The Bush cabinet is a virtual who's who of oil, defense and pharmaceutical
bigwigs.
The Bush family is itself closely tied financially to the bin Ladens. Both families are involved in the Carlyle Group. Bush Sr. sits on the board of Carlyle, a 12 billion Equity company with oil holdings and defense contracts.
Colin Powell is a major stockholder in several defense contractors. Andrew Card, the Chief of Staff is from General Motors. Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, was CEO of Searle Pharmaceuticals. Dick Armitage, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, is a board member of Carlyle. Robert Jordan, the Saudi ambassador, was a member of Baker Botts, a legal firm
specializing in oil and defense (the Baker in Baker Botts is James Baker). Tony Principi, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, comes from Lockheed Martin. Gordan England, Secretary of the Navy, is tied to General Dynamics. James Roche, Secretary of the Air Force, is from Northrop Grumman. Gen. Thomas White, retired, Secretary of the Army, is from Enron Energy. Donald Evans, the Commerce Secretary, owns Colorado Oil Company. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice sat on the board of Exxon. And Mr. Carlucci, the Chief of Carlyle, sits on the Middle East Policy Council.
Individuals in the Bush administration who have strong ties to the oil industry.
Dick Cheney- Former CEO of Halliburton
According to Majories Cohn, 'Although he stepped down as CEO of Halliburton, he still owns shares of stock in the conglomerate and his financial interests in the Persian Gulf, the Caspian region and the Balkans will invariably continue. Chosen by George W. Bush to bring foreign-policy expertise to the GOP presidential ticket, we can expect a Republic administration to increase us intervention in regions when it suits Dick Cheney's oil and other corporate concerns.'
Halliburton contributed $1.6 billion to the Bush/Cheney campaign. Halliburton drills wells, does completions on wells, cements, stimulates, and undertakes other activities in the production of oil and gas. About 70 to 75 percent of its business is energy related, serving customers like Unocal, Exxon, Shell, Chevron, and many other major oil companies. Halliburton employs about 100,000
people.
Subsidiaries:
Brown & Root Engineering: It owns Brown & Root that builds off-shore platforms, undersea pipelines, refineries, and other down-stream facilities. It is also heavily involved in the operations and maintenance business. It currently has the logistics contract for the us Army in Bosnia under which they build and operate all the camps for the us Army deployed there.'
Interests in the Caspian Basin.
Turkmenistan: In an October 27, 1997, a Halliburton press release announced that it was awarded a contract to provide drilling and exploration services for Turkmenistan. Halliburton has offshore drilling interests in waters whose use rights are presumably owned by the Philippines.
Azerbaijan: In August of 1997, Halliburton subsidiary, Brown and Root, was contracted by the Azerbaijan International Operating Company to perform studies, and engineering work in preparation for the exploitation of Azerbaijan's offshore Guneshli ChIraq Azeri fields. Its press release stated, 'under the terms of the contract, which will incorporate a number of decision points, Brown & Root Energy Services is set to undertake conceptual studies, front-end engineering and the detailed engineering design and procurement of facilities capable of producing 300,000 barrels of oil per day from the offshore GCA fields. The development is likely to centre on a single processing platform plus two drilling and wellhead platforms for up to 80 wells. Also included in the design and procurement workscope are: infield pipelines; main oil and gas pipelines to the Sangachal onshore terminal approximately 200 kilometres away; expansion
of the onshore terminal; and upgrading of the main export pipelines from Azerbaijan to ports on the Black Sea in Russia (Novorossiysk) and Georgia (Supsa) – the Northern and Western Routes respectively.
Malcolm Dorricott, Managing Director of Brown & Root Energy Services in the Caspian Region commented:
'This is an immense project of vital importance to Azerbaijan and to the region. We are proud to have been selected to continue to play an important role in developing Azerbaijan's oil and gas infrastructure.'
On May 15 2001, Halliburton announced that its subsidiary, 'Halliburton International Inc. and KASPMORNEFTELOT (KMNF), the marine division of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), have entered into a 12-year contract for a marine base and associated services to support Halliburton Subsea offshore construction activity in the Caspian region.
The base will be primarily utilized to support Halliburton Subsea's catamaran crane vessel Qurban Abbasov (previously known as the Titan 4) during the restoration and upgrade of the
vessel and during the forthcoming offshore construction, pipelay and subsea activities.'
Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor.
She was a Chevron board member after serving for a year on Bush Sr.'s National Security Council. She earned a $35,000 annual retainer and received $1,500 for every meeting she attended and stock options worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to SEC documents. She was reportedly hired for expertise in the former Soviet states and worked on prospective deals in the Caspian region.
Chevron (with Mobil) already produces 70 percent of the oil coming out of the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan. Chevron is a leading investor in the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline project. Chevron has been working hard to secure a pipeline that would allow more oil to be produced. In 1993, with Rice on the board, the company planned a pipeline project to bring oil to a Russian port on the Black Sea. Russia opposed the plan, but Chevron still holds a 45 percent stake in the project.
