New Rule: Stop Saying Iraq is Another Vietnam, it's Another Enron

Iraq is Enron, and President Bush is Ken Lay. He's fighting a war with phony accounting tricks. The Bush administration fudged the numbers to get us into Iraq, and cooked the books to keep us there. "The surge" is simply another in a long series of inflated stock quotes. This past weekend Marcel Marceau passed away at age 84. Doctors say he went quietly. Thus proving that evil thrives when good men stay silent. And just like with Enron, the good men and women who are blowing the whistle on Iraq contractor fraud are being vilified, fired, demoted, and those are the lucky ones.

Last Friday morning the Senate Democratic Policy Committee held a hearing entitled "The Mistreatment of Iraq Contracting Whistleblowers," just in time to make the Friday news dump. According to the committee more than $10 billion dollars in Iraq reconstruction and military support contracts is unaccounted for. In other words, for every six dollars spent in Iraq one dollar is in question. And folks, it's a war-zone, you're dealing with a culture known for its haggling skills, so you've got factor in a little skimming, but this is ridiculous. If you stole that much money from the Mafia you'd be dead.

Vicente Fox may have called President Bush a "windshield cowboy," but Bush has certainly turned Iraq into a wild, wild, west. And here's another one from the War in Iraq's this-is going-to-make-you-vomit file. Some Iraq contract whistleblowers have been vilified and fired, others have been detained by the US military and subjected to harsh interrogation techniques.

Donald Vance, a Navy veteran, was working for an Iraqi-owned outfit called the Shield Group Security Company. Vance said he witnessed Shield Group selling guns, land mines, and rocket-launchers to Iraqi insurgents, American soldiers, State Department workers, and Iraqi embassy and ministry workers. Vance described Shield Groups as "a Wal-Mart for guns." Vance reported this to the FBI, and instead of a pat on the back, he got 97 days at Camp Cropper, a military prison outside of Baghdad. In fact, Saddam's Hussein's old crib. Vance was placed in solitary confinement, subjected to head-banging music blaring from dawn to dusk, and interrogators screaming the same questions over and over again in his face.

Also testifying at the hearing along with Vance was Barry Godfrey, a former KBR employee (KBR+Halliburton=Cheney) who claimed that he was fired after complaining to his supervisors about fraudulent overcharges.

Also testifying was Bunnatine Greenhouse. Greenhouse is the former highest-ranking civilian contracting official at the Army Corps of Engineers, so I'll dispense with the "Greenhouse having gas" joke. But Greenhouse was removed from her position when she tried to crack down on "casual and clubby contracting practices" at the Army Corps of Engineers.

Also testifying was Robert Isakson who was a co-plaintiff in a "qui tam" lawsuit (a whistleblower lawsuit) against Custer Battles. No, "qui tam" is not that stuff that Chinese people do in the park, it's shorthand for the Latin Phrase "qui tam pro domino quam pro seipso," which dates back to 13th century England, and means, "He who is as much for the King as for himself." Today, a "qui tam" lawsuit is one brought under the False Claims Act by a private plaintiff on behalf of the Federal or State Government. Isakson won the first civil verdict for Iraq reconstruction fraud against Custer Battles. However, the verdict was overturned by the judge, who ruled that because the CPA was not part of the US government, the "qui tam" statute did not apply.

Meanwhile the Bush administration has not litigated a single case against a contractor alleged to have defrauded the US Government in Iraq. Apparently, like terrorism, this isn't a law enforcement issue either.

Bill Maher is the host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" which airs every Friday at 11PM.

Comments

[annorton]

How depressing this all is! We can comment all we want on blogs such as this, call our congressional representatives, contact the WhiteHouse, march on Washington but nothing seems to make an impact. Anyone have any suggestions?....... some of us are sick and tired of being impotent in this so-called democracy of ours!

[LightningJoe]

My suggestion is first for everyone who possibly can, to read this book: "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," by Naomi Klein.

She recounts how our so-called leaders use, and even purposely create, shocking events that enable them to hack away at our freedoms under cover of providing security. She also seems to have a handle on what the real agenda is, and it's simpler than you might expect.

Read it if you can. And then start calling a spade a spade, and refuse to be derailed by the old tactics they always use. Listening to her talk to John Cusak, I could see the power of naming what they always try to do to us, and far too often succeed at.

Just think, if you could get educated to recognize a lie as soon as you heard it, and could use the right words to show it for a lie in real time, what power would that give you? What power would that give journalists? No more "funny feelings" that you can't pin down, but "Oh, yeah, that old saw again," and a telling followup question, so you can rake them over the coals if they try to weasel out of it with another evasion.

What if we knew exactly what sort of confusion they were trying to create, to cover exactly what ignoble motives? An urgent question for me has always been, if these guys are the dum***ses they seem to be, why can't I get an angle on them?

And the answer seems to be: because they are fundamentalist true believers in a very simple -- but utterly wrong -- doctrine that guides their every move. It simply never occurred to me that a sane rational person could be devoted to such a philosophy, and so I never took it seriously.

But once you know the secret, it's simple, and it explains so much about every aspect of our country today.

