Some dots are now connected

[Ronald Reagan]

It was odd that the Carlyle group denied charges that didn't exist last week. However, it now seems they were contacted for comment around that time. A pre-emptive strike, I suppose.

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041101&s=klein

Anyway, to sum up, James Baker (as a US envoy) decided to stick the US taxpayers with $30 bil of Iraq's debt so he could get a cut. Got to love the Rep's! There's also red meat on the dem's. Unforutunately, I'm afraid this stuff is far less of an abberation, than most may believe.

[Ronald Reagan]

For the actuaries who won't do the math:

Carlyle & Baker were ready to stick it to you for $200 each, so they could have $10-20 of that for themselves.

Irony: Shekky just saved himself $200 in taxes, thanks to a Nation writer. Say thanks, Shek.

[krank]

That is truly depressing, thanks for posting.

[2pac Shakur]

Well, ho ho ho! It's an early Christmas for James Baker III.

All year the elves at his law firm, Baker Botts of Texas, have been
working day and night to prevent the families of the victims of the
September 11 attack from seeking information from Saudi Arabia on the
Kingdom's funding of Al Qaeda fronts.

It's tough work, but this week came the payoff when President Bush
appointed Baker, the firm's senior partner, to "restructure" the debts of
the nation of Iraq.

And who will net the big bucks under Jim Baker's plan? Answer: his
client, Saudi Arabia, which claims $30.7 billion due from Iraq plus $12
billion in reparations from the First Gulf war.


PUPPET STRINGS

Let's ponder what's going on here.

We are talking about something called "sovereign debt." And unless
George Bush has finally 'fessed up and named himself Pasha of Iraq, he is
not their sovereign. Mr. Bush has no authority to seize control of
that nation's assets nor its debts.

But our President is not going to let something as trivial as
international law stand in the way of a quick buck for Mr. Baker. To get around
the wee issue that Bush has no legal authority to mess with Iraq's
debt, the White House has crafted a neat little subterfuge. The official
press release says the President has not appointed Mr. Baker. Rather
Mr. Bush is "responding to a request from the Iraqi Governing Council."
That is, Bush is acting on the authority of the puppet government he
imposed on Iraqis at gunpoint.

I will grant the Iraqi 'government' has some knowledge of international
finance; its key member, Ahmed Chalabi, is a convicted bank swindler.

The Bush team must see the other advantage in having the rump rulers of
Iraq pretend to choose Mr. Baker; the US Senate will not have to review
or confirm the appointment. If you remember, Henry Kissinger ran away
from the September 11 commission with his consulting firm tucked between
his legs after the Senate demanded he reveal his client list. In the
case of Jim Baker, who will be acting as a de facto US Treasury
secretary for international affairs, our elected Congress will have no chance
to ask him who is paying his firm.… nor even require him to get off
conflicting payrolls.

This takes the Bush administration' Conflicts-R-Us appointments process
to a new low.

Or maybe there's no conflict at all. If you see Jim Baker's new job
as working not to protect a new Iraqi democracy but to protect the loot
of the old theocracy of Saudi Arabia, the conflict disappears.

Iraq's debt totals something on the order of $120 billion to $150
billion, depending on who's counting. And who's counting is VERY important.

Much of the so-called debt to Saudi Arabia was given to Saddam Hussein
to fight a proxy war for the Saudis against their hated foe, the Shi'ia
of Iran. And as disclosed by a former Saudi diplomat, the kingdom's
sheiks handed about $7 billion to Saddam under the table in the 1980's to
build an "Islamic bomb."

Should Iraqis today and those not yet born have to be put in a debtor's
prison to pay off the secret payouts to Saddam?

James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, says 'No!' Wolfensohn
has never been on my Christmas card list, but in this case he's got it
right: Iraq should simply cancel $120 billion in debt.

Normally, the World Bank is in charge of post-war debt restructuring.
That's why the official name of the World Bank is "International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development." This is the Bank's expertise.
Bush has rushed Baker in to pre-empt the debt write-off the World Bank
would certainly promote.


"I FIXED FLORIDA"

Why is our President so concerned with the wishes of Mr. Baker's
clientele? What does Bush owe Baker? Let me count the ways, beginning with
the 2000 election.

Just last week Baker said, "I fixed the election in Florida for George
Bush." That was the substance of his remarks last week to an audience
of Russian big wigs as reported to me by my somewhat astonished
colleagues at BBC television.

It was Baker, as consiglieri to the Bush family, who came up with the
strategy of maneuvering the 2000 Florida vote count into a Supreme Court
packed with politicos.

Baker's claim to have fixed the election was not a confession; it was a
boast. He meant to dazzle current and potential clients about his Big
In with the Big Boy in the White House. Baker's firm is already a top
player in the Great Game of seizing Caspian Sea oil. (An executive of
Exxon-Mobil, one of Baker Botts's clients, has been charged with evading
taxes on bribes paid in Kazakhstan.)


ALL IN THE FAMILY

Over the years, Jim Baker has taken responsibility for putting bread on
the Bush family table. As Senior Counsel to Carlyle, the arms-dealing
investment group, Baker arranged for the firm to hire both President
Bush 41 after he was booted from the White House and President Bush 43
while his daddy was still in office.

Come to think of it, maybe I'm being a bit too dismissive of the Iraqi
make-believe government. After all, it's not as if George Bush were
elected by voters either. It would be more accurate to say that TWO
puppet governments have agreed to let the man who has always pulled the
strings come out from behind the curtain, take a bow, take charge -- then
take the money and run.

***
Hear Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, today on
Amy Goodman's Democracy Now. And listen to "WEAPON OF MASS INSTRUCTION
- PALAST LIVE AND UNCENSORED," the CD from Alternative Tentacles,
available this week only at www.GregPalast.com.

http://actuary.ca/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=397118#397118

[Ronald Reagan]

That is truly depressing, thanks for posting.

Sorry, that it's a downer. However, this stuff only ends when it's exposed. Then, the cockroaches have to hide further under their rocks when doing such deals. So, on the upside, it's progress that it's coming out, however depressing it really is.

Edited to add:

If you haven't yet guessed, the deals off the table.

I'm still waiting for Fallout, EB, and Shekky to write a thank you to the Nation...

[krank]

That is truly depressing, thanks for posting.

Sorry, that it's a downer. However, this stuff only ends when it's exposed. Then, the cockroaches have to hide further under their rocks when doing such deals. So, on the upside, it's progress that it's coming out, however depressing it really is.

Edited to add:

If you haven't yet guessed, the deals off the table.

I'm still waiting for Fallout, EB, and Shekky to write a thank you to the Nation...

So many cockroaches though and from all parts of the political spectrum. Ah the power of the mighty $ unites us all.

[Ronald Reagan]

That is truly depressing, thanks for posting.

Sorry, that it's a downer. However, this stuff only ends when it's exposed. Then, the cockroaches have to hide further under their rocks when doing such deals. So, on the upside, it's progress that it's coming out, however depressing it really is.

Edited to add:

If you haven't yet guessed, the deals off the table.

I'm still waiting for Fallout, EB, and Shekky to write a thank you to the Nation...

So many cockroaches though and from all parts of the political spectrum. Ah the power of the mighty $ unites us all.

As I've said before, when it comes to foreign policy, we have only one party.

[fallout]

That is truly depressing, thanks for posting.

Sorry, that it's a downer. However, this stuff only ends when it's exposed. Then, the cockroaches have to hide further under their rocks when doing such deals. So, on the upside, it's progress that it's coming out, however depressing it really is.

Edited to add:

If you haven't yet guessed, the deals off the table.

I'm still waiting for Fallout, EB, and Shekky to write a thank you to the Nation...

I haven't read your link, but I thank anyone that contributes to government spending and my taxes going down. So thank you whoever you are, for whatever you did, if the result was this.

[Wally]

Fallout wrote:

I haven't read your link, but I thank anyone that contributes to government spending and my taxes going down. So thank you whoever you are, for whatever you did, if the result was this.
With apologies for changing the subject, Fallout, you may need to pay closer attention to current Republican economic policy. There is no longer any connection between government spending & tax rates. As our VP so elequently stated, "deficts don't matter."

[Titania]

:shake:

I'm so glad no one involved with this war has any conflict of interest.

[John F. Kennedy]

That is truly depressing, thanks for posting.

