Second USA carrier placed in Gulf
30/4/08
A second US military aircraft carrier has been placed in the Gulf as a “reminder” of the country’s power in the region. Robert Gates, the US secretary of state, made the comments on a trip to Mexico City on Tuesday, but added that the addition was temporary. He said that the move was not an escalation of US forces in the region or a precursor to military action against Iran. “This deployment has been planned for a long time,” he said. I don’t think we’ll have two carriers there for a protracted period of time. So I don’t see it as an escalation. “I think it could be seen, though, as a reminder.”
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C06173C5-7313-4902-A23C-B651336A2D02.htm
US contractor denies Iraq fraud
The Pentagon’s biggest contractor in Iraq has denied charges of fraud and waste. US Democratic senators are holding hearings into complaints about Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) defrauding the government and allowing the destruction of millions of dollars of equipment. Until last year, KBR was a subsidiary of Halliburton, the oil and services giant once run by Dick Cheney, the US vice-president. KBR was given $16bn worth of contracts to provide services and supplies to the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The company reported record profits in 2007, and has won a new army supply contract for the Middle East.
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/44877EE2-80D3-4047-9902-52C8EAE99EEC.htm
Tags: Cheney, Corruption, Halliburton, Iraq, Mercenaries, Terrorism, USA