Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (right) introduces Vice President Dick Cheney at a Pentagon ceremony marking the 228th Army birthday on June 13, 2003. - public domain photo

Video Beat EXTRA EXTRA Part 3 - DICK CHENEY - CNN's MYSTERIOUS NON STORY

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

What is more of a story are those that are NOT REPORTED than the stories that ARE - Former US Vice President Dick Cheney paying a US $250 million fine in a plea bargain with the Nigerian court system qualifies - Recommended TV Listings

Tuesday December 21, 2010

WAR & MONEY

What is more of a story are those that are NOT REPORTED than the stories that ARE. Non reporting on major topics raises suspicion that some individuals are being protected by various networks. It raises the red flag of a propaganda point of view being expressed on their part. CNN the war and political network could be aptly named CPN the Cable Propaganda Network since CNN was named by founder Ted Turner as the CABLE NEWS NETWORK. News is seldom the focus of CNN as they choose to feature SENSATIONALIZED stories on politics and war with a propaganda point of view.

We monitored CNN this past week to see how much coverage they would give the former US Vice President Dick Cheney paying a US $250 million fine in a plea bargain with the Nigerian court system. The charges stemmed from Cheney's association with Halliburton a company that benefits from revenue generated from wars.

CNN chose to clutter the airwaves with extended coverage of Julian Assange being persecuted for releasing government misdeeds on his WikiLeaks web site and distribution network. It took a British publication the Guardian to do a thorough story regarding the Cheney fine. When you consider a former US Vice President breaking the law and a journalist publishing material regarding government's offenses it lends itself to a cover-up on CNN's part that prefers to sell propaganda and protect Cheney who has a history of transgressions.

In 2008 the BBC aired a documentary BBC uncovers lost Iraq billions regarding what a racket wars are and pointed out the who, what, where, when and why of those involved. Cheney was in that mix.

The following is our report made regarding that BBC investigative report that we published in June 2008

THE BBC - Halliburton COST US TAXPAYERS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS

In June 2008 the BBC aired an investigative report program about the corruption involving the contracts valued at BILLIONS OF DOLLARS issued to contractors in the war in Iraq BBC uncovers lost Iraq billions a BBC investigation estimates that around $23bn may have been lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq. The point made is there is corruption and the war is about oil. The US taxpayer is being ripped off of billions dollars that are dolled out to companies such as Custer Battle for security who are suspected of padding their bills, Halliburton has come under intense international scrutiny for receiving no-bid contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq. Cheney was previously Halliburton's CEO prior to becoming the US Vice President.

The report noted that KBR once a Halliburton company was a business that provided catering. Parsons was also mentioned facilities on the program for building medical facilities. The investigation pointed out that Halliburton made billions of dollars from the wars in Vietnam, Bosnia and Iraq. Bechtel was also noted regarding the manner in which it received Iraqi rebuilding contracts after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Politicians in the United States and in Europe have made accusations of cronyism between the George W. Bush administration and Bechtel. The investigative report includes politician Henry Waxman.

Critics in both the United States and allies including Britain have questioned the process by which the U.S. awarded Iraq contracts to American companies. The profiteering from the destruction from the beginning of the war resulted in Bechtel being accused of disaster capitalism.

The program included Bunnatine Greenhouse, a civil servant with 20 years of contracting experience, who had complained to Army officials on numerous occasions that Halliburton had been unlawfully receiving special treatment for work in Iraq, Kuwait and the Balkans. Investigations were opened by the U.S. Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Pentagon's inspector general to open criminal investigations that continue today (2008 at the time of this writing).

In one of the many examples of abuse, Greenhouse said that military auditors caught Halliburton overcharging the Pentagon for fuel deliveries into Iraq. She also complained that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's office took control of every aspect of Halliburton's $7 billion no-bid Iraqi oil/infrastructure contract.

The program noted that there were more contracted employees in Iraq than soldiers as well as pointing out that the Halliburton stock was selling for $10 before the Iraq war and as of 2008 was selling for $48 a share.

For more information about the program contact: www.bbcworld.com/contactus

NOTES:

Cheney's political career began in 1969, as an intern for Congressman William A. Steiger during the Richard Nixon Administration. He then joined the staff of Donald Rumsfeld, who was then Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity from 1969–70.

Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense under President Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977 and as the 21st Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006. He is both the youngest (43 years old) and the oldest (74 years old) person to have served as Secretary of Defense as well as the only person to have served in the position for two non-consecutive terms. Overall, he was the second longest serving defense secretary behind Robert McNamara.

Rumsfeld defended the Bush administration's decision to detain enemy combatants without protection under the Third Geneva Convention. There was therefore a large amount of pressure from many American organizations and international bodies to enforce the Geneva Conventions. Because of this, critics (including the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee 11-08 Executive Summary, vote 17-0) would hold Rumsfeld personally responsible for the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal. Rumsfeld himself said: "These events occurred on my watch as Secretary of Defense. I am accountable for them."

In an unprecedented move in modern U.S. history, eight retired generals and admirals called for Rumsfeld to resign in early 2006 in what was called the "Generals Revolt," accusing him of "abysmal" military planning and lack of strategic competence. Rumsfeld rebuffed these criticisms, stating that "out of thousands and thousands of admirals and generals, if every time two or three people disagreed we changed the secretary of defense of the United States, it would be like a merry-go-round."

Commentator Pat Buchanan reported at the time that "Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who travels often to Iraq and supports the war, says that the generals' and admirals' views mirror those of 75 percent of the officers in the field, and probably more." George W Bush responded to the criticism by stating that Rumsfeld is "exactly what is needed", and also defended him in his controversial decider remark.

Continued Part 4 - More Cheney investigations

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