I haven't read the book yet myself ($24.99 in hardback), but if I'm any judge, this could be the real thing.

[Seattle34]

What is the worse freedom you have lost in the last 8 years?

[Michmod]

Do you guys remember Whitewater? Sheesh....

What's truly astounding is this is news only because of the hearing....there was a very brief flash of news regarding Ms. Greenhouse, two years ago....but other than that, it's just not sexy enough?? WE ARE RELYING ON BILL MAHER AND JON STEWART TO BE INFORMED!!

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Maher and Stewart prove the MSM is a J=O=K=E!

[godlessclif]

Are you relying on Bill O'Reilly and Anderson Cooper to be informed? I will take Maher and Stewart and day. In fact that is a good Idea.
The Maher-Stewart Report. Best think since Huntley-Brinkley. Though Lewis Black would make a better Brinkley than Stewart. Stewart is not angry enough to be Brinkley.

Jon Stewart is a happy news man.

[Soulsurfer]

Its beyond ironic that we get our most relevant news from comediennes. The MSM is just completely out of touch, and regurgitates whatever the government spits up as "information". Its ALL about money now, with the corporate ownership of the major media outlets. Pretty soon whistleblowers will be shot, and Amerikans will yawn.

[unbeliever7]

The hell it doesn't matter who is in power! Are you freaking crazy? You actually think Bill Clinton would have lied to us to invade a country for no good reason? Well, maybe he did a few unsavory things militarily, I mean, one has to get along with the M-I Complex to some extent, but nothing close to the level of the Iraq invasion. He, and I believe Hillary, also, have some scruples left, and I believe Al Gore did, too. You keep thinking that way and we will keep people like Bush and Cheney in there. Eight more years of this?! No more Bush and Cheney combinations and that means no more Giuliani and god only knows who else might be vice president. McCain over Clinton? Holy mother of shit. Please do not ever think that it does not matter who is in power. Do you see how much this administration has done for the rich? and how little they care how many die?

[godlessclif]

You actually think Bill Clinton would have lied to us to invade a country for no good reason?

Ever hear of a place called Kosovo?

[ckdogs]

Clinton did a good thing in Kosovo. He stopped a genocide - and did it with relatively few casualties, and, so far, a good outcome. I, too, think it's sad that Bill and Jon are the only "news" people who speak truth to power. No more Ed Murrows. The cause is the consolidation of ownership of news outlets. A few rich guys own everything. It has to affect the content of the news. I'm happy about Dan Rather's lawsuit. Maybe it will shine some light on MSM decision making.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Are we still stuck in Kosovo?

How many US troops died there?

[pelosiforpresident]

Are you comparing Kosovo to Iraq? Seriously?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

"It's dangerous to be right when your government is wrong." -- Voltaire

[NoContest]

Man, that is despicable, thanks for bringing it to my attention.

~

[JHancock]

The war should always be referred to as "Bush's war" and Iraq should simply be renamed Bushistan. Perhaps Mr. Bush will then finally have the everlasting legacy he craves and deserves.

[Seattle34]

That would be well and good, except the UN voted unanimously in Resolution 1441 that Iraq comply with disarmament obligations "or else"

Now, we can debate what the "or else" meant, but I think these leaders really made clear what the "or else" piece of this was:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNgaVtVaiJE

What is a shame is that these same leaders can't stand by their decision OR their failure to act as the checks and balance.

You gotta blame the dems for one or the other.

[Passenger57]

First,Seat­tle34,were­/are there any other countries that are in violation of any resolutions? How 'bout this: Israel must open its nuclear facilities/weapons to UN inspection "or else".
Second,Iraq WAS complying. They gave a huge list of all they had-but the US illegally EDITED this list and THEN gave it out to teh other countries,claiming the stuff they edited out was nothing.Third,the inspections were never given a chance to finish-because if they did,they would have found exactly what they've found to date-NOTHING. What would have been the excuse then?
This administration wanted to attack Iraq since BEFORE 9/11.The PNAC report Rebuilding America's Defenses-whose list of supporters reads like the Bush administration roll call-said that the need for a military foothold in the region transcended the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.Tr­anslation? Yeah,all these resolutions can get us in the door,but we were going to invade no matter what!
So because Saddam didn't disarm himself of some old-assed,­fizzled-ou­t weapons fast enough,we have the DISASTER (but for the Bush administration,it's exactly what they wanted: CHAOS) in Iraq that we have now. Was it worth it? Ya feel safer without ol' Saddam threatening the US with those UAVs?
Soon they'll be saying the same thing about Iran...he's already the New New Hitler...

[JHancock]

I don't have to blame anyone other than the person that instigated this disaster.

It is Bush's War. He is the one accountable for the destruction and misery it has wrought. The loss of life. The loss of the United States' dignity and honor. And the huge amount of money wasted and stolen that my children and their children will have to pay for.

[GMC360]

Greedy consulants + ineffective bureaucrats = x.

What is x?

[PeterGila]

Excuse me it is the Contractors not the Consultants.

[BUSHsurvivor]

Bill, we also need to stop alling it a "war".

