton has had (still does?) some Iranian contracts - perhaps its the Dresser route. All of this info ought to be handy to push to reporters (some of whom have finally begun to report again) if the Boltonian neocon push for "more war!" in Iran is to ever get too strong of a drum beat.

[maddezmom]

5. here's one from the Guardian: Profits of war

In September 1998, Halliburton closed a $7.7bn stock merger with Dresser Industries (the company that gave George HW Bush his first job). The merger made Halliburton the largest oilfield services firm in the world. It also brought with it two foreign subsidiaries that were doing business with Iraq via the controversial Oil for Food programme. The two subsidiaries, Dresser Rand and Ingersoll Dresser Pump Co, signed $73m-worth of contracts for oil production equipment.

Cheney told the press during his 2000 run for vice-president that he had a "firm policy" against doing business with Iraq. He admitted to doing business with Iran and Libya, but "Iraq's different," he said. Cheney told ABC TV: "We've not done any business in Iraq since UN sanctions were imposed on Iraq in 1990, and I had a standing policy that I wouldn't do that."

Three weeks later, Cheney was forced to admit the business ties, but claimed ignorance. He told reporters that he was not aware of Dresser's business in Iraq, and that besides, Halliburton had divested itself of both companies by 2000. In the meantime, the companies had done another $30m-worth of business in Iraq before being sold off.

The Dresser merger was, it appeared, the crowning achievement of the Cheney years at Halliburton. But Cheney left Halliburton several other legacies. David Gribbin, Cheney's former chief of staff, became Halliburton's chief lobbyist in Washington. Admiral Joe Lopez, a former commander of the sixth fleet, was hired to be KBR's governmental operations expert. Together, Cheney's team made Halliburton one of the top government contractors in the country. KBR had nearly doubled its government contracts, from $1.2bn in the five years prior to his arrival, to $2.3bn during his five years as CEO. Halliburton soared from 73rd to 18th on the Pentagon's list of top contractors.

~snip~
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1266233,00.html



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1039533&mesg_id=1040411