Business reporter Dan Briody
says that Halliburton did business
with both the U.S. government and
its enemies.
"Dick
Cheney is simply the latest in a
succession of politicians that Halliburton
has used to secure government contracts.
He (Cheney) says
he wasn't aware that Halliburton was doing
business with Iraq while he was CEO...if
you believe that either he's a very bad
CEO for not being aware or he's not telling
the truth."
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1992
DECEMBER: Halliburton provides
assistance to U.S. troops in Somalia.
1993
Cheney sets up Political Action Committee and ponders run for presidency. The
CEO of Halliburton contributes to his PAC. Halliburton will later be awarded
contracts after the invasion of Iraq.
1994
On a fishing trip with Halliburton CEO Thomas H. Cruikshank, and other captains
of industry in New Brunswick, Cheney is asked if he would be willing to become
Halliburton’s CEO.
1995
MARCH: President Clinton signs an order prohibiting "new investments [in
Iran] by U.S. persons, including commitment of funds or other assets."
U.S. companies are prohibited from performing services "that would benefit
the Iranian oil industry." Companies face fines of up to $500,000 and
individuals may receive 10 years in jail for breaking the embargo.
MAY 6: President Clinton imposes
a near total U.S. economic embargo on Iran.
OCTOBER: Cheney becomes CEO
and Chairman of Halliburton.
During his five year stint at Halliburton, the company wins $2.3 billion in federal
contracts, almost double the total of the previous five years, and another $1.5
billion in taxpayer-insured loans.
Halliburton is fined almost 4 million for selling products to Libya that could
be used to trigger a nuclear program.
1996
Cheney, acting as head of Halliburton, says in a video for auditing company
Arthur Andersen, "I get good advice, if you will,
from their people based upon how we're doing business and how we're operating,
over and above just sort of the normal by-the-books auditing arrangement,
They've got the traditional role to fill as our auditors...They do that extraordinarily
well.” Arthur Andersen will collapse in the fallout of the Enron
scandal five years later.
Cheney tests the waters for a presidential
run, but manages to raise only $1 million.
Lyndon
Berzowsky was the U.S. export enforcement
officer who supervised the case against
Mahdi.
"Once these acts
became illegal and he (Mahdi) knew it
was illegal to do it, then he continued
to do it. He was charged with violating
a U.S. law.
Let me assure you that had we had the evidence to go after, whether it
was Halliburton or any other company we certainly would." |
1997
JULY 22: Abdulamir Mahdi, an
Iraqi who'd come to Canada in his 20's owned a
business that supplied oil fields in Iran with
North American parts. His Toronto office places
an order for $41,000 worth of Halliburton spare
parts for a cementing unit in Iran.
He says before before the deals, he consulted with lawyers and Canada Customs
who told him that the US embargo didn't apply to Canadians.
SEPTEMBER 25: Halliburton Energy
Services prepares an invoice for spare parts
that have been sold to Abdulamir Mahdi. The invoice
puts Kuwait as the final destination for the
parts. In fact, the equipment is headed for Kala
Naft in Iran.
OCTOBER 7: In a purchase separate
from the Mahdi transaction, Kala Naft’s
London office, the purchasing arm for the National
Iranian Oil Company asks Halliburton subsidiary
in Dubai to send a price quote for purchases
for the Iranian oil industry.
OCTOBER 16: Mahdi’s office
receives a statement of compliance from Halliburton
Energy Services in Texas saying the parts he
ordered has been inspected and meet Halliburton
and industry standards.
OCTOBER 30: Spare parts purchased by Mahdi are shipped to Canada for a Halliburton
cement unit in Iran.
Halliburton is opposed to the U.S. embargo and lobbies congress against the
Iran/Libya sanctions bill.
Abdulamir
Mahdi sold Halliburton's and other parts
to Iran. He was arrested and spent four
years in U.S. custody for evading export
laws. He wrote a letter to Dick Cheney.
"If I'm guilty,
you're guilty. If you're innocent, I'm
innocent. You did business with the same
country that I did." |
1998
Cheney negotiates the purchase of Dresser Industries for $7.7 billion.
After the purchase, numerous asbestos related lawsuits hit the hybrid company.
The claims forced several Halliburton divisions into bankruptcy. Halliburton’s
stock falls 80 percent in one year.
1999
MARCH: Abdulamir Mahdi is arrested in Florida during a sting operation. At
the same time his office in Toronto and his home are searched by the RCMP.
NOVEMBER 22: Abdulamir Mahdi receives
a 51-month sentence on one count of conspiracy
to evade export regulations for sending equipment
to Iran and Iraq. (read about the case  )
2000
FEBRUARY: Halliburton opens an office in Tehran while Cheney is still CEO.
At the same time, Halliburton ends its presence in Iraq.
SPRING: George Bush asks Cheney to help him find a vice-presidential running
mate.
Democratic
senator Frank Lautenberg says that
Halliburton's business with Iran is
unethical and possibly illegal.
"To be looking for
breaks in the law that permit them (Halliburton)
to profit while this hostility (with
Iran) is in front of us is unacceptable
under any condition." |
JUNE 13: Cheney tells the World
Petroleum Congress in Calgary “we’re
kept out of there primarily by our own government,
which has made a decision that U.S. firms should
not be allowed to invest significantly in Iran
and I think that’s a mistake.
JULY: Cheney says he never voted against releasing Mandela from jail. He says
he was only voting against imposing sanctions, even though sanctions were never
mentioned in the House vote.
JULY 25: Bush tells the press that he has chosen Cheney to be
his running mate.
JULY 30: Cheney says he actually wanted Mandela out of prison"Well,
certainly I would have loved to have Nelson Mandela released. I don't know
anybody who was for keeping him in prison. Again, this was a resolution of
the U.S. Congress, so it wasn't as though if we passed it, he was going to
be let out of prison."
AUGUST 16: Cheney quits Halliburton to run as Bush’s vice-president.
He exits Halliburton with a stock payoff worth $30 million.
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