<< Max and I Agree: Delay Tax Bill is Better | Main | Where's the Jobs? >>

June 16, 2003

Pigs at the Iraqi Trough

A bit of colorful detail on all the "middlemen" cashing in on Iraqi contracts, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal. Most are getting subcontracts of subcontracts, nailing down corporate loyalty to the corrupt Bush machine:

Mac McClelland did some quick math as he steered his Lincoln Navigator through chaotic Dubai traffic.

He'd just learned of a contract to supply food to 12,500 U.S. soldiers in Iraq. If he won it, he'd be a subcontractor to a subcontractor on a deal that originally went to Kellogg, Brown & Root (i.e. Halliburton), which provides support services to the military overseas.

"Twelve thousand five hundred mouths," he mused. "That's about 40,000 meals a day." He figured if he could clear 10 cents profit on each meal, he could make as much as $4,000 a day. "That's real money," he said to himself.

And the background of folks like MacClelland:

Before Mr. McClelland went into business for himself, he was the political adviser to the admiral who runs the U.S. Navy's Central Command, which oversees naval operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. He retired in 1996 and worked as a general manager overseeing Middle East operations for Enron until that company imploded.

So having ripped off investors and workers, the Enron parasites just migrate over to feed as subcontractors of Halliburton.

Posted by Nathan at June 16, 2003 09:48 AM

Related posts: