The government awards a no-bid contract worth billions and billions of dollars
to the company of the second highest ranking politician in the land. That
company bilks the government by selling gasoline to it at more than
twice the wholesale price.
You might think we're talking about one of the "I" countries. (For some
reason, countries beginning with the letter "i" seem to be especially prone to
corruption.) You'd be wrong. We're talking about the the good old U S of A,
under the administration of George Bush II, who promised to bring "integrity"
back to the oval office. I guess that means he promises not to have sex while
the Vice President robs us blind.
What is surprising, however, is not the brazen corruption of the
administration, but the complicity of the press and the public. Where is the
outrage? Where is the front page coverage of this scandal? While right wing
neo-con talk show hosts inveigh daily against the "left wing" press, that very
same press (owned by large corporations, of course) remains silent on the rape
and pilferage of this country by a the current very right wing president.
Meanwhile, our administration has announced that bidding for contracts in Iraq
is closed to companies from countries that did not join in the war effort.
What does that mean? What that means is that even if a French or German company can
do the job for a lower price, the contract will be awarded (at a higher price)
to a bidder from a "coalition" country. The rationale? Well, our soldiers
fought and died in this war. Therefore, our taxpayers won't mind spending more
tax dollars than necessary, because the profits will go to the stockholders of
"coalition" based corporations.
It seems to me that this amounts to our young soliders dying for corporate
profits. I am sure that their mothers, wives and children are glad that their
lives were thus sacrificed.