Sorry, that it's a downer. However, this stuff only ends when it's exposed. Then, the cockroaches have to hide further under their rocks when doing such deals. So, on the upside, it's progress that it's coming out, however depressing it really is.

Edited to add:

If you haven't yet guessed, the deals off the table.

I'm still waiting for Fallout, EB, and Shekky to write a thank you to the Nation...
The Nation and Mother Jones are the two major political rags that I just can't read. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that they are to me, impenetrable in style.

Surely The Nation posted links to the actual documents so we could see for ourselves. Do you happen to know where those links are?

[Truth Soldier]

Fallout wrote:

I haven't read your link, but I thank anyone that contributes to government spending and my taxes going down. So thank you whoever you are, for whatever you did, if the result was this.
With apologies for changing the subject, Fallout, you may need to pay closer attention to current Republican economic policy. There is no longer any connection between government spending & tax rates. As our VP so elequently stated, "deficts don't matter."

I think Cato actually found an inverse relationship between taxes and spending.

[Drewby]

:shake:

I'm so glad no one involved with this war has any conflict of interest.

I'd like to conflict YOUR interests baby... ;-)

[Titania]

:shake:

I'm so glad no one involved with this war has any conflict of interest.

I'd like to conflict YOUR interests baby... ;-):lol: I don't even know what that means...but it sounds like fun!

[Ronald Reagan]

Fallout and JFK,

If you keep your eyes shut, you will not see that your idols are undeserving. Well done.

If the style is "impenetrable", then make sure to avoid the substance. It's tells of something much worse.

[John F. Kennedy]

usually it means the substance isn't there.

[Titania]

The writing is fine. I read and understood it. What's the problem?

[Ronald Reagan]

Granted, the Nation has some crap articles. "Bush is Guided by his Faith Too Much", or things of that sort. But, this one in particular has to do with info they dug up, or were leaked.

While I doubt the 67 page document is currently on line, it very much confirms what many of us untrusting observers feared. Gov officials directing policy to enrich themselves, at our expense. That's not a new story to us, though, is it?

[2pac Shakur]

Granted, the Nation has some crap articles. "Bush is Guided by his Faith Too Much", or things of that sort. But, this one in particular has to do with info they dug up, or were leaked.

While I doubt the 67 page document is currently on line, it very much confirms what many of us untrusting observers feared. Gov officials directing policy to enrich themselves, at our expense. That's not a new story to us, though, is it?

Gummint officials directing policy to enrich themselves? NO! NEVER!
Well, it has gone on, throughout history, in every gummint ever, for thousands of years.
But it stopped with the good old US of A.
:GBA:

[Ronald Reagan]

That's funny. What's even better is the people who believe that only one party has stopped, and insist that the other hasn't. I do love the process of rationalization.

Even better is the fact that history books stop somewhere in the middle of the last century, when we were still treating the majority of our population like crap, and ironically when we became the superpower. Then, we're told: "Since then we've done nothing wrong, trust us!"

One hell of a PR effort.

Ironically, our gov is worried about India's nationalist party re-writing their history books (which is a legit concern), while ours is missing! Maybe they just want to take part in shaping the story.

[John F. Kennedy]

Granted, the Nation has some crap articles. "Bush is Guided by his Faith Too Much", or things of that sort. But, this one in particular has to do with info they dug up, or were leaked.

While I doubt the 67 page document is currently on line, it very much confirms what many of us untrusting observers feared. Gov officials directing policy to enrich themselves, at our expense. That's not a new story to us, though, is it?
If it's not on line, there's probably a good reason. I don't have any reason to support James Baker. I do have a good reason to discount partisan "revelations" just before an election without clear and convincing evidence.

And so do you.

OK, after a quick check, Iraq owes rather a lot of money, not easily quantifiable on EZ internet sources. Some fraction of that should be written off because it was to help Saddam facilitate his WMD program. Some of it shouldn't be written off for that reason, but perhaps for other reasons. And some should be paid back.

I recall there was a question of whether US reconstrution aid (a substantial sum, perhaps this was around $40B) should be a grant or a loan, with the Donks holding out for loan.

If this has legs, it'll spread from the leftie magazines to the centrist blogs. They enjoy doing this sort of thing.

