American Politics Journal

What Took You So Long?
The Washington Post Finally Covers a Story That WE Covered Four Months Ago!
By Tamara Baker

Monday, June 25, 2001 -- SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA (APJP) -- What?

Could it be that the lapdogian CelebCorps, normally so toothless when dealing with Republicans, has gone and got itself some dentures lately?

Check this out:

Firm's Iraq Deals Greater Than Cheney Has Said Affiliates Had $73 Million in Contracts
Former executives at the Halliburton subsidiaries said Cheney did not object to trading with Baghdad.
By Colum Lynch
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, June 23, 2001; Page A01
UNITED NATIONS -- During last year's presidential campaign, Richard B. Cheney acknowledged that the oil-field supply corporation he headed, Halliburton Co., did business with Libya and Iran through foreign subsidiaries. But he insisted that he had imposed a "firm policy" against trading with Iraq.
"Iraq's different," he said.
According to oil industry executives and confidential United Nations records, however, Halliburton held stakes in two firms that signed contracts to sell more than $73 million in oil production equipment and spare parts to Iraq while Cheney was chairman and chief executive officer of the Dallas-based company.
Two former senior executives of the Halliburton subsidiaries say that, as far as they knew, there was no policy against doing business with Iraq. One of the executives also says that although he never spoke directly to Cheney about the Iraqi contracts, he is certain Cheney knew about them.

Sound familiar? It should.

Remember, dear readers, you read it here first. Literally. Mac MacArthur's article. And my article.

The RNC, working through their Celebrity Press Corps stooges on the Potomac, did their damnedest to crucify Marc Rich, one of the folks pardoned by Bill Clinton, for the sin of making oil deals with Iran over twenty years ago.

However, as both Mac and I noted in our articles four months ago, Cheney's firm Halliburton, of which he was the very "hands-on" CEO until last summer, did substantial business with Iran -- and is still doing business with them, using various "shell companies" as covers. This, as we pointed out, is in direct violation with laws signed by Bill Clinton prohibiting such business!

Now, the Washington Post has discovered that Halliburton committed hanky-panky in Iraq, too. Well, well, well. (read: Oil, Oil, Oil.)

Now is the time to call up Tom Daschle at (202) 224-2321 and suggest -- no, INSIST -- that the Democrats hold hearings on this scofflaw named Cheney.

The sooner, the better.