While Clinton was in office, Chevron was pushing for the construction of a pipeline that would take oil from the Tengiz oil fields in Kazakhstan to the Persian Gulf via a route through the Caspian Sea and Iran. A us stabilized Caspian Basin region would benefit Rice's colleagues at Chevron, and if she ever returns to the board, Rice could expected to be well-rewarded.
Donald Evans, secretary of commerce and energy
He has been CEO and Chairman for Tom Brown, Inc. He has been a board member
of Sharp Drilling. Stanley Abraham, secretary of commerce and energy
He worked for Tom Brown, Inc.General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler were
big contributors to Abrahams past election bids for Senator.
Pro-oil positions that he has taken in the past during his stint as a Michigan senator.He fought against proposals to increase the fuel efficiency of SUV's. He supported proposals to eliminate the federal gasoline tax. He supported proposals to cut research on renewable energy. President George W. Bush
The history of George W. Bush and his father are inextricably tied to oil.
Bush's history as an oil man.
1977. Bush founded Arbusto Energy.
George Bush founded Arbusto Energy, Inc. in 1977. The company ran aground seven years later during a lull in oil prices. But Bush's investment was salvaged when in September of 1984, another small energy company, Spectrum 7, agreed to take it over. 1984. He sold Arbusto Energy to Spectrum 7.
In 1984, Spectrum 7 Energy Corporation, a small oil firm owned by William DeWitt and Mercer Reynolds, agreed to purchase Bush's failing Arbusto Energy. As part of the deal, Bush was made president of Spectrum 7 and was given a 13.6 % stake in the company. But oil prices failed to rally over the next two years putting a damper on Spectrum 7's revenue. Meanwhile the company accumulated a $2 million debt with the banks. In 1986, Spectrum's financial
situation had so seriously deteriorated that it too was in need of a bail out.
1986. Spectrum 7 was acquired by Harken Energy.
Harken Energy took over Spectrum 7 in 1986. In exchange for his equity in Spectrum 7, Bush received $2 million worth of stock in Harken and was hired as a 'consultant.' During the course of his employment with the company and his tenure as a board member, he managed to acquire an additional $600,000 in Harken stock. In addition, he was paid between $42,000 and $120,000
a year. More than one critical observer has noted that the price Harken paid for Bush's indebted company was 'astonishingly high.' It was generally assumed that a premium had been paid for having George Bush Sr.'s 'kid' on the board.
Scandals.
During his stay on Harken's board of directors, Bush violated federal security laws at least four times. His company also used fraudulent accounting methods
Enron.
Spectrum 7 and Enron had shared interests in oil and gas wells.When Bush was on the board of Spectrum 7, the company had a shared interest in an oil and gas well at the Bespeec-Fussel field in Marin County, Texas. Enron had a 52% interest while Spectrum 7 had a 10% interest.It is likely that Spectrum 7 and Enron had a shared interest in another well located in the same oil field as well. Bush allegedly attempted to push Argentine into awarding a pipeline contract
to Enron.
Companies in which Bush owns stock.
General Electric, BP, Duke Energy, ExxonMobil, Newmont Gold Mining Corporation,
Pennzoil and Tom Brown, Inc.
Zalmay Khalizad, us special envoy to Afghanistan
He was a graduate student of the University of Chicago (infamous for its association with the 'great minds' of neoliberal economic theory). He was a special advisor to the State Department during the Reagan administration and was a main proponent of militarily supporting the Mujaheddin. He was an undersecretary of defense in the Bush I administration.He worked at the Rand Corporation. While there he reportedly said, 'The importance of Afghanistan will grow in
the coming years when the oil and gas of Central Asia will begin to play a major role in the world energy market.' He was an employee of Unocal, the California-based oil company that had tried to woo the Taliban into an oil and gas pipeline agreement prior the 1998 us bombing of Afghanistan.
He was the author of a risk analysis assessment for the proposed pipelines. He mediated between the Taliban and the us for Unocal, lobbying Congress to lighten their unfriendly policy towards the Taliban. He was appointed to the National Security Council and reports to Condoleezza Rice, another veteran of oil interests in the Caspian Basin. (Martin 1-2-2002; Escobar 1-25-2002)
Thomas White, secretary of the army.
Former vice-chairman of Enron.
Scandals.
Enron-related.
He sold $12 million in Enron stock just prior to its collapse. Although he claimed he had no insider information, available evidence suggests otherwise. It is hard to believe that during the 70 phone calls he had with his former colleagues, there was no mention of Enron's problems. The division he headed, Enron Energy Services, was a fraud that fooled the investing public through accounting trickery.
Robert Zoellick, trade representative.
Oil stocks held by Robert Zoellick.
Enron.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Companies with whom he has strong ties.
ABB
Oil stocks held by Donald Rumsfeld.
Enron.
James Baker.
He is the principal attorney for the law firm Baker and Botts who represents the consortium that plans to construct the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline. James Baker is a close friend of the Bush Family.
Nicholas Brady.
Former Secretary of Treasury under George Bush Sr.
Board member of Amerada Hess.
Edith E. Holiday
Former assistant to George Bush Sr.
Board member of Amerada Hess.
Richard Armitage, current deputy secretary of state.
Former co-chair us - Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce.
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