«contract sport / q & a: the vice-president and the contractor / fresh air»
vice-president cheney has been an architect and a beneficiary of the increasingly close relationship between the defence department and an élite group of private military contractors. he declines to discuss halliburton and his role in helping the company through the years; he won't even mention his tenure there on his website. all this only fuels the debate on whether he has more power than the president and makes halliburton a campaign issue as shorthand for cronyism and for a host of doubts about conflicts of interest, undue corporate influence, and hidden motives behind bush administration policy —-in particular, its reasons for going to war in iraq. documents exist and have been seen by reporters. others remain secret yet the supreme court will hear a case requesting their divulgement even though justice scalia refuses to recuse himslef when it's clear that he should.in «contract sport,» in this week's issue of the new yorker, jane mayer reports on how halliburton, the world's largest oil-and-gas-services company where dick cheney served as ceo for five years before ascending to the vice-presidency of the nation, became the single largest private defence contractor in iraq. consider this OBLIGATORY reading!
here, with the new yorker's amy davidson, mayer talks about cheney's past, the privatisation of the military, and washington, dc's revolving door.
jane meyer also had a chat to fresh air's terry gross on npr earlier today. you should indeed have a listen to the interview which you may find on the current show or archived shows section depending on whether you visit the site today or anytime hereafter. consider this REQUIRED listening!
