Briody - The Halliburton Agenda: The Politics of Oil and Money- Comment.

Political cronyism has been part of western democracy since the hay days of Ancient Greece. It is extremely naïve to believe otherwise, "jobs for the boys"; political portfolios for the "mates", and lucrative contracts for family members are an unfortunate aspect of the system, which has not changed, and will not change, soon. Moreover, another unfortunate reality is that war is good business. One only must look back at the Civil War, those "damn Yankee carpet baggers", filtering down from the north at the end of the war and exploiting the defeated Southerners, in the name of "reparations". Many made a fortune from the defeated south, just as a few companies are currently making millions from the spoils of the Iraqi war. What Briody calls in this book, the "iron triangle", the collusion of government, military and corporations, he targets the Halliburton Corporation and its subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root, describing a long history of political back scratching, war profiteering, illegal campaign contributions, and a long and lucrative relationship with key political figures, such as Lyndon B. Johnson and currently, Vice President Cheney, which is making a few individuals extremely rich, unjustly, from the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people. 

 Most of the book is devoted to illustrating the business history of Halliburton and Brown & Root, providing a long and entrenched business practice of political back scratching through illegal campaign contributions, in this case, the long and successful relationship between Lyndon B. Johnson and the Brown brothers through the 40's 50's, 60's, turning Brown & Root into one of the most successful construction companies in American history. The evidence of this collusion between the company and Johnson is without question. But the current relationship between Halliburton and Vice President Cheney, once CEO of this lucrative corporation, to my mind, is even more ethically devastating, as their relationship continues today, while the company has sole contractual rights with the government, supporting the military and "rebuilding" the war-torn country of Iraq. 
 
Why has Halliburton been given these lucrative contracts while other companies are pushed out of the bidding process? One can say that they have a proven record of accomplishment of getting the job done, but there is also evidence of overcharging (gas supplies to Iraq) that is currently under investigation. It is also well known that Halliburton has done business with known terrorist countries such as Libya and manage to wriggle out of the legal spotlight. One would have to be a blind man not to see the connection between the Bush administration and these companies, no matter how many times Cheney denies the relationship exists in present time. As an ex-CEO, he continues to be on their payroll and is in possession of numerous stock options. These facts should certainly raise a few red flags.  
 

This book illustrates the political and corporate machinations that go on behind the scenes, and that "jobs for the boys" is an unfortunate reality of our system, and war, regrettably, is a profitable business option.