Imad Khadduri, formerly a top
Iraqi nuclear scientist, says the bombing
during the first Gulf War destroyed
Iraq's nuclear program - and it was
never re-built.
"On the night
I heard President Bush enunciating his
clear intention of invading Iraq on the
pretext of a nuclear weapon program,
I was struck by the incredulity of that
charge."
|
2003
JANUARY 28, 2003: President
Bush gives his State of the Union Address where
he presents a case against Saddam Hussein and
states that "The
British government has learned that Saddam Hussein
recently sought significant quantities of uranium
from Africa". (see
the address  )
FEBRUARY 7: The General Accounting Office abandons its efforts to obtain records
about the operation of the Vice President's Task Force on Energy Policy.
The Comptroller says while he believes the decision of the Judge Bates was incorrect,
to pursue it would take too much time and resources. He also points out that
private litigants were still pursuing the Cheney documents.
MARCH: Cheney declares "we believe
that he [Saddam Hussein] has in fact reconstituted nuclear weapons."
Cheney publicly states mid-March that U.S. troops would be "greeted
as liberators” in Iraq.
MARCH 5: Army Corps of Engineers writes in an e-mail that a contract
for restoring Iraqi oil fields is being coordinated with Cheney’s office.
Three days later a Halliburton subsidiary was awarded the $7 billion contract.
MARCH 19: U.S. begins Operation Iraqi Freedom. Baghdad is bombed.
APRIL 7: Newsweek reveals that Cheney is still receiving annual
compensation from Halliburton for his tenure as the company CEO. This while
the U.S. military was giving contracts worth potentially billions of dollars
to Halliburton.
In The State of the Union Address
President Bush repeated a rumour that Iraq had recently purchased uranium
from Africa. Joe Wilson, a former ambassador to Africa knew that it wasn't
true.
"It become clear to me that there's been a deliberate
attempt on the part of some of the members of government to deceive
the U.S. Congress and deceive the American people ... deceive the world
as to the nature of the threat posed by Saddam's nuclear program." |
APRIL 8: California Democratic representative Henry Waxman,
joined by Democratic representative John Dingell, request a General Accounting
Office investigation, writing that 'ties' between Cheney and Halliburton 'have
raised concerns about whether the company has received favorable treatment from
the administration. This is their second request concerning
Cheney.
JULY 6: Ambassador Joe Wilson
writes an article for the New York Times criticizing
the Bush’s state of the the Union address for
including the allegation that Iraq had tried to obtain
yellow cake uranium from Niger. (read
the article )
JULY 14: Syndicated columnist Robert
Novak reveals that Ambassador Joe Wilson’s
wife is a CIA operative. That information, he writes,
came from two senior administration officials.
This leak violates U.S. law.
AUGUST 25: The GAO releases a report
called Energy Task Force: Process Used to Develop
the National Energy Policy.” (read the report .pdf
file)
SEPTEMBER 14: Cheney repeats widely
discredited report that 9/11 hijacker Muhammad
Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in
Prague in 2001.
Bush publicly admits there is no evidence linking Iraq to September 11 terrorist
attacks.
DECEMBER 15: U.S. Supreme Court agrees
to hear Cheney appeal a lower court order that
Cheney turn over documents related to the Bush
administration’s Energy Task Force. Cheney
had been fighting efforts to disclose the documents
for three years.
Former
CIA director James Woolsey doesn't believe
that the intelligence gathering was biased
- nor does he think the war was unwarranted.
"I wasn't present
in any of those conversations, but whether
the Vice-President said something with
a frown on his face or a smile doesn't
matter. The CIA directors job is to encourage
people to call it straight and it's their
job to call it straight.
I think the President's made a good case that in a world of people like
Saddam, Khameinin, Kim Jong II - that waiting for the chemical, biological and
nuclear weapons program to mature is a bad idea." |
2004
JANUARY: Dick Cheney goes duck hunting with US Supreme Court Justice Antonin
Scalia.
Halliburton states in an SEC filing "Since
[Cheney's] nomination as vice president, Halliburton
has been and continues to be the focus of allegations,
some of which appear to be made for political
reasons by political adversaries of the vice
president and the current Bush administration.
We expect that this focus and these allegations will continue and possibly
intensify as the 2004 elections draw nearer.”
U.S. Treasury department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control begins investigation
into allegations that Halliburton may have violated the U.S. embargo against
Iran through a subsidiary based in Dubai.
FEBRUARY 3: Halliburton is accused
of overcharging the U.S. military $36 million for
meals at a U.S. base in Kuwait.
FEBRUARY: Justice Department investigation
into allegations that Halliburton paid $180 million
in bribes to Nigerian officials to get contract
to build a natural gas plant in the late 1990s,
when Cheney was still CEO.
Halliburton, in its annual report,
says U.S. government contracts accounted for 26
percent of its revenues in 2003. That is up from
10 percent the year before.
MARCH: The Pentagon asks the justice
department to help investigate allegations that
Halliburton overcharged for fuel in Iraq by more
than $80 million.
MARCH 18: Scalia releases a 21 page
memo refusing to recuse himself from the Cheney
appeal on the Energy Task Force lawsuit. Scalia
had been asked to recuse himself because of a duck-hunting
trip he took with Cheney in January. (read the memo)
Democratic
Senator Frank Lautenberg says Halliburton
has profited from the war with Iraq.
"They've overcharged
for food and lodging, they've overcharged
for gasoline, trucking - all kinds of things.
Their behaviour has been awful.
There's no doubt that he (Dick Cheney) is a very influential person in
the White House, that he still has some contact with Halliburton." |
APRIL 8: Two congressmen, Henry
Waxman and John Dingell, ask the General Accounting
Office to investigate ties between Cheney and Halliburton
and whether the company has received favourable treatment
from the Administration.
JUNE: U.S. media reports that Dick
Cheney had been questioned about the leak of the
identity of Valerie Plame, the CIA-officer married
to Joe Wilson.
JULY: A federal grand jury in
Houston subpoenas documents for Halliburton as it
investigates allegations that the company may have
violated the US embargo against dealing with Iran.
AUGUST: Halliburton settles with
the Security and Exchange Commission, agreeing
to pay $7.5 million for not disclosing a change
in its accounting practices that allowed it to
report higher earnings in 1998 and 1999. The SEC
accused Halliburton of hindering its investigation.
OCTOBER 5: Cheney meets Democratic Vice-Presidential challenger John Edwards
in a televised debate.
The U.S. Attorney investigating the Valerie
Plame leak says his investigation is completed,
except for the testimony of two reporters who refused
to reveal their sources of information.
OCTOBER 13: Democratic Presidential
nominee John Kerry causes an uproar when he refers
to Cheney's daughter Mary as a lesbian. Lynn Cheney
tells reporters, "the
only thing I can conclude is that (Kerry) is not
a good man."
NOVEMBER 2: Cheney is re-elected Vice President.
2005
MARCH 23: Halliburton tells New York City
Comptroller that none of its subsidiaries will
bid for work in Iran, however, the company will
complete work already started in that country.
MARCH 31: The Presidential Commission
looking into intelligence capabilities in Iraq
regarding weapons of mass destruction writes that
the documents purporting to show Iraq had purchased
uranium for Niger had been forged.
APRIL 14: Nine Democrats on the House
Intelligence Committee send a letter to U.S. Attorney
General expressing grave concerns that no one has
been arrested for leaking the name of CIA officer
Valerie Plame to the press.
APRIL 5: Army announces it will withhold $55 million
out of $200 million in payments it made to Halliburton
in 2003 for providing dining services for troops
in Iraq. Despite the allegations of overcharging
by Halliburton, the army also announced it will
pay the company $1.18 billion to feed troops in
Iraq and Kuwait.
APRIL 12: A report released by Pentagon
auditors reveals that Halliburton, may have overcharged
the US government by $212 million for work in Iraq.
APRIL 15: Cheney releases his tax returns.
His filings show that he earned $194,852 in deferred
compensation from Halliburton in 2004.
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