[Ronald Reagan]

Granted, the Nation has some crap articles. "Bush is Guided by his Faith Too Much", or things of that sort. But, this one in particular has to do with info they dug up, or were leaked.

While I doubt the 67 page document is currently on line, it very much confirms what many of us untrusting observers feared. Gov officials directing policy to enrich themselves, at our expense. That's not a new story to us, though, is it?
If it's not on line, there's probably a good reason. I don't have any reason to support James Baker. I do have a good reason to discount partisan "revelations" just before an election without clear and convincing evidence.

And so do you.

OK, after a quick check, Iraq owes rather a lot of money, not easily quantifiable on EZ internet sources. Some fraction of that should be written off because it was to help Saddam facilitate his WMD program. Some of it shouldn't be written off for that reason, but perhaps for other reasons. And some should be paid back.

I recall there was a question of whether US reconstrution aid (a substantial sum, perhaps this was around $40B) should be a grant or a loan, with the Donks holding out for loan.

If this has legs, it'll spread from the leftie magazines to the centrist blogs. They enjoy doing this sort of thing.

Yes, that's part of it. There is also the government changing positions on whether reparations should be considered separately from other types of sovereign debt. Ironically, the gov decided to cut Kuwait a break on that one, as Carlyle delivered a proposal to recoup that money the same day as Baker was there representing the US gov. All confirmed.

So, basically here's what the Kuwait gov heard"

1) You aren't getting anything
2) Here's a way to get some ($30 bil+), with some nice fees (incl. 5% commision) and other obligations you will have towards Carlyle
3) The US gov may change it's mind now, and you can collect on half of it.
4) What do you think? Are you playing ball?

For that gov to take it any other way would be absurd.

[Zorro]

That is truly depressing, thanks for posting.

Sorry, that it's a downer. However, this stuff only ends when it's exposed. Then, the cockroaches have to hide further under their rocks when doing such deals. So, on the upside, it's progress that it's coming out, however depressing it really is.

Edited to add:

If you haven't yet guessed, the deals off the table.

I'm still waiting for Fallout, EB, and Shekky to write a thank you to the Nation...
The Nation and Mother Jones are the two major political rags that I just can't read. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that they are to me, impenetrable in style.

Surely The Nation posted links to the actual documents so we could see for ourselves. Do you happen to know where those links are?
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041101&s=bakerdocs

[fallout]

Fallout and JFK,

If you keep your eyes shut, you will not see that your idols are undeserving. Well done.

If the style is "impenetrable", then make sure to avoid the substance. It's tells of something much worse.

Homer Simpson is undeserving? Bite your tongue!

[John F. Kennedy]

What a crappy article. If I torch your house, and a decade later you live in a mansion and my kids live in squalor, I still owe you for your accursed house. but the Nation would have you believe otherwise.

It's not clear whether the article wants to demonize the consortium for wanting to help Kuwait make money by lobbying; or by not being successful in getting the bid.
Is James Baker employed by the US; or unpaid, yet somehow having a job..[/list]
for pursuing business; or for recognizing a conflict of interest upon receiving an appointment as envoy;

Sorry, but where the f*** were you guys when the President and Vice President were prostituting their offices for donations (It should be clear that I mean Clinton (I did not have sex with that woman) and Gore (No controlling authority) here)? You were cheering him on, and now you have no right to speak out. You want cleaner government, you have to demand it all the time, or you're political blowhards.

In any case, it looks like Carlysle might have suggested stepping over a line, but it also looks argueable that they didn't. Unlike clearly illegal and immoral pay-to-play, rules-be-damned tactics of the carville attack-dog continuous-war-room.

So shove your article. It'll gain no traction.

[Moe Szyslak]

:meltdown:

[John F. Kennedy]

Is that good or bad?

[Zorro]

There is only a conflict of interest of some external party knows there is a conflict of interest:

The Carlyle Group, a large investment firm linked to US and British politicians, has pulled out of a scheme to recover billions of dollars from Iraq, following the publication in the Guardian this week of documents detailing the secret proposals of a consortium with which it was involved.
Carlyle published a withdrawal letter yesterday sent to other members of its consortium.
<…>
Jamie Smith, spokeswoman for the Albright Group LLC, said the consortium had, as of yesterday, stopped pursuing business with Kuwait. "The proposal is clearly dead," she said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1328010,00.html

Clearly, this deal doesn’t have enough upside to risk endangering deals we don’t know about.