[eliandbo]

Now that we tested all the war products in Iraq, it's time to leave and start making more war products for the next war. According to my calendar, it will be in twenty years or less.
Maybe Iran , next year!
whoopee

[godlessclif]

The war was over 1,600 and something days ago. Olberman keeps track on Countdown. What we have had since Mission Accomplished is a military occupation enforcing martial law.

[deminmo]

Doesn't "Mission Accomplished" imply something is at an end? Finished?

[researcher]

vietnam was fought for a war for profits by using the fear of communism to start a war.

iraq was a war for profits by using fear of terror to start a war.

it is called imperialism and as long bill thinks bush had honorable objectives for iraq he will miss the point.

the industrial military complex is alive and well in america. the movie why we fight brings this out loud and clear.

our mililtary is not about defense but offense. we are the bully of the world.
it is about oil for corporate profits and corporate profits for the industrial industrial complex.

vietnam was not about oil but profits for the industrial military complex. during the vietnam war california could not hire enough people to make war supplies. same lies for profits.

ike warned us but no one listened.

[eliandbo]

What can the people do? They government passed a law that we can't overthrow the corrupt government with violence if we did the government would use our own troops against us, like the Burma government is doing against the monks, and the vote doesnt work!
Any suggestions?

PS the monks are demonstrating because the price of fuel doubled, HELL, in the last six years, it tripled here!

[Seattle34]

Wrong. There were decades of factors that went into what happened in Vietnam--long before JFK committed the first 15,000 troops. Vietnam was more about incremental escalation of the North and South by larger powers that preferred not to go toe to toe directly.

[godlessclif]

We occupied South Vietnam to stop it form joining North Vietnam. The civil war was fiction.

North Vietnam was only involved as a benevolent neutral. You been watching too many John Wayne movies. There were no communists in South Vietnam. If South Vietnam had honest elections they would have elected Ho Chi Minh.

[CharliePfromHB]

Right and Wrong. Yes, lots of bad decisions based on cold war thinking led us to Vietnam. But the parallels with Iraq persist because we withdrew in the context of a regional view...detent with China, and problems in the Middle East. The US withdrew from Vietnam in 1972 and signed the Paris peace accord..January 1973...The oil embargo of 1973-74 and quadrupled prices got our attention big time. We refused to get back into the Vietnam war in 1975 when the North Vietnam violated the Paris accords. The oil embargo also spawned the Japanese automobile revolution, which spawned economic competition, recession, and ultimately issues that overshadowed Vietnam. Yes, war profiteering persists with all wars and in a world of no draft and privitization fundementalism, war profiteering has been redefined at unprecented levels. But like Vietnam: withdrawal should be done in the context of the regional stakeholders; the war is not a UN action but an action dominated by the US (with allies who felt they had WWII political indebtedness) ; and the persistence of oil as the dominent factor in our conflicted Mid-East policy since 1973 (conflicted with support of Isreal). Support of Mid-East regimes, visa-vi oil, contributed to and ultimately funded the rise of terrorism. So the parallel with Vietnam is getting in for the wrong reasons, and being stuck in the quagmire because we can't figure a scenario where the government we support can actually defend itself. We need new leadership to reestablish our international relationships and to change our direction in energy. Changing direction is something that Nixon could do in the 1970's (after his own military failures), but the Democrats couldn't without being called pinkos(Communists). Can the Democrats change the international direction without being called weak? That is the challenge of the 2008 elections.

[Peabodies]

Nauseating is right, Bill. Please keep reporting on this.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

THIS SAYS IT ALL...

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16076312/the_great_iraq_swindle

[bija]

I am so sickened by all that has been going on the past 6 years that I can't take much more information if there is never any consequences or accountability.

[Idiocracy]

I will take the Mafia any day over this administrative batch of crooks. The Mafia had class, intelligence and integrity.
The problem is, this is nothing new, just another chapter, perhaps the final one, of the raping of America by the powers that be. it goes much deeper than the white house.

Sad times we live in...

[2Truthy]

"Iraq is Enron, and President Bush is Ken Lay" just as the great Labor Shortage Myth in this country is also to Iraq AND Enron: The books are cooked by the fascist 'windshield cowboy' and a few corporatists and pols who line their pockets while the middle class disappears. Amerika, helllooo?

[rpence]

Since you brought up Vietnam, Bill, why don't you remind all of us, as you used to when you hosted "Politically Incorrect," of how you believe that the Vietnam War was the right thing to do because it was an unpopular stand against Communism during the Cold War?

[Taan]

Everything that has emanated from the Bush Administration has turned to merde, extending into every branch of government, the armed services, international relations and the entire Iraq fiasco. There is no sane way out of that madness except to extricate ourselves and let somebody else clean up the mess, just as Bush will remain a blockhead about this engagement and pass it on to the next administration to clean up his mess. The inmates are truly in charge of the asylum. In this day and age, it is frightening to realize that the world's oldest democracy is being totally mismanaged by the incompetent and delusional occupant of the Oval Office and everyone just throws up their hands and pretends there is no way out.