[John F. Kennedy]

My guess is that it didn't have any upside for Kuwait.


Speaking of articles in The Nation (http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041108&s=hitchens) -- and no I didn't seek it out, believe me. :P


I can't wait to see President Kerry discover which corporation, aside from Halliburton, should after all have got the contract to reconstruct Iraq's oil industry. I look forward to seeing him eat his Jesse Helms-like words, about the false antithesis between spending money abroad and "at home" (as if this war, sponsored from abroad, hadn't broken out "at home"). I take pleasure in advance in the discovery that he will have to make, that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a more dangerous and better-organized foe than Osama bin Laden, and that Zarqawi's existence is a product of jihadism plus Saddamism, and not of any error of tact on America's part. I notice that, given the ambivalent evidence about Saddam's weaponry, Kerry had the fortitude and common sense to make the presumption of guilt rather than innocence. I assume that he has already discerned the difference between criticizing the absence of postwar planning and criticizing the presence of an anti-Saddam plan to begin with. I look forward, in other words, to the assumption of his responsibility.

...

The President, notwithstanding his shortcomings of intellect, has been able to say, repeatedly and even repetitively, the essential thing: that we are involved in this war without apology and without remorse. He should go further, and admit the evident possibility of defeat--which might concentrate a few minds--while abjuring any notion of capitulation. Senator Kerry is also capable of saying this, but not without cheapening it or qualifying it, so that, in the Nation prisoners' dilemma, he is offering you the worst of both worlds. Myself, I have made my own escape from your self-imposed quandary. Believe me when I say that once you have done it, there's no going back. I have met a few other ex-hostages, and they all agree that the relief is unbelievable. I shall be meeting some of you again, I promise, and the fraternal paw will still be extended.


There's rather more.

[Ronald Reagan]

My guess is that it didn't have any upside for Kuwait.


Speaking of articles in The Nation (http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041108&s=hitchens) -- and no I didn't seek it out, believe me. :P


I can't wait to see President Kerry discover which corporation, aside from Halliburton, should after all have got the contract to reconstruct Iraq's oil industry. I look forward to seeing him eat his Jesse Helms-like words, about the false antithesis between spending money abroad and "at home" (as if this war, sponsored from abroad, hadn't broken out "at home"). I take pleasure in advance in the discovery that he will have to make, that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a more dangerous and better-organized foe than Osama bin Laden, and that Zarqawi's existence is a product of jihadism plus Saddamism, and not of any error of tact on America's part. I notice that, given the ambivalent evidence about Saddam's weaponry, Kerry had the fortitude and common sense to make the presumption of guilt rather than innocence. I assume that he has already discerned the difference between criticizing the absence of postwar planning and criticizing the presence of an anti-Saddam plan to begin with. I look forward, in other words, to the assumption of his responsibility.

...

The President, notwithstanding his shortcomings of intellect, has been able to say, repeatedly and even repetitively, the essential thing: that we are involved in this war without apology and without remorse. He should go further, and admit the evident possibility of defeat--which might concentrate a few minds--while abjuring any notion of capitulation. Senator Kerry is also capable of saying this, but not without cheapening it or qualifying it, so that, in the Nation prisoners' dilemma, he is offering you the worst of both worlds. Myself, I have made my own escape from your self-imposed quandary. Believe me when I say that once you have done it, there's no going back. I have met a few other ex-hostages, and they all agree that the relief is unbelievable. I shall be meeting some of you again, I promise, and the fraternal paw will still be extended.


There's rather more.

So, Hitchens (who's been trying to defend a wrong point for the past year) is saying:

1) We should admit we'll probably fail
2) Despite the fact that it was based on a lie, we should boast our actions

I tend to disagree. Lying about a cause for a war, which you are going to lose is not good foreign policy. A quick review of American history shows it's in America's interests to enter when there's a great chance of success. Essentially, acting like a bully, not putting you neck on the line for tough projects. There have been only a few exceptions. so, go ahead and mention WWII now.

[John F. Kennedy]

If there's no chance for success, it's time to start memorizing the Koran -- or digging a grave.